LANGUAGE & CONTENT WARNING
During Black History Month, we review this seminal Civil War epic about the first official black regiment….the 54th Massachusetts Infantry led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw played by Matthew Broderick. This story follows his efforts to get his men the opportunity to fight the Confederates along with the training and evolutions of several black soldiers including Trip played by Denzel Washington (which he won an Oscar for), Thomas played by Andre Braugher, and Rawlins played by Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman.
We witness both the struggles and triumphs of this group of men as they not only attempt to fight the South but also for respect and even basic provisions from the racist leadership of the Northern Army. Ed Zwick directed this stirring tale which has no shortage of highly memorable sequences in and out of warfare. (Warning- use of racial slurs in movie clips)
Host: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon
https://livingforthecinema.com/
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LANGUAGE & CONTENT WARNING
During Black History Month, we review this seminal Civil War epic about the first official black regiment….the 54th Massachusetts Infantry led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw played by Matthew Broderick. This story follows his efforts to get his men the opportunity to fight the Confederates along with the training and evolutions of several black soldiers including Trip played by Denzel Washington (which he won an Oscar for), Thomas played by Andre Braugher, and Rawlins played by Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman.
We witness both the struggles and triumphs of this group of men as they not only attempt to fight the South but also for respect and even basic provisions from the racist leadership of the Northern Army. Ed Zwick directed this stirring tale which has no shortage of highly memorable sequences in and out of warfare. (Warning- use of racial slurs in movie clips)
Host: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon
https://livingforthecinema.com/
#livingforthecinema #moviereviews #glory #denzelwashington #morganfreeman #matthewbroderick #civilwar #andrebraugher #blackhistory #edzwick #jameshorner #harlemboyschoir
https://livingforthecinema.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Living-for-the-Cinema-Podcast-101167838847578
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/livingforthecinema/
Letterboxd:
https://letterboxd.com/Living4Cinema/
CONTENT & LANGUAGE WARNING - use of racial slurs in movie clips
GLORY - 1989
Directed by Ed Zwick (Audio clip)
Starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, Andre Braugher, Cary Elwes, Jihmi Kennedy, John Finn, and Cliff DeYoung
Genre: Civil War Drama
SPOILER ALERT - The ending of the film is discussed off the bat...
This was probably the first war movie I ever saw in theaters...at least if we're not counting Rambo III. And as a sheltered suburban 14 year old not having seen anything like that final Battle for Fort Wagner on the big screen before, I can somewhat remember just feeling broken by the last 40 minutes of this movie....it's a genuine gut-punch and props to the director Ed Zwick for seeing it through. I mean we have already watched several characters we have grown to care about over the previous 80 minutes figuratively fight tooth and nail every step of the way JUST to get to THIS point....where they can feel a few fleeting minutes of the titular glory as they march towards that beach....only to watch EVERY single one of them (I think) eventually get wiped out by the Confederates through to the end credits. :/
It's unsparing and inspiring at the same time which feels strange to even think. On the unsparing side, you COULD view the direction this film takes towards its conclusion as a very clear-cut anti-war message....having recently seen Gallipoli for the first time, it's almost as if you took the tragic, sudden ending of that World War I story....but extended it and multiplied times 100. We're watching most of the 54th Massachusetts regiment of the Union Army march into almost certain death...and we're reminded that the Confederates DID win this particular battle as we see the Confederate flag raised up over the fort the following morning and…..THEN to close out the movie, we see images of the corpses of many soldiers from the 54th piled into mass graves.
And yet you could also easily call it inspiring because it feels as if most of our main characters at least have some agency...at least as much as many former slaves could have….faced with mostly shitty choices. Besides the patriotic leanings of some I'm sure, many WANTED to have this opportunity to take the fight directly against The South....and we especially see this set in motion with that quiet side conversation late in the movie between Denzel's Private Trip and Broderick's Colonel Shaw. Trip tells Shaw that he just cannot take on this honor of carrying the flag in the next battle....and beyond that, he's not here to fight for the Colonel nor the Union…..he's doing it for himself. (Audio clip) And then we see in the very next scene, Shaw volunteers his men to lead that siege on Fort Wagner...which he has already been told is an assignment likely to result in massive casualties. As tragic as the outcome was, it was a point of pride for the men of the 54th to lead this battle to demonstrate that they could...
