A Film Review - Hacksaw Ridge
2016-12-26
I used to believe that war can destroy everything, including those you hold firmly. However, the movie, Hacksaw Ridge , Which depicts a war between America and Japan and which I watched on Christmas altered my opinion. I can not tell for sure if this is adapted from a true story as it claimed to be. Most of the plots may be real. There may also exist some exaggeration in order to catch viewers' eyes. Yet, I have to admit this is a great film worthy of seeing.I am not going to state the cruelty of war here, which is always being talked about and well known to us all. What I am going to write here is something about human nature, which we know as well but seldom acknowledge.
Psychology tells us the great impact situation has on us. We adjust roles we play to fit in the situation, as is well evidenced by a famous experiment in Stanford, called Prison Experiment, where participants were divided into 2 groups who both had to spend time in a simulated prison, with one group designated as prisoners, the other guards. Surprisingly, both of them absorbed the roles they played quicker and better than anyone could expect, those guards disparaging the prisoners as if they were real guards and those prisoners breaking down and rebelling. The researchers had to call off the experiment ahead of the due date for fear that things would go out of their control. The prison which they created was absorbing them as creatures of its own reality. So when I first started watching, I expected that the belief of the lead, a Christian-- don't touch the gun, don't kill people, during a war would collapse. I seemed rather confident about my speculation, only to find I was totally wrong in the end. The lead, Desmond, hadn't taken the gun under dangerous circumstances and hadn't killed a single person in the war, instead he saved many, even some of their enemies.
Furthermore, we, as individuals, won't go against a gang of people, because we would be treated as freaks or be isolated by them if we did. It is human nature to seek for conformity and we are born to be social animals. I used to think how weak one person' strength is. But Desmond proved a single person's power can be strong enough to influence other people. Patriotic and passionate, he signed up for the army to serve as a medic. When he refused to take any gun, he was labeled as a coward and physically abused by other soldiers. No one in the army understood him, all thinking how insane and useless this person is, not carrying a gun in a war. He even was threatened to be put in jail if he insisted in not carrying a gun with him. With all the soldiers' verbal and physical abuse, his lover's persuasion and the risk of imprisonment, he struggled and self doubted, but he still clung to his own belief. Ironically, in the end, the one considered a coward didn't retreat when other soldiers returned back; the one thought to be useless saved most lives including those who scorned him only by using his bare hand and his firm belief.
I don't believe in gods, and I always hold that you can trust and rely on no one except yourself. And I had said to my students that you cannot leave everything to god, maybe he is too busy to take care of everyone. I have to admit that I used to be biased towards gods or religions. Maybe it is because I, being shortsighted, have little knowledge about religions. Of course, I don't mean that we all should have religious belief. Yet, we should all have our belief towards life. sticking to your belief, however, doesn't mean being stubborn and unwilling to change when change is necessary. Just as Desmond did in the film, when the battle was fought on Sunday, the resting day of christians, he did go to the battlefield, because all the soldiers refused to go there without him.
Colorful and rich material life breeds laziness. Persistence now, is what we lack and desperately need. Thoughts can sprout easily, but can not be carried out easily. When we fail in implementing our plans, we tend to find excuses most frequently by blaming the environment. We seldom stick to our point when a majority of people disagree with it. Although ,sometimes, Others consider me a bit strange, for I always think too much and have odd ideas, I still don't want to change, because it is all about me, and I am what I am.
Another thing I am curious about after watching that film is the Japanese war history. It would be interesting knowing history from different countries' perspective. After all , we should be critical when it comes to history.
Chinese should watch the movie and reflect it on their own history post Japan's aggression. Numerous accounts (many of which are banned in China) are available from cultural revolution of similar examples of mob mentality pushing people to act against their own believes (whether those views are religious or other in kind).
Your review inspired me to download and watch the film. Although the quality of the download was poor, I found the film to be interesting and thought provoking. You have to admire him for doing the best he could do to stay true to his convictions without conforming. It says a lot about his character.
Your review inspired me to download and watch the film. Although the quality of the download was poor, I found the film to be interesting and thought provoking. You have to admire him for doing the best he could do to stay true to his convictions without conforming. It says a lot about his character.
Love all Mel Gibson movies...On your closing statement you mentionned your curiousity concerning the war in Japanese perpective, i suggest you "Letters from Iwo Jima" (2006).
I am a pretty big Mel Gibson fan. I hope the movie does well. I don't really like the sound of the movie though. Even if the guy did not carry a gun or personally kill any enemies he was still contributing to the war. Why didn't the guy protest the war by not participating in it if he felt so strongly about it?
The movie seems like an odd choice for Mel Gibson. Is Mel Gibson some kind of pacifist now or something? Or does he just really hate the English? The guy makes Brave Heart and The Patriot which are both ridiculous American anti-English propaganda and now he comes out with this? Does he just really hate England? Or is he some kind of Japan lover now? Both? Why isn't Mel Gibson in movies about pacifism when the enemy is England. I am pretty sure Mel Gibson hates England. I am not that much of a Mel Gibson fan now that I think about it. The Mad Max films are good though.
thanks! A good movie or book can give us food for thought. I hope there will be more thought-provoking films and books rather than those centering on entertainment.
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