11/34
In the winter of 1862, during the Civil War, the U.S. Army sent a volunteer company to patrol the unexplored western territories. Minervini had the set built in Montana, then let the cast live in it for two months. The dialogue and thoughts expressed are those the actors created while living in the wilderness imagining being soldiers in the Civil War. The Damned: In the winter of 1862, a volunteer unit of Union soldiers was sent to defend the mountainous territory; we do not know where it is, nor do we learn the names of the soldiers. After the regular troops leave, they are under the command of a John Brown-like patriarch with a flowing beard; his teenage sons have also enlisted. The troops are very mixed, some middle-aged, even old, most in their thirties. All without military experience, knowledge and skills are shared and transferred. We witness mobile sentries, gunfire on distant horsemen. A buffalo is shot and butchered. The bleak landscape, the rolling hills, the mountain meadows, the drifting snow, the cold rations running out, all contribute to a growing sense of existential despair. A battle rages, we don’t see the enemy, we see the casualties of the unit. War is hell, especially when you don’t know why you’re there anymore. A very Ken Loach-esque film, with no defined day-to-day dialogue and lots of ordinary people acting, amateurs like the soldiers. This improvisation leads to philosophical, religious and political discussions around campfires. Some of which overstay their welcome. But it’s a small distraction from this stark portrait of men at war. Written and directed by Roberto Minervini, 8/10.
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