Regardless of how you view the ending, it remains a pretty powerful conclusion to a very effective movie which all these decades later, I still find to be highly rewatchable thanks to all of the craft that went into it....especially several strong performances from a top-flight cast who bring great dimension to their characters despite often having to compete for screentime. Yeah, it's pretty impressive how many different effective arcs are packed into barely two hours of runtime...
There's Private Jupiter, the deeply religious and sadly illiterate former slave played with warmth and passion by Jihmi Kennedy - he gives a moving religious speech towards the end around that campfire with the rest of the regimen. He speaks in broken Southern English which in the hands of a lesser actor could come off as cartoonish but he delivers it with dignity. (Audio clip) I always wanted to see more from this actor and also remember him fondly from Gung Ho a couple of years earlier.
Multiple Emmy Award-winner Andre Braugher made his big-screen debut playing Thomas, the aristocratic Bostonian who was already long-time friends with Broderick's Shaw for years before the war and is beside himself with excitement to join the Union's first black regiment. Of course, he's in for a rude awakening not only realizing he has a LONG way to go to become an effective soldier but also getting a small taste of what many Southern blacks at the time were experiencing. (Audio clip) His arc is difficult to watch at times but Braugher's subtle, affecting performance makes it worthwhile....he low-key delivers what MIGHT be this film's best performance overall. (Relax...I said "might")
Speaking of Denzel...it's almost universally agreed upon that he gives THE performance of this movie as the defiant Private Trip, a former runaway slave with a justifiably huge chip on his shoulder...who nonetheless has a knack for aggravating most of his fellow soldiers by throwing that anger in every possible direction, especially Braugher's Thomas. It's really hard to argue with the common sentiment that Denzel steals this movie as he deservedly won an Oscar for it and he's the focal point of several scenes which most remember from this movie. (Audio clip)
But beyond that, Denzel delivers what on paper was likely a very treacherous performance - this character is mostly an aggressive asshole to everyone around him for most of his screentime, he often makes it hard to see him as sympathetic which is the general idea. He portrays a very tough shell to crack, doing that with charisma and even some humor along the way - early on, I always found his crack about running for President to be disarming. :) (As did others in the cast apparently.) But even more, disarming and a genuinely powerful moment is at that same campfire sequence late in the movie, watching his Trip pretty much beside himself with emotion that he doesn't have the words to express himself... (Audio clip)
He shares this moment with Morgan Freeman's Sgt Major Rawlins who has strongly encouraged him to speak...and Freeman's performance is very much the heart of this movie. Before enlisting, his character was a gravedigger and he spends much of the first half of this movie simply observing others - he's pretty quiet initially but we watch as he becomes an increasingly outspoken leader for the regimen. And it's during several key sequences in Glory that the modern God-like acting persona of Freeman is truly born. And we’ll get to one of those key moments a bit later…
Beyond that, Cary Elwes gives a strong performance as the increasingly empathetic Major Forbes who was also Shaw's friend before the war - he and Broderick have several good contentious moments together, though probably a few too many at the expense of the African Americans in the cast. (Audio clip) (This has been a common criticism of this film years after its release.)
That leaves Broderick...but we’ll get to him a bit later. Yes, this story and this film would have been served better if you swapped about 20 minutes of Broderick's screentime with that of Braugher, Freeman, Kennedy, and Washington...allowing their characters to be fleshed out a bit more. :/ But I do get why this happened the way it did - of this film's stars, Broderick was by far the biggest name AT the time in '88, his casting was probably important towards the financing of this movie. If this same film was developed and produced today, I would hope that there would be a fairer representation.
As it is, this film still very much works from an emotional standpoint. 30+ years after first seeing this, Glory still leaves a mark on me - it tells a powerful story about a key part of American history that just hadn't been told on this scale before and I'm glad it was made.
