The attacks of September 11th, 2001, had a profound impact on the American film industry, as many films dealing with similar or related themes were inevitably compared to real-life events. This influence extended beyond existing films to those in production, with some delayed due to concerns about their tone or subject matter being inappropriate post-9/11. One such film was Buffalo Soldiers, a 2001 black comedy directed by Greg Jordan, which faced postponement until a shift in the political climate made its release viable.
Based on Richard O'Connor's novel, the plot unfolds in West Germany at the Cold War's end. With Soviet invasion becoming less likely, American troops guarding the Free World are becoming bored out of their minds and engage in all kinds of misbehaviour, like abusing drugs and crushing cars of hapless West German civilians with their tanks. Specialist Ray Elwood (played by Joaquin Phoenix) takes a more entrepreneurial approach, orchestrating heroin production and arms smuggling with fellow soldiers. Amidst this chaos, Colonel Wallace Berman (played by Ed Harris), the oblivious battalion commander, remains unaware of Elwood's affair with his wife (played by Elizabeth McGovern). The arrival of tough Sergeant Robert K. Lee (played by Scott Glen) disrupts Elwood's illicit activities, leading to escalating personal conflicts, including an affair with Lee's daughter Robyn (played by Anna Paquin).
Buffalo Soldiers premiered on September 7th, 2001. It isn’t hard to understand why Miramax opted not to distribute it after the whole social climate in America changed four days later. In a country which went to great pains to describe “men and women of armed forces” as noble and heroic defenders of democracy it was hard to accept the film where those same men and women are portrayed as murderers, drug dealers and other examples of human filth. Thankfully for Miramax, war in Iraq created enough of anti-military sentiment in USA for Buffalo Soldiers to become acceptable for American audience and later enjoy even greater acceptance abroad.
If Buffalo Soldiers is indeed “anti-American” or “anti-military”, it is only in a sense that it shows some unpleasant truths that aren’t limited to the world’s greatest superpower. The sorry state of US military depicted in the film is even explicitly explained through the protagonist’s opening narration – after Vietnam War and abolition of draft, there was very little chance of military being the reflection of American society in general. In other words, when prosperous industrial nations make their militaries professional, they are bound to be faced with militaries comprised of those people who are marginalised because of their skin colour, low education, low income, low intelligence, criminal tendencies or all of that. And, as Robert Aldrich implicitly suggested in The Dirty Dozen, certain qualities that make a good soldier would be completely unacceptable for individuals in civilian life. This heretical thesis is explicitly stated in Buffalo Soldiers – the more humane and scrupulous character is, the less likely it is that he would make a fine soldier and vice versa.
One of the greatest achievements of Buffalo Soldiers is in the way it delivers such ultimately depressive content in humorous fashion. Even more important is ability of screenwriter Eric Weiss to avoid some of Hollywood clichés, especially those related to the protagonist. Elwood, brilliantly played by Joaquin Phoenix, is anti-hero whose actions might look despicable, but they are only reflections of a society; in other words, Elwood might be corrupt, but he isn’t better or worse than the very system to whom he belongs. What is even more important is his humanity – the film suggests that Elwood might have something of a conscience, but, unlike conventional Hollywood films, he doesn’t get one great epiphany at the end.
Unfortunately, Buffalo Soldiers did succumb to certain Hollywood conventions. The most noticeable is obligatory romantic subplot involving Sergeant Lee’s daughter – although Anna Paquin again shows his great acting ability, the whole romance is too distracting and blunts the satiric edge of the film. Even more annoying is heavy-handed symbolism at the very end. However, even with such flaws, Buffalo Soldiers is a dark, entertaining and thought-provoking film that could be recommended to pacifists and militarists alike.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
(Note: Original version of the review is available here.)
Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/ InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo
Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax 1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e
BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
