35/22
Army sent a volunteer company to patrol the uncharted western territories
Plot
In the winter of 1862, during the Civil War, the U.S. Minervini had a set built in Montana and then let the actor live on it for two months. The dialogue and thoughts expressed are those the actors came up with while living in the desert and imagining themselves as Civil War soldiers.
All have no military experience, knowledge is shared and skills are transferable
The Cursed: In the winter of 1862, a volunteer Union troop is sent to defend a mountainous area, we are not told where it is or the names of the soldiers. After the regular troops leave, they are under the command of a John Brown-style patriarch with a flowing beard and enlisted by his teenage sons. The soldiers are a mixed group, some middle-aged and even older, mostly in their thirties.
A buffalo is shot
We witness mobile guards, shots at distant riders. The bleak landscape, hills, mountain meadows, blowing snow, a low elevation – all this contributes to a growing sense of existential despair. The battle is ongoing, we do not see the enemy, we see the losses of individuals.
Some of them are welcome
War is hell, especially when you no longer know why you are there. A film very much in the style of Ken Loach, without everyday dialogues and with many ordinary people amateurishly playing the role of soldiers. This improvisation leads to philosophical, religious and political discussions around the campfires.
Written and directed by Roberto Minervini, 8/10
But it is a small diversion from this harsh portrayal of people at war.
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