Cast: Garret Dillahunt, Joel Torres, Yul Vasquez, Chris Cooper
John Sayles is not the most interesting or controversial of filmmakers, but he is surely one of the most consistent and unfussy. It is easy to find a common thread running through his career, from his debut ‘The Return of the Secaucus Seven’ (1976) through to this latest film: well-conceived characters dealing with tangible problems in normal, human ways. In the face of this beguiling simplicity, there is little room for stylised lighting, complicated camerawork, award-stealing performances, or CGI.
This time, Sayles has chosen the American-Philippines war, at the turn of the last century, as his area of study. When a band of US troops arrive in a small farming village to set up a garrison, the head of the village is stuck between obeying his new masters, appeasing his countryfolk, and dealing with the menacing presence of the guerrilla warriors (led by his brother) who lurk in the surrounding jungle.
The cast is largely unfamiliar, and the production design is straight out of a TV period drama; but the quality of the performances makes for an engaging film. The sturdiness of the storytelling and the strength of the characters are reminiscent of great studio films of the 1950s, such as Red River or even The Bridge over the River Kwai. The story builds to its climactic crescendo with patience rather than gusto – with understated undulations of laughter and sighs, rather than fireworks and wailing.
This is by no means a Sayles masterpiece, however, and after a while the film begins to feel stretched. This is just a symptom of Sayles capacity as a filmmaker – he cares too deeply about his stories to curtail them, but he loves the art of narrative filmmaking too much to leave the film open ended. The result is a curt and unfulfilling ending that does no justice to the story that precedes it.
John Sayles is not the most interesting or controversial of filmmakers, but he is surely one of the most consistent and unfussy. It is easy to find a common thread running through his career, from his debut ‘The Return of the Secaucus Seven’ (1976) through to this latest film: well-conceived characters dealing with tangible problems in normal, human ways. In the face of this beguiling simplicity, there is little room for stylised lighting, complicated camerawork, award-stealing performances, or CGI.
This time, Sayles has chosen the American-Philippines war, at the turn of the last century, as his area of study. When a band of US troops arrive in a small farming village to set up a garrison, the head of the village is stuck between obeying his new masters, appeasing his countryfolk, and dealing with the menacing presence of the guerrilla warriors (led by his brother) who lurk in the surrounding jungle.
The cast is largely unfamiliar, and the production design is straight out of a TV period drama; but the quality of the performances makes for an engaging film. The sturdiness of the storytelling and the strength of the characters are reminiscent of great studio films of the 1950s, such as Red River or even The Bridge over the River Kwai. The story builds to its climactic crescendo with patience rather than gusto – with understated undulations of laughter and sighs, rather than fireworks and wailing.
This is by no means a Sayles masterpiece, however, and after a while the film begins to feel stretched. This is just a symptom of Sayles capacity as a filmmaker – he cares too deeply about his stories to curtail them, but he loves the art of narrative filmmaking too much to leave the film open ended. The result is a curt and unfulfilling ending that does no justice to the story that precedes it.
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