A Herzog fanatic reviews Rescue Dawn

You had to see this one coming right? Me reviewing Rescue Dawn? This is the first Herzog feature film (read: not a documentary) that I've been able to see in a theater at first release. More importantly, this is Herzog's first film written entirely in English as well as his first Big Hollywood film. He's never had funding like this, nor has he worked with huge American stars before. Hence, why this film was such a giant f-ing deal to me as a mega-Zog fan.

Let's make this a Pitchfork style review, where I talk about myself a bunch before getting to the film. Essentially, seeing this movie has been very important to me for the aforementioned reasons. I was crushed to find out that its opening weekend coincided with that business trip I took two weeks ago, and then my older brother was here all last week/weekend, so I didn't get to see it right away. And of course, the film leaves Chicago theaters as of this coming Thursday night, which left me with only Tuesday night due to other obligations. There are only a few people in Chicago I'd want to see this movie with because I'm psychotic about Herzog and if I'm going I need a fellow film/Herzog geek with me. One of those people hasn't talked to me since November, another one I forgot about until just this second, and the third would rather sleep than see a movie. So lucky me, I went alone. It may have been for the best because then I could fully absorb myself in the film without having to wonder what the person next to me was thinking. I have to remember that not every human on earth has such deep admiration and obsessions over directors. (insert *deep breaths* hyperventilating joke here) So I saw the film last night alone at Webster Place near my house.

I had heard that there were two reviews floating around of the movie. The first was from Herzog fanatics, and the review was essentially, "the movie is the worst Herzog film ever, god what a disappointment." The other was from your general movie going public: "wow that film was so amazing and unique and powerful!" I was a bit nervous having heard that, and was trying to decide prior to the film if I should attempt to review it from a fanatic standpoint or just a plain-ole lady standpoint.

When the movie started I realized I wouldn't be able to do either. It's definitely not a film I would have considered seeing if it weren't for Herzog making it. First off, the content - an American fighter pilot gets taken prisoner by the VC - turns me off. And you know there will be torture in a POW film. And I don't like torture, even if done 'tastefully'. Herzog had been asked about this several times before the film: "We know Dieter Dengler is tortured, how do you handle that in the film?" Herzog does not like showing gore and violence for entertainment's sake. He said that there are a few extremely brief scenes of torture because you can't ignore the fact that Dieter was tortured, but he left out a TON of Deiter's torture stories that were included in Little Dieter Needs to Fly. No bamboo reeds up feet or anything, thank god. The torture he included in Rescue Dawn was enough thanks, but was also very very very well done.

So yes, the content...it is what it is - a POW movie. Herzog did not create this story, its a dramatized feature of a true story. As a result I don't think it's right to argue that its a terrible film that is way off base for Herzog. A friend of mine said it was boring. It does get a little slow for conventional film pace, but Dieter was stuck in a prison camp for a year! What else can they show other than the grueling day in and day out of prison camps? I thought the pace worked really well. It showed the progression of insanity in the prisoners, worked well with the extreme weight loss Christian Bale had to do for the film, and just as I'd get tired with a scene it would end.

An astute observer could see glimpses of Herzog in it. He shows humanity in all its ugly chaotic glory, from Dwayne shitting himself every night to the prison guards not being all like "Little Hitler." He explores the boundaries of human isolation both in emotional and physical states. He has expansive shots of nature with amazing close-ups on leaves. He incorporates music seamlessly. He selected actors who would be more than willing to fully immerse themselves in the role, even if it meant losing 50 pounds and eating maggots and snakes (fyi: I have an amazing new found respect for Christian Bale for being so into his role). Rescue Dawn may have had fancy plane crashes, big stars, and a war theme, but it was done in Herzog's style as best he could when dealing with Big Hollywood.

David Lynch talked about working with major studios on films when I saw him speak before the screening of Inland Empire. He said he'd never do it again, that you have to compromise too much of your artistic integrity (his case in point: Dune). I'd imagine that Herzog had to make the same compromises with Rescue Dawn. Maybe he had to add a bit more violence (especially during a specific scene at the end), as well as more action scenes to appease the funders. Therefore, I'm not sure how to rate it. I can't rate it from my normal Herzog scale because it would fall low - a 3 out of 5. But if I rate it from just a major feature film rating scale it would be a 4.5 out of 5. Few major films deal with war in this nature, and it was refreshing to not see a film that glorifies war. I especially liked that the prison guards were so humanized in this film, which is in stark contrast to how Americans generally view our enemies.

Finally, I should mention that I thought Steve Zahn did an AMAZING job. Christian Bale was obviously very talented, but I wasn't expecting Zahn to be so awesome.

Graham asked a question that I can't answer, which is "Why did Herzog make this film in the first place?" I'm sure if I read a bit more about his intentions I'd find out, but I'm feeling a bit lazy right now.

Related:
Herzog interview on Fresh Air

Metacritic reviews

Rescue Dawn Web site