Mel Gibson’s robust directorial technique brings an undeniable punch to the combat scenes of this Oscar-nominated second world war drama. Elsewhere in the film, however, there’s a sledgehammer lack of subtlety that is only partially mitigated by Andrew Garfield’s impressive performance.
Garfield plays Desmond Doss, a real-life war hero who became the first man in US history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot. Desmond volunteers to serve his country with the caveat that, due to his personal and religious beliefs, he refuses to touch a gun. This doesn’t go down well with his commanding officers (Sam Worthington, Vince Vaughn) who don’t buy Desmond’s argument that he can serve as a medic without bearing arms.
Along with his faith, Desmond is supported by his fiancee, Dorothy, played by Australian model and actress Teresa Palmer. With her striking colouring – tawny hair, vivid blue eyes – heightened by the saturated colours of Desmond’s prewar, small-town Virginia existence, Palmer takes on a kind of angelic dream-girl status. Gibson is perhaps overly fond of juxtaposing images that evoke heavenly hosts with those of the visceral hell of the hard-fought Okinawa battle in which Desmond, true to himself and his God, becomes a hero.