Best Needle drop (best song cue or score used throughout the runtime of the film):
Much of the credit for the majesty of Glory must also go to the late, great James Horner composing one of his greatest scores. The themes we hear throughout are inspiring and ICONIC, also very much due to amazing contributions from the Harlem Boys Choir whose vocals soar at just the right moments! My personal highlight of this score is the rousing march which plays about 60% of the way through when we see the 54th march for the first time through South Carolina….past several plantations in full uniform, proud in and in charge! This scene is capped off with a nice moment of a few Southern black kids running up alongside the march and Freeman’s Rawlins’ happily shouting to them, “Our Kingdome come, year of Jubilee!” as he pumps his fist. The track is fittingly called “The Year of Jubilee” and it’s punctuated with retro-sounding flutes (meant to sound like they are from the ‘1800s) and of course that rousing chorus! (Audio clip)
Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):
Now with regards to Broderick….wow talk about casting and performance which to this day has always been a lightning rod for criticism of this movie. :o Do I think he was miscast? Well yes and no....he WAS the same age as the real Robert Gould Shaw, a very wet-behind-the-ears rich kid at the time who did seem out of his depth at times - casting Broderick just a couple of years after he played Ferris Bueller actually makes a lot of sense on paper. And he has several strong moments towards the end of the film especially just before that final battle when we see him staring out at the ocean one last time....almost in tears knowing the fate that awaits him as James Horner's emotionally-charged score starts to swell.
The problem is more when he speaks....well the voice-over narration generally works as he usually conveys the stately tone which would come via letters written home to his mother. (Real letters from the real Shaw would actually provide much of the basis for this story.) But when he's dressing others down, it's rough at times - his attempts at a New England accent go in and his appearances as an authority are often upstaged by Elwes who I actually think would have been a better choice for this role. It's a shame as you can tell that Broderick was really going for it at the time, trying his best to shake his '80's teeny-bopper image in much the same way as Michael J. Fox earlier this same year when he starred in Brian DePalma's underrated Vietnam drama, Casualties of War....key difference being that at least, Fox was allowed to sound like himself at the time.
(Audio clip)
Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):
This is SUCH a stacked category including so many emotional moments that it’s difficult to narrow it down….which I will attempt by listing THREE.
First, of course, it likely goes without saying that Denzel’s single-tear staredown with Broderick as his character Trip is being publicly flogged is one for the ages - it's just a moment of pride burned in the brain for anyone who saw this, it's no wonder he became a star in the wake of this.
My second one belongs to Morgan Freeman though it’s one that he shares with Denzel. About 2/3 of the way through this movie, we witness a critical moment between two POWERHOUSE actors – Freeman and Washington - when his Rawlins stops an angry rant from Denzel's Trip in its tracks with a LOUD smack to the face is ....followed by a fierce monologue punctuated with the loud repeated phrase, "Like MEN!!!!" Freeman just destroys with this scene! (Audio clip)
And I know this might be unusual but MY favorite moment in the film actually occurs very late in the movie when we see Braugher’s Thomas let out a PIERCING battle cry as he waves his bayonet in the air before helping lead that final charge into Fort Wagner. It's about as gratifying a moment of witnessing someone unleash his inner warrior as I can recall! (Audio clip)
MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):
While you could easily make the case that this IS Denzel’s movie at the end of the day, I’m going to spread the wealth a bit more. This movie simply does NOT work without a trio of truly great performances from actors playing characters with THREE distinct points of view….and that would be Trip, Rawlins, and Thomas. It’s essential to see how these three play off of each other to get a better understanding of the black experience at this particular time in history and for that reason, Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman, and Andre Braugher are co-MVP’s.
(Audio clip)
Final Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5
At the end of the day, this is STILL a great movie. Even though you could make a solid case that this movie could not have been made on the scale it was made without him, the Broderick part of this movie is always going to nag at me a bit. Glory remains a movie worthy of multiple watches not only because of its historical significance but the sheer brilliance of most of its storytelling.
Streaming on Hulu, Paramount Plus, and Epix
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Host: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon
https://livingforthecinema.com/
#livingforthecinema #moviereviews #glory #denzelwashington #morganfreeman #matthewbroderick #civilwar #andrebraugher #blackhistory #edzwick #jameshorner #harlemboyschoir