Glory

The sesquecentennial of the American Civil War is fast approaching, and I'd be remiss if I didn't review a few Civil War movies. Hollywood's made a decent number but few are any good, generally sacrificing either accuracy or cinematic interest. A wonderful exception is Glory (1989), far and away Hollywood's best take on the War Between the States.

Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick) is a young Boston Brahmin who joins the Union Army and is wounded at the Battle of Antietam. Afterwards, Shaw is tapped by Massachusetts Governor Andrew (Alan North) to command the 54th Massachusetts, an experimental regiment of black soldiers, including both freedmen like Thomas (Andre Braugher) and runaway slaves like Trip (Denzel Washington), Rawlins (Morgan Freeman) and Sharts (Jihimi Kennedy). Shaw finds preparing them for battle is much more difficult, from the recruits' own inexperience to bureaucratic struggles with his racist superiors. Finally, Shaw finagles a field command in South Carolina, and the 54th leads the Union assault on Charleston's Fort Wagner.

Glory scores high marks for mixing authenticity with dramatic power. The movie's well-staged, graphically violent and desperate battle scenes register far more strongly than the sterilized spectacle of Gettysburg. It's a genuine movie about the Civil War, not a stuffy museum piece or dressed-up harlequin romance, containing the drama and pathos of Platoon or Saving Private Ryan without sacrificing realism.

Though the Civil War was fought largely to free the slaves, the role of black soldiers has been generally overlooked. Abraham Lincoln and his advisors skirted around abolition for political reasons, while miltiary leaders scoffed at blacks' ability and will to fight. Whether through idealism or expediency (or a combination of both), the Union high command commissioned a few experimental colored regiments in late 1862. The 54th's doomed but heroic assault on Fort Wagner changed America's perception of black troops and struck a major blow for racial equality. Ignoring very real threats of summary execution by Confederate troops (see Fort Pillow), 180,000 blacks served in the Union Army and played a key role in winning the war, with the all-black XXV Corps the first to enter the Confederate capital at Richmond.

Glory deals with a touchy subject without hitting its audience over the head with a "message." Shaw's bureaucratic problems, and the racial prejudice encountered by the 54th, are authentic and germane to their situation, and black slave culture receives great respect. There's no Confederate perspective, but the movie does show that the Yankees weren't angels, with Colonel Montgomery (Cliff de Young) using his ill-disciplined black troops to raze a "secesh" town. Nor does it imply that the 54th's success will end racism or atone for slavery, as Trip and Shaw's big scene quietly illustrates. Some critics attack the film for focusing on Shaw rather than his men, but this strikes me as pedantic and unfair given the mature, measured way it addresses the Civil War.

Director Edward Zwick has become a Ridley Scott wannabe, making period epics that touch on interesting thematic material while obsessing over action scenes and cliches (The Last Samurai, Defiance). In this early effort, however, Zwick shows remarkable skill and verve, crafting a perfect mixture of spectacle, character drama and period detail. Zwick and writer Kevin Jarre attain marvelous dramatic economy by focusing on a half-dozen major characters, allowing each of them to develop over the story. The final attack on Fort Wagner is one of the best battle scenes ever, with Freddie Francis's eerily beautiful photography, visceral hand-to-hand violence and James Horner's haunting, elegiac soundtrack combining for an amazingly powerful climax.

Matthew Broderick gets a lot of flak, though more for being cast (Ferris Bueller in the Civil War?) than his actual performance. Broderick does a fine job capturing Shaw's mixture of aristocratic hauteur and awkward idealism, and fits the part far better than a big star like Tom Cruise or Kevin Costner would have. Less suitable is Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride) as Shaw's second-in-command, here completely devoid of charm or screen presence.

Denzel Washington got an Oscar and a huge career-boost for his scene-stealing role. Washington gets all the film's big dramatic moments: the flogging scene, refusing Shaw's offer to bear the regimental flag, his pre-battle speech. With his recent glut of lazy star vehicles like Unstoppable and the Taking of Pelham 123 remake, one forgets that Washington is a fine actor, and Glory probably remains his best work.

Morgan Freeman's benevolent black man schtick has become a cliche, but he registers very strongly here, especially in his Sidney Poitier moment telling off Trip. Andre Brougher and Jihimi Kennedy acquit themselves well in secondary roles. Minor characters are played by reliable character talent: Cliff De Young's (Flight of the Navigator) hateful Brigadier, Richard Riehle's (Casino) simpering Quartermaster, John Finn's (TV's Cold Case) colorfully profane Sergeant and Jay O. Sanders (JFK) as Shaw's commander at Fort Wagner.

Glory is the best Civil War movie by miles, unless you count The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Heck, I might rank it in my top ten Hollywood war movies, period. Rarely has any historical film achieved such a perfect mixture of characters, drama and authenticity, and for that, Edward Zwick and Co. deserve the highest praise.

PS: TCM has an excellent write-up about the film here.