Gettysburg: A Movie Review of Sorts

I never thought I'd write a movie review here, though I suppose it's more of a movie memoir then an actual review. The 150^th anniversary of the three-day battle of Gettysburg was July 1^st through 3^rd of this year, so my husband and I sat down to watch the 1993 theatrical movie Gettysburg, all 271 minutes of it. We had not watched it in several years, though we had in the past seen it many, many, MANY times...

We first stumbled upon this film on a motel TV one summer during our yearly trek back east to visit family. Our son, who was in fourth grade at the time, was drawn to the battle scenes and asked if he could watch it. It was surprisingly unbloody for a war movie, so Jim and I let the kids watch it. When we returned home from our travels, Andy asked to get the movie out of the library so we could see the parts we had missed at the motel. He asked for the VHS copy for his birthday, and, as an adult, purchased the DVD. This movie cemented Andy's budding interest in history, though as a child, this interest was mainly focused on anything that had to do with guns and battles. (Side note on boys and their love of guns: It appears to be a genetic predisposition. Not allowing toy guns in the house does not prevent surprisingly accurate replicas of pistols, made of cardboard and scotch tape, from appearing, nor does it prevent one's son from using an overgrown zucchini quite effectively as a rifle during summer battles with other kids.)

From the start, Gettysburg has a different feel from most other war movies. The script of the movie was taken from Michael Shaara's excellent and very readable historical novel, The Killer Angels (in this case, more history than novel). The main cast does a good job in their roles – Martin Sheen is believable as Robert E. Lee, Tom Berenger as a brooding James Longstreet, and Stephen Lang as the both light-hearted and tragic George Pickett. Look for brief cameos by Ken Burns and Ted Turner. Jeff Daniels as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, and C. Thomas Howell as his brother Tom, are excellent as two lesser known historical figures and provide the movie with a perfect and extremely poignant ending, difficult to pull off when telling the story of a battle where 50,000 men died over a three-day confrontation.

But the reason the movie comes across as so different from other war movies is that the battle scenes – and there are many – are almost completely staged and acted not by professional actors but by men, hundreds and hundreds of them, in Civil War reenactment regiments. The Civil War is a serious hobby for these men, and they pay close attention to every aspect of historical detail. The actor Sam Elliott, who portrays Union General John Buford in the film, sums it up like this: 

 

I think we're really fortunate to have those people involved. In fact, they couldn't be making this picture without them; there's no question about that. These guys come with their wardrobe, they come with their weaponry. They come with all the accoutrements, but they also come with the stuff in their head and the stuff in their heart.

And the stuff in their heads and hearts does make this movie unique.

This movie, well over four hours in length, is not for everyone. The battles will be perceived as overly long by some, as will some of the speeches, though most of these are dramatically gripping. Highlights: Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain's speech to the 2^nd Maine; his conversation with his sergeant, Buster Kilrain, about why they are fighting the war; the battle of Little Round Top; anything Robert E. Lee has to say; Lewis Armistead's explanation to a British emissary about the composition of his regiment. Also, this movie is appropriately sexist, with only two women briefly appearing in it, one with a short spoken line. Blink, and you'll miss them. And then there are the beards...Jeff Daniels sports a pretty magnificent 1860s Fu Manchu, but Tom Berenger's beard is a bit over the top as are a few others. To be fair, however, the actors were made to look as closely as possible to the historical figures they were portraying. The credits themselves are worth watching just to see the striking similarity in appearance of the two, with side by side photos of the the actors and the historical figures they played.

I do not like violent or war movies in general, but I love this film. It neither glorifies war nor tries to shock or gross you out. It shows both the noble character of the men who fought in this battle as well as their spiritual underpinnings and moral misgivings. I do have to admit, upon the recent rewatching of this movie, that one of the reasons I love Gettysburg is because of the deep and lasting family memories attached to it – Andy, listening with rapt attention during the long speeches; rewinding the tape to watch the battle of Little Round Top (again!); asking me to make him a Civil War uniform as a Halloween costume; Brigette, only about seven or eight at the time, sitting and watching the film peaceably with her brother, experiencing her first movie actor crush on Jeff Daniels as Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (I can see why. He was handsome and noble and had some of the most endearing dialogue and scenes.).Until recently, I believed that Claire, the oldest child and in early adolescence during the first years of the Gettysburg obsession, had been immune from any lasting impact. In telling her about our recent rewatching, she admitted to shouting out General Armistead's “For Virginia!” when she needs a rallying cry to motivate people. And then there's Jim. Known for his habit of repeatedly quoting movie lines for at least six months after seeing a film, he received a lifetime's supply of quotable dialogue that he has used far too often over the past almost twenty years since first seeing this film. “Hear me – It is entirely my fault!” Jim will quote Robert E. Lee when something goes wrong. Or “There's no time for that!” when someone dawdles. It's all I can do to resist coming back with “General... I'll tell you plain. There are times when you worry me...”

General, soldiering has one great trap: to be a good solider you must love the army. To be a good commander, you must be willing to order the death of the thing you love. We do not fear our own death you and I. But there comes a time...We are never quite prepared for so many to die. Oh, we do expect the occasional empty chair. A salute to fallen comrades. But this war goes on and on and the men die and the price gets ever higher. We are prepared to lose some of us, but we are never prepared to lose all of us. And there is the great trap, General. When you attack, you must hold nothing back. You must commit yourself totally. We are adrift here in a sea of blood and I want it to end. I want this to be the final battle.

- Robert E. Lee to James Longstreet, from the movie Gettysburg