Rescue Dawn

B-

Directed by Werner Herzog

One of my favorite documentaries of all time is Les Blank's "Burden of Dreams" which documents Werner Herzog attempting to film his epic "Fitzcarraldo" which tells the story of an opera enthusiat attempting to build an opera house in the middle of the Amazon. Throughout the documentary, it becomes hilariously obvious how much of a crazy artist Herzog actually was at the time, demanding that scenes be filmed in the most difficult conditions possible, at the risk of everyone's health and sanity. This Herzog is, by all accounts, largely dead and buried, having been replaced with a tamer, more gentle Werner who is now interested in making films that straddle the line between artsy and commerically viable. "Rescue Dawn" is probably the best example of this new Werner, a film that is fronted by Hollywood superstar Christian Bale and is surprisingly conventional in almost every respect.

"Rescue Dawn" tells the story of pilot Dieter, an American whose plane is shot down while flying a mission over Laos. After evading capture for a few days, he is finally nabbed by the local guerillas and brought to a jungle prison where he joins a number of other American prisoners who, Dieter finds out to his horror, have been held there for years. Being a man of action, Dieter almost immediately attempts to hatch an escape plan, an idea which is met with skepticism by his cellmate Duane and utter fear by Duane, a prisoner who is convinced that their release is imminent. The film then focuses on Dieter's attempts at hatching a viable escape plan and at the same time convincing his co-prisoners to go along with it.

Although conventional to a tee, "Rescue Dawn" benefits from strong directing by Herzog and great acting by Bale, Bill Zhan, and Jemery Davies, all of whom do their best to convey the hardships of living with basically no food in awful conditions as well as the psychological toll of being held against your will, unaware of when and if you will ever be released. The film is extremely succesful in establishing intrigue not just in regards to Dieter eventual escape but also in his rapport with his cellmates, many of whom are torn between following Dieter or ratting him out to the guards. "Rescue Dawn" does, however, suffer simply from being ultra-conventional, content with giving us the story we all expected without even a few surprises. In some ways it's a blessing that Herzog simply delivers a film that is enjoyable, intense, and exciting without delving into the politics of the time or trying to wax philosophical on the deeper meanings of armed conflict, but at the same time I expected something more from Herzog who, despite his reputation as a crazy director, is nonetheless immensely talented.