Rescue Dawn: Dawn followed by dusk
There have been endless movies made on war-it has always been a popular genre. The Vietnam War, in particular, has been a favorite with Hollywood directors. Some of the movies made have clearly affected the lives of those who were not there, who were not a part of the massacre. They have shown us what man is capable of and what spirit truly is. To eternalize heroes-this is what the main point of war films is.
Rating: 3/5
When you talk about the film Rescue Dawn, you can’t help but think about the director Werner Herzog’s previous forays into documentaries and docu-dramas such as White Diamond, The Wild Blue Yonder, Grizzly Man and many more. With Rescue Dawn, Herzog presents to us, once again, the story of Dieter Dengler. The latter was a POW who never gave up. Once previously, Herzog has presented a documentary named “Little Dieter Needs to Fly.” on the same subject. This time though, he has Americanized and jazzed the script up a little.
Christian Bale in Rescue Dawn
This film revolves around Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) who is a good old American G.I . and who has been sent for duty to Laos in 1965. One moment, the man is flying in the air and the next moment, he is shot down and lost in the jungles. To top it all, he is taken in as a POW and kept in a camp. Here, he meets other POWs like himself. Only, these men have no hope left and have more or less given up the thought of freedom. In this darkness, he finds Duane (Steve Zahn), who is a helicopter pilot and Gene (Jeremy Davies). Unlike his comrades, Dengler refuses to loose hope and tries to get everyone’s spirits up. Very soon, he hatches an escape plan and the other two lap it up and decide to go for it, though with a lot of trepidation.
Expectedly, the movie has some remarkable force and also sports some very good actors. Christian Bale has given an exemplary performance as the maverick Dengler and adds a lot of American cockiness to the fine tuned version of the actual Dengler. The scene where Bale brashly calls out a loud Howdy to his captors is very well done and says a lot about Dengler’s personality.
Christian Bale and Steve Zahn in Rescue Dawn
But one thing that I found odd in this film is that it all seems surreal. Accepted that Dengler’s is a true story and the film Rescue Dawn is based on it. But Herzog has made Dengler into Mr. Perfect. There is no vulnerability in the character. He is always up for a fight, always cheering people up, never sad or down. He has taken away the essence of what being a POW means. So the only thing lacking in Dengler’s character is the human touch. If this little detail had not been avoided so blatantly, there would actually have been no flaw that anyone could point out. So if Mr. Herzog ever comes up with a different take on Dengler, I hope he remembers the man before the hero.
Rating: 3/5
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