Today is Veteran’s Day, a day set aside to remember and honor those who served our country. I am personally deeply grateful to our troops and delighted to share highlights from three of this year’s films that are moving tributes to our military.
"Taking Chance" is a riveting, unforgettable film directed by Ross Katz that stars Kevin Bacon and pays tribute to the sacrifice of a 19 year old Marine killed in Iraq. The movie is one of the most powerful and moving films I’ve ever seen. Based on the real-life experience of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl and the essay he wrote to remember his journey, "Taking Chance" follows Bacon (Lt. Col Strobl) who volunteers to escort the remains of a young Marine killed in Iraq across the country to his family. It is a simple story, yet an amazingly powerful film that showcases the dedication, professionalism and commitment of our military and honors our deceased troops. The movie not only shows the respect that is paid by the military but also by each person who crosses the path on Bacon’s journey. I saw this movie at Sundance, where there was not a dry eye in the audience. "Taking Chance" premiered on HBO this year and is now available on DVD at Amazon.com. Click here to watch an interview with the director Ross Katz.
"The Hurt Locker," directed by Kathryn Bigelow and winner of the 2008 Venice Film Festival SIGNIS Grand Prize, is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage of our military’s unrecognized heroes: the technicians of a bomb squad who volunteer to challenge the odds and save lives in one of the world’s most dangerous places. In 2004, journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal spent several weeks embedded with a US Army bomb squad operating in one of the most dangerous sections of Baghdad. Boal followed the squad’s movements to get inside the heads of the men whose skills rival those of surgeons—except in their case one false move means they lose their own life rather than the life of a patient. His first-hand observations of their days and nights disarming bombs became the inspiration for "The Hurt Locker" and, eventually, a script that simultaneously strips down the classic American war epic and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as universal as the price of heroism and the limits of bravery in 21st century combat. "The Hurt Locker" is in movie theaters now. Click here to go behind the scenes on location with director Kathryn Bigelow and the cast and crew.
"The Messenger," directed by Oren Moverman stars Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton and tells the story of two Causality Notification Officers who are responsible for the serious task of informing the relatives of soldiers killed in action. In his MakingOf interview, Moverman explains how most films that deal with this subject focus on the family receiving the information of a fallen solider and that he wanted to change this and focus on the people who have to share the news with multiple mothers, fathers, and daughters across the nation. "The Messenger" will hit theaters this weekend and recently won the Silver Bear Award for best screenplay and the Peace Award at the 2009 Berlin International Film Festival. The movie brings audiences into the inner lives of our military heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and dignity. Click here to watch MakingOf’s interview with Oren Moverman.
