Rescue Dawn
Come on, search planes....where have you gone?
Masterpiece.
Rescue Dawn is a riveting dramatization of the true story of Dieter Dengler, a miracle man. He survived sheer utter hell as a prisoner of war until he made a daring escape. This story was detailed in Herzog's documentary Little Dieter Needs To Fly, already reviewed here by me.
I found out how Dieter got away from the horrifying fate his fellow escapee Steve Zahn was doomed to, and I'm not sure it's plausible. Those villagers SCATTERED. At that moment? For that reason? OK...
Again, it's utterly amazing that Dieter got out of there alive.
He could've been scalped, shot, tortured to death or hung from a tree in the jungle at any moment. He definitely had someone upstairs watching over him. It just seems too lucky for him to escape the way he did. The prisoners are fed maggots, they are locked into a foot vise at night, and Christian Bale goes through a fantastic transformation- his weight loss is incredible. He goes from a very healthy pilot to an emaciated P.O.W. in no time.
It's remarkable what he'll do for a role.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: he is a profound and fascinating actor. Totally fearless and totally into his characters.
I don't know why he hasn't won an Oscar by now.
The man is just CLASS, Man.
The cinematography is stellar. Gorgeous shots of the vegetation and landscapes, par for the course for Herzog. He is one at peace with nature, that's for sure. He captures natural geographic beauty like no other filmmaker.
Bale is in almost every single scene as Dieter, and he carries the picture. You feel his situation deeply. He is very patriotic for a German immigrant, telling his captors "America gave me my wings- I will not sign that", refusing to sign a piece of paper denouncing the U.S. government. I don't know how he wasn't executed after that display of patriotism.
This film is a must-see. It documents one of the most harrowing stories of the Viet Nam war, maybe even the MOST harrowing. (MY LAI, or "Pinkville" is a whole other matter..)
If he wasn't rescued when he was, his mental hallucinations would have spiralled out of control I think.
I feel he wouldn't have had much more strength to continue running, because he weighed less than 100 pounds, had no energy, and he was tormented by thoughts and dreams of his friend who was killed in a horrifying way. He was lucky as hell to get rescued when he did. A miracle story. A must-see story.
It'll make you feel damn glad you're in the free country you're in, enjoying fresh food and sleeping soundly at night.
Last edited by Johann; 06-22-2011 at 01:06 PM.
"Set the controls for the heart of the Sun" - Pink Floyd
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