RESCUE DAWN
RESCUE DAWN |
 |
Based on his own documentary, Werner Herzog dramatises the story of little Dieter, a German pilot who needs to fly. | score 3+ |
moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable) |
| FIND A MOVIEREVIEW |
| Cast Christian Bale, Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies, Francois Chau, Marshall Bell, Zach Grenier Director Werner Herzog Screenwriter Werner Herzog Country USA Rating / Running Time MA / 126 minutes Australian Release November 2007 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2007
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
Throughout
his idiosyncratic career, Werner Herzog has always been an
uncompromising director. As such, he’s never crossed the line
into mainstream cinema, the closest being his 1973 Amazonian epic Aguirre, Wrath of God.
Although such a comparison is like putting David Lynch in bed with,
say, John Woo. So this rather traditionally styled movie comes as
something of a surprise. Herzog has made his first English language
film in the Hollywood tradition – a prison breakout based on his
own 1997 documentary, Little Dieter Needs to Fly. Dieter (Christian Bale), a German-born American pilot is sent on a secret mission and falls behind enemy lines in pre-war Vietnam. For the next two hours he and his POW pals (a dour, against type Steve Zahn and the irritatingly twitchy Jeremy Davies) plot their way to freedom. Rescue Dawn is several films in one, as if Herzog isn’t fully comfortable with the choices he’s made. There are moments of sublime beauty – Dieter atop a craggy outpost wondering how it all went so wrong. There are ubiquitous morale boosters of jolly GI’s at HQ. Other scenes of raw intensity in the prison camp are heartbreaking. Ultimately, Dieter is an ingenious man whose determination sees him through some of the most horrific circumstances that war can bring. Bale does a splendid job with Zahn no less convincing in his most unlikely, and enjoyable, role in years. Yet truth certainly does get in the way of a good story. The reality of Dieter’s circumstances is often so fantastical that Herzhog has trouble making it believable. The film’s payoff is a serious offender, arriving like a dropped scene from Top Gun. The schizophrenic tone robs Rescue Dawn of much of its glory as the film jerks audiences between Herzog at his best, and Hollywood at its worst. // COLIN FRASER |