It's hell at Hacksaw Ridge, and that's just the way Mel wants it

Andrew Garfield in action

Mel Gibson is a great one for the mortification of the flesh, whether it’s William Wallace being eviscerated or Christ being scourged and crucified. Perhaps it’s his fundamentalist Roman Catholic upbringing, but there is no doubt that the heroes of his films pay a painful and often bloody price for their redemption.

And when it comes to storytelling Mel plainly has had more than a little of that old time religion. His latest foray behind the camera, Hacksaw Ridge, is an old fashioned war movie that benefits from directorial inventiveness and modern technology to create a film which is brutally effective in communicating the horrors of war and, by extension, the heroism of its main character.

The film combines Gibson’s two favourite themes – religion and violence – in the remarkable true story of Desmond Doss, played by Andrew Garfield, a young Seventh Day Adventist who shuns violence but wants to do his patriotic duty in World War 2. His religious convictions will not allow him to carry a weapon and Doss has to successfully petition a tribunal for the right ‘to go unarmed into the hell of combat’. Having won that right, Doss serves as a medic at the Battle of Okinawa and in one night of staggering heroism saves the lives of 75 men.

The opening scene gives us a taste of what is in store as we find ourselves in the hi-def hell of Gibson’s War in the Pacific. In real life apparently it was an outback farm but with superb production design, terrific cinematography, and judicious FX tiling it becomes a convincing killing ground. This opening is one of three lengthy combat scenes in the film and, apart from raising the bar set by Saving Private Ryan (1998) for graphic realism, they contextualise Doss’s story. Right from the start we know what is in store for him which makes us appreciate his heroism all the more. Gibson also takes the time to introduce us to the other soldiers which gives us an emotional stake that sharpens our interest in the combat scenes

It is to Gibson’s credit that the story remains true to Doss’s principles; normally in films like these there is a moment where the hero has to pick up a gun – Sergeant York (1941) comes to mind – but not here. In fact the film apparently tones down Doss’s heroics. The real story contains many more incidents and, had they included them, the result would have made Captain America look like a slacker.

As it happened I saw this film on the same day that I saw Silence (2016) and although I felt Garfield was miscast by Scorsese, he is perfect in this film and deserves his Oscar nomination. He brings an inner steel to Doss’s character which allows Gibson to avoid too many clichés.

The performances are generally very good, especially Hugo Weaving as Doss’s father, himself a veteran of the First War. To be fair his intervention in his son’s tribunal is one of the film’s cheesier missteps but Weaving brings depth to what could have been a caricature. Similarly Vince Vaughan, for whom I’ve not had much time as a leading man, suggests he may have a future as a character actor.

In the end, the success of Hacksaw Ridge is down to the conviction and commitment of both Garfield and Gibson. There’s an old screenwriting maxim which says that action defines character and that’s exactly what Gibson and Garfield do here and the results are surprisingly effective.