Glory

Glory is perhaps the best Civil War movie ever made, despite being directed by a middle-brow director and being somewhat problematic in how it treats its main subject.

Released in 1989, and directed by Edward Zwick, Glory tells the story of the 54th Massachusetts, the first Union division that used African American troops. If you've ever been in Boston Common, and seen the memorial bas relief sculpture by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, you may agree with me that it may be the most moving memorial in the United States. These black men exemplify courage, and thinking about their sacrifice should give you a lump in your throat.

The film almost gives them the treatment they deserve. However, the main character in the film is Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), the commanding officer chosen to lead this grand experiment. He was a historical figure, the son of abolitionists. The black soldiers are all fictional, and a bit of the old-fashioned platoon collection of characters. There's the natural leader (Morgan Freeman), the hotheaded young man who isn't sure what he is fighting for (Denzel Washington), the educated freeman (Andre Braugher), and a simple farm boy. Jihmi Kennedy. In fact, I believe these are the only actors playing soldiers who are given lines (there is a mute drummer boy and Frederick Douglass is given a few lines).

So is Glory another example of the white savior? Not completely. Certainly, as Roger Ebert asked, why didn't we see the film through the eyes of the soldiers, rather than Shaw? The writers couldn't find a historical member of the 54th and shown the story through their perspective? Today that is probably what would happen. In retrospect, we can only be glad that Glory does bend over backwards to give full weight to all the main characters.

While the movie is not completely historically accurate (the climactic battle of Fort Wagner has the Union troops attacking from the north, rather than the south) but it's close enough to be lauded. At the time of release I read an article by noted Civil War scholar James McPherson on how pleasantly surprised he was by the facts that were correct). 

Zwick, who was really made for directing movies of the week, shows remarkable restraint, although the choir soundtrack is a bit much. The photography, by Freddie Francis, won an Oscar, and has many breathtaking shots of filtered sunlight. Washington won his first Oscar as Trip. You won't soon forget the look he gives Broderick when he is being flogged, ribbons of scar tissue already on his back (it should be noted that flogging had been banned by the Army by then).

So if we forget all the modern political implications, Glory is a great film. The battle scenes are both thrilling and awful (casualties were high in the war because tactics had outpaced medical advances). And while Broderick did not get great reviews, I thought his frustration and occasional passivity was perfectly done. Shaw, for all his courage and values, was a man in over his head.

One thing the film does not mention, but should have: Shaw was buried in a mass grave along with his men at Fort Wagner. Surely the Confederacy thought this would be an insult, to be buried in with black men. But Shaw's father said that his son would not want to be buried anywhere else.