[rating=8.00]
Faith based cinema tends to fail not because it’s faith based, but because it’s bad. There’s a level of pandering that goes into the average cinematic exploration of faith that largely focuses on telling its core audience what it wants to hear, showing them what they want to see, and creating a sort of narrative echo chamber that might be pleasing to the demographic, but offers little to anyone else.
This contradiction has always baffled me, given the narrative traditions of faith. Biblical tales, or the tales of most religious texts, provide stunning examples of storytelling that have maintained relevance for millennia. Jesus Christ used stories to reach the hearts and minds of his followers. The best preachers in the world maintain the attention of their congregations thanks to their ability to weave a good yarn. Even the non-religious can often find something worthwhile to gain from the stories in The Bible. So why the hell are faith based movies so defined by the works of Kirk fucking Cameron?
If truly there is a God, Hacksaw Ridge will become a how to guide for future faith based filmmakers. It’s faith based cinema that doesn’t fall into the trappings of sappy sentimentality that become the down fall of the vast majority of faith based films. Overt Christian themes are hidden between the lines of a narrative that’s accessible to secular audiences to create a film that works as both a celebration of Christianity and humanity. You take from Hacksaw Ridge largely what you bring into it, making for a far more effective vehicle for proselytization than any number of God’s Not Dead movies can ever hope to be.
Hacksaw Ridge follows the real-life struggle of Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield) who fought for the right to join the army during World War II, despite the fact that his religion forbade him from violence of any form, including holding a gun. The film follows his journey through boot camp, which finds Doss living under the threat of court martial for his refusal to hold a weapon, to the battle of Hacksaw Ridge, a devastating campaign that was instrumental to defeating Japan. Doss, as a medic, single handedly saved the lives of over 70 of his fellow servicemen, putting to shame the idea that his religious based pacifism would put lives in danger.
The narrative framework of Hacksaw Ridge—which isn’t dissimilar from Full Metal Jacket in its “before and after” set up—allows for a surprisingly nuanced examination of faith that’s accessible to a secular audience. It’s difficult not to feel the injustice facing Doss or to see where the army’s attempts to jail him for refusing to hold a gun, despite high marks everywhere else, could be seen as a form of oppression. His vindication by film’s end hammers the point home harder than any overtly faith based movie will ever be able to achieve.
It all kind of goes back to the point South Park so succinctly made a decade ago, “Say what you want about Mel Gibson, but the son of a bitch knows story structure.” Working on a script from Andrew Knight (Jack Irish) and Robert Schenkan (The Pacific), Gibson is able to craft a movie that masterfully explores the lengths that can be reached through faith without ever feeling overtly pandering or preachy. Christianity is merely a part of Doss’ character, which allows us to identify with him as a human primarily.
This effect is further pushed thanks to Gibson’s, quite frankly, stunning directorial eye. Hacksaw Ridge is every bit as brutally violent as any of Gibson’s previous directing efforts, and then some. Braveheart and The Passion of the Christ feel like mere overtures to the chaotic ballet of cinematic violence displayed here. The entire last act of the film is a battle sequence which rivals (in weaker moments, I may dare to say surpasses) the D-Day scene in Saving Private Ryan. Headshots, severed limbs, torn entrails, exploding bodies, and that merely scratches the surface. The whole thing is shot with a frightening closeness that makes the perils of war all the more visceral.
Which, of course, only makes Doss’ heroism all the more valiant. Here is a man who witnessed the depths of Hell, who got as close as man can get to the face of Satan, and stood steadfast in his faith. He braved the licking flames of the inferno and did his part to improve the lives of his fellows. Not only that, he offered comfort to the enemy, aiding them in their medical needs as the furnace raged around him. On its own, the story is stunning. Juxtaposed with story of persecution from the film’s first half, it becomes something else entirely.
It’s not merely a story a faith, it’s a story of conviction and of courage. By presenting a nuanced depiction of faith, Hacksaw Ridge does the remarkable job of letting the secular into the world of faith based cinema, without alienating them in the process. Faith is not as insular as you might otherwise expect, and neither is Hacksaw Ridge. It’s a film that can be enjoyed by the believers and non-believers alike, which in itself is almost revolutionary. There’s a lesson to be gleaned from this by the faithful: your message is better served by inclusion. Perhaps it’s time to take note.
Hacksaw Ridge is now playing in theaters everywhere.
