Gods and Generals (2003, VHS)

Gods and Generals: A Civil War Film of Epic Proportions.

The American Civil War was the bloodiest war in American history, with over 620,000 deaths occurring between 1861 and 1865. Accurate portrayals of this conflict in the film industry usually leaves lots of room for criticism, and the accuracy is usually lacking. However, the movie Gods and Generals is a refreshing exception to this. Spanning the years 1861 to 1863, the film is a portrayal of three major battles, and puts a human face on the war, as well as on some of the generals who fought and commanded it. It is quite a lengthy movie, almost four full hours, and comes with a fifteen-minute intermission. The film s length coupled with the fact that the topic is historical in nature may be factors that elicit a negative response, but this reviewer is a lover of history, and American Civil War history in particular, and I am of a mind that the film isn t long enough! Gods and Generals is a prequel to the film Gettysburg from 1992. Gettysburg was based on the book The Killer Angels , written by Michael Shaara. Gods and Generals was written by Jeff Shaara, the son of Michael Shaara, and it is this book that the film Gods and Generals is based. The movie has some really fine acting from Robert Duvall, who plays Robert E. Lee, Stephen Lang, who plays Stonewall Jackson, and Jeff Daniels as Joshua L. Chamberlain. What follows is a lengthy plot summary with character development, and a review of this film.

The Plot/Character Development.

We begin the movie with a wonderful visual and musical introduction, in which we get to see some of the wonderful regimental flags, fluttering and waving in the breezes. In the opening scene, we meet Colonel Robert E. Lee, who is played by actor Robert Duvall, and he is being offered command of the Union army by a Mr. Blair, but he gently and firmly refuses, because his heart is with his country , that is, Virginia. My home lies just across that river , he says, pointing to his Arlington, Virginia house, and it will soon be enemy soil . We then move on to the Virginia Military Institute, where we are introduced to Thomas J. Jackson, as he rigidly teaches a course to mesmerized students. Secessionitis is definitely in the air, and we get a feel for it as the American flag, the flag of the Union, is taken down, desecrated, and replaced with a new flag. Jackson, played by actor Stephen Lang, is a complex character, very religious, cold and rigid at times, and compassionate at other times. He is the artillery expert at V. M. I., and is called upon to serve in the provisional army of Virginia. At the Virginia legislature, there is a rousting vote for secession from the Union, and the recruitment of Robert E. Lee as General of the Army, is announced. Among the delegates are the current Senators Phil Gram (with outlandish white sideburns!), of Texas, and Senator Byrd of West Virginia.

The movie moves on, the first hour or so being devoted to matters in the South, including sons and husbands and fathers taking up arms, and going off to prepare for the upcoming war. We get a very human face being put on the war, and the common people who were involved in it. We focus on Thomas J. Jackson, in charge of artillery at Virginia Military Institute, and meet his attentive wife. It turns out that he loves his wife intensely, is a devoted, and God fearing family man. He is chosen to be a colonel in the fledgling Confederate army, that later becomes the Army of Northern Virginia. He takes command of a brigade, and reminds them that they are the first brigade of the army in all things. Then they board a train and head for Manassas Junction, to join the army commanded by P. G. T. Beauregard, who are fighting the Union troops at Bull Run (June, 1861). The battle is a disorganized mess, with the rebs using a variety of different uniforms, and undisciplined and green troops meleeing, retreating and attacking in disorder being the order for the day. Jackson and his brigade take up position on Henry House Hill, and observe as General Bee s men attack, and then retreat and rout through them. As Bee tries to rally his men, he says look, there stands Jackson, like a stone wall . The name stuck, and Jackson s troops attack, with the bayonet, a battery of Union cannons, and the tide is turned, and the Union troops rout.

We then change focus and meet a professor of natural and revealed religions and philosophy at Bowdoin College, named Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, played by actor Jeff Daniels. He firmly believes that the Confederacy is basing their cause for independence and freedom, is one based and steeped in hypocrisy: that is, how can a group of peoples who claim to love independence and freedom, keep in slavery and bondage, a whole race of men in chattel slavery? We meet Chamberlain s wife, Fannie, next, who knows that he is going to sign up to fight in the upcoming war. After a sorrowful and tearful realization of this, they part, and he goes on to join the 20th Maine Regiment, to which he has been appointed as colonel, second in command to Colonel Adelbert Ames. Ames teaches the arts of command to Chamberlain from an army officer s manual, and he drills the recruits, especially to be able to form and reform from marching to line of battle, as this will be a crucial maneuver, and usually performed under fire . We find that Chamberlain s brother, Tom, has also joined the regiment. Chamberlain also meets Sergeant Buster Kilrain here as well, to whom he begins a fond friendship.

The film now moves on to the future, to December of 1862 to the town of Fredericksburg, Virginia. From here, we meet more and more generals on both sides. We see Robert E. Lee, now in command of the Army of Northern Virginia, now General Stonewall Jackson, Generals Longstreet, Kemper, Pickett, Armisted, A. P. Hill, and more. We meet some Union generals too, Ambrose Burnside is the leader of the Army of the Potomac, and he is a genial, dapper, man, but not really fit to command and army. General Winfield Scott Hancock, one of his subordinates, come in to his headquarters to suggest the strategy of moving a division of Union troops across the Rappahannock River, into the town of Fredericksburg before Lee gets there, and possibly to take the heights beyond the town. Burnside refuses to move until the pontoon bridges come up.
Hancock is now pessimistically convinced of the upcoming battle and slaughter of boys in blue. When they finally do cross, Lee and his army are firmly entrenched on the heights beyond town, and in the town itself. A pontoon bridge is built, with a lot of sniping halting the building, and Union troops swarm across the river. Before them, a great host of civilians manage to flee for their lives to safety behind rebel lines. Finally, the huge 100,000 man army crosses the river, and the hopeless head on attack begins, brigade by brigade, on Marye s Heights, at the bottom of which is a stone wall, behind which Confederate troops are massed and entrenched. One attack follows another, one bloody charge, repulsed with great slaughter (as E. P. Alexander, Lee s chief artillery commander says not even a chicken could live in that field when we open on it ). The second charge is made by the Irish Brigade, attacking Irish troops from Georgia. The third charge includes the 20th Maine Regiment. All charges are bloodily repulsed with great loss, and the regiment is pinned down by enemy fire as they try to retire from the field, and have to spend the night at the foot of Marye s Heights in the cold. It is here that they all see the Aurora Borealis, the famous northern lights, in the clear night sky. Under cover of darkness, the next night, the regiment and army manage to make a good retreat back across the river. It is here that the folly of the attack is made plain, with over 13,000 Union casualties taken for no gain of ground, no objective realized. Lee, looking down on the devastation, utters a famous quote: "It is good that war is so terrible, otherwise we would grow too fond of it".

Both armies settle in for the winter, and Christmas arrives, 1862. Both armies by and large have to spend the time in winter quarters, but the Confederate high command manages to stay in a warm cozy house. It is here that Jackson, who has received news that his wife has born him a newborn daughter, comes in contact with a charming and lovely five year old girl, whom he sort of adopts and becomes attached to. They stay here for five months, and during that time, Jackson orders a trio of rebel deserters to be shot. Finally, the army is put on full alert, as the Union troops are up to something. Jackson learns the little girl dies of scarlet fever, and weeps bitterly (the first and only time his troops saw him do so).

Lee and Jackson hold a council of war, in May, and speculate that the Union general, now General Hooker, is up to something. General J. E. B. Stuart learns that they have moved part of their huge army upstream, in a great flanking maneuver. Lee decides, with Jackson, that he should divide his army, now outnumbered two to one, to outflank the flankers. To do this, Jackson finds a man who knows the back roads of the Wilderness near Chancellorsville, to show him a way to go silently around the blue bellies, and take them by surprise. In a smashing sequence, Jackson takes 18,000 men on a 14-mile forced march, silently behind Union lines, and attacks. The Yankees are taken totally by surprise, and retreat in great rout and disorder. Night falls, and Jackson and his staff are on reconnaissance, when fate strikes. A small group of Confederate pickets shoot at them, and hit Jackson twice, once in the left arm near the shoulder, and once in the hand. He has to have his arm amputated, and soon succumbs to pneumonia. In a very moving sequence, he is joined by his wife and friends, and finally dies, while giving orders to A. P. Hill and his last words are Let us cross over the river, and rest in the shade of the trees". Lee has yet another famous line: "He has lost his left arm, and I have lost my right".

Review.

What I like.

Continuity and Acting.

I think that Gods and Generals is one of the best movies to date on the American Civil War, minus perhaps Gettysburg of 1992, to which it is a prequel. There is continuity of action and characters first of all. Most of the actors from Gettysburg are here portraying the characters that they portrayed in that film. For instance, Jeff Daniels plays Joshua L. Chamberlain again, his brother is played again by C. Thomas Howell, General Kemper is played by the same actor as in the other film, as well as Winfield Scott Hancock, Lee s aide, and others. We do have some divergence here, as Stephen Lang, who played General Pickett in Gettysburg , now plays Stonewall Jackson, and does so in an outstanding acting performance. Lee is now played by Robert Duvall, instead of Martin Sheen, and does a fine job.

One could say that this film is about General Stonewall Jackson, as his character really dominates the film. Stephen Lang portrays the eccentric Jackson and shows us a very human side to the legend. The historical Jackson is said to have been a grim and pious blue eyed killer , who constantly sucked on lemons, and raised one hand in battle, and felt that his army was that of the living God. While using some of these attributes, Lang adds more depth to the character, in that he is a man not only of discipline and resolve, but also of a great fear of the lord. The complex Jackson can play with a little girl, and be a wonderful family man, and full of religious piety, yet he can also have three deserters shot at the drop of a hat, and he would drop the hat himself.

Joshua L. Chamberlain is the second most important character we focus on. Continuing his role from Gettysburg , the brilliant yet mild mannered professor brings his wisdom and clarity of thought to this film, quoting Julius Caesar s commentaries before the bloody charge at Fredericksburg that killed so many of his men. He also is a great moral man, pointing out to his young brother the evils of slavery and racism, and that the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln gave a moral authority for the Union to win the war, and a worthy cause for which to fight. Jeff Daniels gives his usual convincing performance, and does a fine acting job again as a slightly heftier Chamberlain.

Robert Duvall plays a good Robert E. Lee, but his role as Lee is somewhat more limited than Sheen s depiction of Lee. He just doesn t get much screen time. His performance is adequate, but I just can t help thinking about his character Augustus Mcray from Lonesome Dove ! However, I think he makes a fine Lee, and I like him more than Sheen.

The War Scenes/Historical Accuracy.

Gods and Generals is a movie about the American Civil War. So, being such a representation, we get some cool battle scenes, three battles in all: Bull Run/Manassas, Fredericksburg, and Chancellorsville. These three battles are all very well represented, and done so in a very historically accurate fashion. I love the fact that the film makers go to great pains to tell us which regiment or brigade this is, that is performing or about to perform the action. I think this information is crucial to the film. Movies like this are a very great tribute to the men who gave the last full measure of honor and duty to their country , North or South. I like the fact that the filmmakers go to great pains in explaining the reasons why each side fought, to preserve the union , a war for independence , a war to end slavery , or a war to repulse the invaders and defend our homes . There is a slight bias to the South here, but this balances out the slight bias to the North in Gettysburg , the sequel to this film. There is a nice contrast between the freedman Jim Lewis, who is Jackson s personal aide, and the female slave who tends the master s house in Fredericksburg, preventing its looting by Union soldiers, and how they both want basically the same thing, the freedom of their people. Ultimately, the movie succeeds in getting the audience to think about these things, and it is all set in the correct historical context.

I also really like the fact that a human side is painted on the war. There are sad partings, sacrifices, sorrow, and acts of compassion, as well as horrid violence in the film. A human face is placed on characters like Jackson and Lee, as well as Chamberlain, his brother, Kilrain, the freedman Jim Lewis, and a common reb soldier who is convinced he will die in the war. There is a very human scene after the battle of Fredericksburg when a Confederate soldier on picket duty on one side of the river calls over for Billy Yank to talk. The Yank asks, Do you have a lame horse? and offers to trade General Burnside for him. Johnny Reb answers, I ll keep the horse . Then the two meet in the middle of the river to trade tobacco and coffee with one another. It is a silent meeting, and full of symbolic significance.

Another thing I like is that there were great pains taken to get the correct accents down, so much so that the actors had linguistic coaches, to get a Maine accent correct from the 1860s, as well as a Virginia accent of the same era.

"Gods and Generals" is a very good movie, but does not quite match the greatness of "Gettysburg". The musical score isn't as compelling as that of "Gettysburg".

What I don t like.

I don t like how most people who see such a film complain that it is too boring . History is a subject that has been characterized as boring by so many, that it isn t funny. I find history to be endlessly fascinating, and maybe it is because I have an open mind, and had good history teachers and professors in my time. People also complain that the movie is too boring and too long . Well, my advice is that if you don t like history, or long movies, why did you go to a long history movie? What did you expect to see? Indiana Jones??? Sitting in the theater for four hours is an ordeal for most people. Though I love the subject matter and the movie itself, four hours on my butt tends to get a little uncomfortable. There is a fifteen-minute intermission, which just makes it worse.
Other than that minor complaint, I like everything about the film.

Further information.

Rumor has it that the DVD that will be released of Gods and Generals is a whopping 6 hours long! Some of the footage that was cut from the theatrical release includes 20 minutes of footage with actor John Wilkes Booth, and his performance of Macbeth at Ford s Theater, which was attended by Lincoln. In a historically chilling moment, Booth directs his gaze at Lincoln when he talks about tyrants and despots . It will be interesting to get the DVD, and enjoy it in the comforts of home.

All in all, Gods and Generals is an excellent film. It is full of great acting, wonderful cinematography, accurate history, some not so accurate history, and wonderful action and war sequences. It has a nice musical score as well. While it is a long movie, it is certainly worthy of your time to see.
I can t wait to see the last movie in the trilogy, The Last Full Measure !

by James P. Zaworski