Written and Directed by: Steven Luke
Cast: Bates Wilder, Hiram A. Murray, Aaron Courteau
Swift shot: Right off the bat, I have to confess that I co-wrote and produced the short film Tango Down which starred the incredibly talented Hiram Murray. I am supporting my friend and fellow Marine veteran here, because I know exactly how much of a bad ass he is. And, as I have stated in past indie reviews, I grade these on a curve. I’ve worked on an indie film, and I know just how challenging it can be. So, if you watch this movie expecting to see 1917, you are “about a freakin ‘ rock” . . . that’s jarhead speak for stupid.
So let’s just get right into it. This is a movie that serves as a tribute to the fighting spirit of the somewhat forgotten warriors of World War I, the Buffalo Soldiers. The nickname was given to them by the Native Americans, and they deserve as much glory and valor as any American soldiers over there fighting in the European war.
While much of the message is delivered in a mawkish manner, it is still a great message. There is a bond that develops among warriors that surpasses all other prejudices. One of my favorite scenes focuses on this nature of constantly attacking “the other.” Even the white troops bicker and attack each other for their differences.
This is authentic to the military. When I was in, we were all just called “green,” but there was still a distinction of light green or dark green. We’ve come a long way since then.
In 1918, America and much of the world had a long way to go on race relations. There are racists all throughout this movie, and they use harsh, realistic language for the time period. There’s one infuriating character who even s-l-o-w-l-y s-p-e-l-l-s o-u-t his words to a Buffalo Soldier in an ultimate act of condescension.
Not every American soldier is a racist jackoff though. Our lead, Bates Wilder, plays Captain William Rivers, who reluctantly accepts the inclusion of the ‘colored’ troops into his trenches. See, his buddy Captain Roberts (Charles Hubbell) has been commanding the Buffalo troops for quite some time. And Rivers has learned to respect them as men and American fighters. And it is Captain Roberts’ dedication to his troops that persuades Rivers to see them as equals.
Rivers will spend the rest of the movie coming to terms with his tacit bigotry.
During the last days of the war, as in two days before the Armistice is to be signed, the French high command has given orders to take as much land as possible, because once the war is over, those captured lands will belong to the French. It makes you wonder why in the hell Americans were taking orders from the French in the first place.
Even the normally headstrong General ‘Black Jack’ Pershing (Ron Perlman) is subservient to this unseen “French high command,” and he gives the order to push on until the last minute before the cease-fire. It’s kind of . . . no, it’s unquestionably stupid! Most of the Marine commanders I know would have been like, “Yea, let me get right on that, Frenchy.” Then they would have taken four days to mobilize their two day assault, and whoops, the war would then be over. Oh well.
Instead, Pershing blindly follows orders, and more men will have to die. In that pursuit of folly, the Buffalo Soldiers get detached and separated from the main regiment and end up trapped behind enemy lines.
Now, there is a debate about what to do with these “colored boys.” To his credit, Pershing doesn’t even hesitate to act. He takes the time to read a quote from Abraham Lincoln to his aide, Colonel Morrison (Billy Zane) all about how these men are soldiers and deserve to be treated the same as white soldiers.
Not everyone in the AEF is thrilled about this mission to save a bunch of “lost” black troops. Even Rivers has his reservations, but he’s battling shell shock and is in no shape to fight high command. Plus, he’s got some ghosts from the war that he wants to forget. A moment of weakness where someone had to intervene to save his life, haunts him.
To make amends to himself and to a fallen friend, Rivers goes on the mission to rescue the Buffalo Soldiers.
His troopers are pretty upset about the assignment. They know the war is officially over in two days, and now they have to hump into enemy territory to save a unit they don’t even care about.
Let’s take the racism out of the equation, and you can see why they aren’t thrilled about this mission. It really is ridiculous. If everyone just waits three days, the diplomats will be the ones fighting about where to draw border lines, and all of these men will be alive . . . including the Buffalo Soldiers.
It’s maddening, and all of Rivers’ troops deal with it in different ways. My favorite character, apart from Pvt. John Cain (Murray), is Rivers’ dedicated Sergeant Richardson (Courteau). He knows the mission sucks and the French command are a bunch of assholes. But, he is going to support his Captain and help rescue these Americans.
The rest of the film is spent trying to locate the missing troops, if they are even alive, and Rivers and his men encounter moderate to heavy German resistance.
That’s all I will give away about the movie, because I hope I have shown that it is an intriguing story with high stakes.
Again, if you look at this movie expecting exceptional production value, you are not being realistic or fair to the work of those involved.
For my part, I wasn’t sure if this event actually took place in history. But it doesn’t matter in the sense that the message of the unified spirit of the American GI was what was being conveyed. The story is the vehicle to get that message across. And most legends lack validity when given too much scrutiny. So, I appreciated the effort and the commitment to tell this story.
[Swift aside: If you have ever seen The Princess and the Frog, we learn that Tiana’s dad died in World War I as a Buffalo Soldier. I like to think he was somewhere in this movie, fighting alongside Hiram’s character.]
Ultimately, it would be easy to find fault with this movie, but I choose to focus on the message rather than how it was delivered to me.
You can judge it for yourself, as it is now available on Amazon Prime – right here!
