Word: lee
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...camp after a raid, Lee imposes a layer of complexity on the film, for George Clyde (Simon Baker) has a black slave, Daniel Holt (Jeffery Wright) in his company. Holt serves the confederate cause, and his unique position as a slave torn between loyalty for his master and boyhood friend, Clyde, and his desire for freedom, adds the most intriguing and ironic layer to the film...
...Each scene becomes more and more reflective of a cinematic game, as the men fight from summer to fall with individual deaths meaning little. Lee's fade-outs to nature are beautiful portraits of the rich Missouri countryside, yet he is almost too proud of his ability to capture these scenes on film. While he tries to establish a distinction between active battle and quiet days at camp, each fade-out is one more step away from the film's chance to redeem itself with a coherent story line. Hints of Lee's genius as a director do show...
...Unfortunately, the plot and screenplay detract from the film's artistic merit. James Schamus' screenplay might reflect the language of the Civil War, yet the dialogue is entirely self-important and melodrama destroys any stake the viewer might have in the plot. Lee wishes to establish the North as a human presence, so Roedel reads some found union letters to the camp. Similarly, Lee has Roedel and Chiles talk under the stars to emphasize the characters' brotherhood...
...film's most distracting element, Jewel, playing the sweet widow Sue Lee Shelley, appears later in the film when Roedel, Chiles, and Holt move to a dugout to wait away the winter. Jewel is surprisingly good at engaging in dialogue, yet she visibly shies away from the camera when she finishes her lines. Lee quickly establishes a romantic relationship between Shelley and Chiles, who sires a child before dying in a federal raid on the dugout. Chiles death scene is sickeningly melodramatic as Roedel and Holt first attempt to amputate Chiles' diseased arm, only to realize that Chiles' death...
...Chiles' death provides the needed pause to prevent the plot and historical subtext from spinning out of control. Lee, who has forgotten about Holt's unique story until now, quickly exploits the uneasy relationship between Southern white women and black male slaves. He also finally allows Holt to express his desire for freedom. Similarly, a Bushwacker sympathizer reveals why he believes the North will win, "They fight because they believe everyone should have liberty and freedom. We fight because we care about ourselves." Lee deserves credit for addressing this astute evaluation of the Civil...