Film Review

Written and Directed by: Lexy Lovell and Michael Uys

Genre: Documentary

Principal actors: Michael McPhearson, Perry Parks, Will Williams, Edward Wood, Jimmy Massey (as themselves)

Screening Date: September 23, 2009 Kansas International Film Festival

Film length: 80 minutes

Rating: unrated

Reviewed by Deborah Ground Buckner

The Good Soldier presents a series of reflections by five soldiers who have served the United States in times of war. Edward Wood fought in France during World War II. Perry Parks and Will Williams fought during Vietnam. Michael MacPhearson served in the first Gulf War. Jimmy Massey was in Iraq in the most recent U.S. war.

The film cuts back and forth among the men as they tell their stories, and the directors were wise to repeat identifying name and service information the first few times each man appears on screen. They soon become recognizable to the audience as their stories unfold. Each begins with what drew him into the service, usually a lack of other career opportunities that made the military an inviting employer. “Poor people are the ones who fight,” according to Williams.

Each speaks of the training they received to be transformed into killing machines. “If you talk about taking a gun and shooting someone, most people can't do it,” Williams says. “A soldier has to be trained to do so.” In the events of war, each expressed the feeling that something changes in the face of combat. “I wanted to kill. I felt good at the time—beyond answering the call of duty,” Williams said. It becomes “like a drug—you become addicted to it,” Massey described.

There are several stories of the atrocities of war, the “collateral damage,” as the killing of civilians is known. Some are better than others at handling it. Massey admitted he couldn't and needed help. Stories of homecoming are also included, not to be received by cheering crowds. Williams returned from his first tour of Vietnam to encounter crowds of students protesting the war. He was afraid he might snap and asked to be sent back to Vietnam.

One of the most poignant stories is told by Edward Wood. He arrived in France as a “replacement.” He describes the position as being one of the worst for a soldier, because it involves joining a new company, without the benefit of camaraderie that develops over time when soldiers serve together. He was afraid of not knowing what to do and making a mistake and sensed the others were afraid of him doing something that might get them all killed. He describes vividly a day of digging a hole for shelter then suddenly flying through the air and landing with a piece of shrapnel in his head. He had to undergo surgery without anesthesia. When he returned home, he learned his father had told the newspapers, “He was only there a few days.” Wood suffered for years under the burden of that word “only,” as if it meant he wasn't a real man.

Filmmakers Lovell and Wys accompany these stories with black-and-white footage of soldiers leaving for duty in World War II, of helicopters flying over Vietnam, exploding huts, green jungles that are both lush and threatening, blowing sand so thick nothing can be seen. But it is the moments the camera rests on the faces of these veterans as they tell their stories that has the most effect.

Each man is, in one way or another, involved in an initiative for peace, whether joined with “Veterans for Peace,” protesting the Iraq War, leading a prayer group or, in Massey's case, carrying a sign that reads “I killed innocent civilians for our government.” All will leave viewers with a first-hand understanding of the terrible nature of war and the need to support our soldiers in action and our veterans when they return home.

Written by :

Deborah

 

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed