I recently visited the Gettysburg National Military Park for the 156th anniversary of the battle. I also finally got around to watching Gods and Generals, the much maligned prequel to one of my favorite films...
Gods and Generals was released on February 21, 2003. A prequel to the hit film
Gettysburg it is based on the book of the same name by Jeff Shaara (son of the late Micheal Shaara whose Pulitzer Prize winning novel "The Killer Angels" was the basis for
Gettysburg). Ronald Maxwell returns as the writer/director.
The film chronicles the early part of the American Civil War (commonly described at the time as the War of the Rebellion or the War of Northern Aggression) prior to the Battle of Gettysburg. The extended cut (which is the version I saw) is split up into 5 parts: Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksbug, Moss Neck, and Chancellorsville. It focuses throughout on General Stonewall Jackson (portrayed by Stephen Lang who played Pickett in
Gettysburg). Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (played again by Jeff Daniels) is introduced in Part 2, and we see him join the 20th Maine and fight at Fredericksburg along with his brother Thomas and the fictional sergeant Buster Kilrain (C. Thomas Howell and Kevin Conway both reprise their respective roles).
As in
Gettysburg the battle scenes are quite well done, giving the audience just enough information to follow the overall progress of each engagement and portraying the terrible loss of life exacted. This is where Maxwell and cinematographer Kees Van Oostrum really shine. The score, by Randy Edelman along with John Frizzle, is quite good as well, though occasionally a little overly bombastic and generally less consistent then Gettysburg.
The performances too are quite strong, better, in some cases, then in
Gettysburg. The returning actors (Daniels, Howell and Conway) all do a fine job, even if they've visibly aged ten years. Howell, in particular, feels more seasoned and confident in front of the camera then he did in
Gettysburg. Robert Duvall is great as Lee, better then Martin Sheen in fact. While I like Sheen's Lee more then some, I have to admit that he lacks the presence and the gravitas to play the legendary general at times. Duvall brings these qualities to the role while still maintaining the characters sense of humanity. Stephen Lang really delivers despite being recast in a much more prominent role as General Jackson. He may not be as eccentric (or borderline crazy) as the historic Jackson but, as written, he puts in a great performance.
The writing is a bit of a problem as Maxwell fills the film with too many heavy handed speeches and handles the drama with too much stiff solemnity. The characters never come to life the way they did in
Gettysburg. Some of the fault for this may lie with Jeff Shaara but, as I haven't read his book I cannot comment on this. Another problem is that the issue of slavery is handled too delicately and the only black characters seen in the film, a house slave played by Donzaleigh Abernathy and General Jackson's Cook played by Frankie Faison, are loyal to the Confederacy. This is not a problem on its own, but portraying some rebellious slaves would have given the film some much needed balance. In general, the southerners are given much more focus in this film. Besides Lee, Jackson and the aforementioned black characters, the Confederate cause is also championed bu John Wilkes Booth (Chris Conner) in a distracting subplot that attempts to serve as a sort of Greek Chorus, but ends up coming across as pontificating and preachy. Chamberlain is the sole spokesman for the Union, and he's not introduced until almost an hour into the film.
The biggest problem with
Gods and Generals is that it is burdened with too much material. Four hours may have been sufficient (if just barely) to cover one, three day battle, but trying to cover the first two years of the war in that time is not really feasible. Consequently, the film can't decide whether to be a Stonewall Jackson Biopic, a character driven prequel to Gettysburg, or an overview of the breakout of the war. In the end, it doesn't quite succeed at any one of these things.
Score: 6/10
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