It is strange the petty things that lead to arguments.  In the moment, and sometimes well after, they do not seem trivial.  Hindsight, though, which is a particular gift from God granted to us all, often says otherwise.  This happens to me a lot, especially when going to the cinema.  There are many among my family and friends, and probably amongst you who regularly read The Legionnaire, that think I do not like most films I see.  Examples like Hacksaw Ridge (2016), which I saw with a great friend of mine, bear out the issue of silly disagreements and being accused of having a lack of enjoyment for films despite my given pastime.  When I view a movie, it is first as a Catholic.  A close second to that priority is my knowledge of history.  When I see things that strike me as out of phase with either of these, I take note.  This can disgruntle my companions, even if that is not my intention.  Now that I have re-watched today’s film, I will amend my original opinion, but perhaps for surprising reasons.

Hacksaw Ridge begins by giving you a taste of the horrific slaughter that took place atop the eponymous hill, which can be found on the island of Okinawa, Japan, in the closing months of World War II.  It is a place destined to be served upon by Desmond Doss (Andrew Garfield), and the rest of the movie is about how he gets to that place of death and destruction.  It is far from where he grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  There, he and his brother, Harold “Hal” Doss (Nathaniel Buzolic) are raised by their haunted father, Tom Doss (Hugo Weaving).  He feels the guilt of having survived the trenches of World War I, and takes to the bottle and being violent towards his family to cope.  He also feels that Bertha Doss (Rachel Griffiths) is too easy on their boys.  It is she who instills in them a strict adherence to the Seventh Day Adventist form of Christian life.  Thus there develops a bond between Bertha and Desmond that has the son threatening the father with a gun during a particularly angry, alcohol induced slapping.  Desmond is so shocked that he had pointed a weapon at his father that, as we later learn, it convinces him to never again take up a weapon.  The timing of this comes as he is entering the age during which many of his peers are enlisting to serve in the American Armed Forces during World War II, including Hal.  Desmond, too, feels the call to serve, despite his personal and religious beliefs, and Tom’s objections.  Desmond also makes this decision in the face of his budding romance with a local nurse named Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer).  When the subject of Desmond’s enlistment comes up, Dorothy makes him promise to marry her during his first furlough.  He is all too happy to oblige.  It is with this satisfying thought, buoyed by her gift of her Bible and a picture of her, that he goes to basic training.  At first, things go normal, and it is evident that he has a great deal of gumption in pursuing what he is being taught.  The problem comes when he is asked to take part in rifle training.  Initially, he is confused, having thought that his conscientious objector status would be upheld and he would be taught to be a combat medic.  Instead, his refusal to shoot is taken as a sign of cowardice.  Instead of being given respect, he is told that he needs to leave the army.  He refuses because he has a desire to serve his country.  The army’s response is to make his time there as difficult as possible until he quits.  This includes a great deal of hazing from his fellow soldiers, non-commissioned officers (NCO), and commanders.  Desmond takes it all, earning some grudging respect.  The major test comes, though, when Lieutenant Colonel Cooney (Matt Nable) denies Desmond’s leave, during which Desmond planned to be wedded to Dorothy.  This happens as a result of Desmond refusal to take part in rifle drill.  He is arrested and faces a courts-martial with the possibility of having to spend the duration of the war in a jail cell.  It looks to be a pretty simple case of disobedience until Tom appears on his son’s behalf, having asked for a favor from a general with whom he had served with during World War I.  The general brings a note that Tom manages to present to the panel just before they are to render a verdict, which requests that Desmond’s conscientious objector status be honored and that he be trained as a medic.  In addition to having the charges of insubordination dropped, he is able to finally get hitched to Dorothy before heading to Okinawa.  Once there, his unit is asked to be a part of the attack on what the Americans have been dubbed Hacksaw Ridge.  This requires them to climb up a rope ladder before they can start firing at entrenched Japanese positions.  It is a bloodbath, but through it all Desmond remains dedicated to treating the wounded.  Such is his sense of duty that when his unit is forced to retreat, he remains behind above tending to his comrades’ injuries.  He does this even though there is a continued bombardment of the escarpment, and the presence of Japanese troops when the artillery ceases.  In the face of all this, he manages to carry many critically hurt soldiers to the edge and lower them to safety with a rope.  This goes on for two days before he is finally rescued.  Nonetheless, Captain Jack Glover (Sam Worthington) asks Desmond to go back up the hill for one more attack.  It is during this that Desmond is wounded when he kicks away a grenade.  This injury means that he can go home, and we see him being lowered from above with Dorothy’s Bible in his hands with the final shot.

There are two important aspects of Hacksaw Ridge on which to concentrate from a Faith perspective.  The first is conviction.  Desmond is convicted by his religious beliefs.  Indeed, he shows a martyr’s dedication to them worthy of the pantheon of Catholic saints.  Martyrdom does not have to automatically mean physical death.  Instead, it is a dying to self, a detachment from that which might distract one from God.  You can see Desmond’s willingness to do so when Dorothy visits him before his courts-martial and suggests that he simply wave a gun around to assuage the desires of the army.  He counters with asking how he could live with himself if he did not stay true to his beliefs.  He says this because God does not ask us to be faithful when it is convenient, but rather all the time.  This may sound like the ravings of a fanatic, but Desmond’s example proves otherwise.  The second is the power of prayer.  In a moment of desperation, when Desmond is at his lowest on the hill, he asks God what He wants of him.  Desmond cannot understand God’s purpose amidst the chaos.  It is in a second of silence that he hears someone call for a medic.  God’s timing is always perfect, and this reminder of why he was there is shown to be an answer to his prayers.  Further, I appreciate the interview shown just before the final credits with the real-life Desmond Doss.  His testimony confirms what you see in the movie, which is him praying throughout the entire ordeal.  His best one is his simplest, that being to continue to ask God to bring back one more, just one more.  Once that person is brought to safety, he repeats the process.  It is a supernatural strength he displays that the movie correctly labels a miracle.

I could not tell you now what I once found objectionable, historically speaking, about Hacksaw Ridge.  In doing a little extra research, I found the film is pretty close to actual events, though with some inevitable liberties taken.  Still, I cannot widely recommend it.  It has its qualities, but it is an extremely bloody film.  If you can handle such things, then possibly.  Either way, proceed with caution.