Man vs. War

I don’t know much about director Werner Herzog’s filmography, but I know this: You must watch his latest.

Rescue Dawn is based on the true story of Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale, phenomenal as usual), a German-born U.S. Navy pilot who, on his first Vietnam mission, was shot down over Laos in 1966 and held in a jungle prison by Pathet Lao soldiers.

The film is a lush exercise in naturalistic intensity; the cast is harrowing and raw, the scenery beautiful but treacherous.

Much like he did in The Machinist, Bale Methods his way on screen, in another transformative performance as a man that by Herzog’s account perhaps was too cocky for his own good but knew how to use this quality to his advantage.

With Rescue Dawn, writer-director Herzog succeeds because of that…because he dares to introduce us to a hero who is flawed in such a fundamental way he knows risking it all is his only way out of his prison. It’s not just courage what we see but instinct.

Bale’s Dengler isn’t afraid of failing – he’s afraid of not trying (which, I guess, you can say about the actor as well, given that he isn’t afraid to go there...wherever the part leads). Despair he can handle, but not giving up.

Through the capture and the torture, Dengler remains convinced his fate will be different than that of the other Thai and American POWs he rallies to escape, one of them played by Steve Zahn, who is nothing short of a revelation.

As U.S. helicopter pilot Duane Martin, Zahn, having resolved to wait for rescue that never came, is brought back to life, given a reason to hope. The actor in turn earns a brand new level of thespian respectability that is long overdue.

Although the film misfires just a tad toward the end, with an ending short on what-happened-next detail, it still is something to behold.

My Rating ***1/2

Photo: MGM.