Recalling that the film has received rave reviews since its release, I went to see it with the thought of missing a good film. After a few years, although the details of the movie have been blurred in my memory, the scene when I first watched it is still vivid in my memory. Picking up and revisiting it now, it is still as shocking as it was then. It can be seen that it is indeed a good movie worth savoring. Before starting to write, many thoughts came to my mind: writing about faith? Write about war? Write about humanity? Write insist? Write about the director’s ingenuity in portraying details? Or write many moving and tearful moments? When my thoughts are disorganized, I keep watching and accumulating. Finally, a sudden inspiration lighted me up: it turns out that the source of all my emotions comes from Desmond Doss in my heart!
There are a lot of feelings about this film, so I will briefly describe one or two here.
1. Desmond’s growth experience before joining the army. This part is an important foreshadowing for his later decision to join the army, to be a medical soldier whose mission is to save people, and to persist in his belief despite opposition. The film is mainly presented through the following lines:
First, his joining the army is not a random idea, but has been buried in his heart for a long time. It can be seen from four details: First, he took the initiative to go to the hospital to find Dorothy to express his feelings for the second time. At this time, a soldier in military uniform with a serious face injury happened to look at him, and he was shocked; Second, the movie he watched on the first date with Dorothy was “American Government”. When war scenes appeared on the screen, he thought about it; Putting on his military uniform, Desmond winked at his brother, secretly expressing his support for his brother’s approach; fourth, when he told Dorothy that he was going to join the army, he said, “I can’t stay by myself and let others fight for me.”
Second, Desmond’s idea of saving lives didn’t come out of nowhere. It can be confirmed by the following details: First, after he used a belt to stop the bleeding of the injured person and sent him to the hospital, the expression on his face was suddenly stopped by the doctor’s words – “Well done, you may save It was at that moment that he suddenly realized his mission and the idea of saving people from fire and water in his heart; second, he read medical anatomy manuals and worked hard to get closer to his goal; third, He told Dorothy that he decided to become a military doctor so that he could only save people and not kill people.
Again, when Desmond made up his mind to join the army, his family’s opposition failed to stop him. There are two scenes in the film where the father chats with his comrades in the cemetery. In the second time, he found his father and expressed his determination to join the army, but his father objected. Because a person who has personally experienced the hail of bullets and fought with the god of death does not believe in the so-called sublime. The cruel and cold-blooded war caused his father to watch his friends from childhood to adulthood die one by one, and it also caused permanent damage to his heart. He didn’t want his son to experience the ugliness and embarrassment of war again, and he didn’t want him to lose his precious life on the battlefield. When describing the father, there is a detail that is portrayed very well. When the elder brother puts on the military uniform regardless of objections, the twitching of the father’s lips in the words, in just a few seconds, the father’s complex emotions such as anger, sadness, and helplessness are vividly expressed. Although Desmond’s wife, Dorothy, is unwilling to watch her beloved go to the battlefield where life and death are uncertain, but out of love, she supports her husband to pursue his inner thoughts without complaint.
In the end, the main reason for Desmond to persist in his faith in the face of adversity also comes from these growth experiences. It mainly includes two things. First, when he accidentally injured his elder brother in a fight, the shame and remorse in his heart made him start to look at the “Lord’s Prayer” and “Moses’ Ten Commandments” hanging on the wall, so the sixth commandment “Thou shalt not murder” came to be It was deeply embedded in his heart, and perhaps it was from here that he vowed not to use violence again. Second, his father’s frequent beating and scolding of his mother left a deep imprint on his heart. The same scene appeared three times in the film: the first time was when he was a child, he heard the quarrel outside and ran He went out of the room to comfort his crying mother, but his father did not appear in the picture; the second time was when he was lying in prison, when faced with the choice of whether to plead guilty, he dreamed of this scene again, in which he rushed out of the room The father pressed against the wall, and the father held a gun in his hand. He accidentally pulled the trigger and the gun went off; Unable to bear it, he pointed the gun at his father’s head. Although no bullet was fired, he had already killed his father in his heart. This time he fully stated why he swore to God that he would never touch a gun again. The three scenes appeared repeatedly, and each time was richer and more specific than the first time, which is enough to show that besides the “sixth commandment”, it was more the shadow of childhood that affected him. It is precisely because of his father’s violence and his mother’s training that his belief in God has become more and more firm.
2. Desmond’s military life after joining the army. After entering the army, he was targeted for insisting on his beliefs not to touch guns and not to kill. His boss tried his best to persuade him to leave the army, his comrades sarcastically beat him, he was not allowed to leave on his wedding day, he was imprisoned, and he was sent to a military court… He has experienced all kinds of isolation, incomprehension, Hostility, ridicule. He didn’t have to care about these, he just wanted to be able to stay in the army and go to the front line like everyone else.
What impressed me the most about this part was the dialogue between the father and the judge in court. The unspoken tacit understanding between the soldiers brought me a kind of feeling that the law is ruthless and the man is affectionate. From Desmond’s point of view, he didn’t intentionally violate the discipline of the army, but was just persistent in his belief. But objectively speaking from the military’s point of view, his unique existence has broken the iron-like discipline of soldiers. After all, killing is the essence of war. So when in such a special environment, the uniqueness of the individual is limited, so there is a huge conflict. In any case, Desmond finally used his own persistence to make his comrades change their attitudes towards him step by step, which is also the gradual display of his personality charm.
3. The battle scenes of the Battle of Okinawa and the heroic deeds of Desmond saving lives. When they first landed on Okinawa Island, the soldiers were greeted with bloody corpses stacked on trucks, and the zombie-like eyes of the surviving soldiers, who seemed to have lost hope in life. After realizing the seriousness of the situation, everyone’s heart became extremely heavy. And Desmond always read the “Bible” silently in the corner alone, without being disturbed by the environment at all. In addition, he always holds the Bible to his chest when he is lying down. These details all reflect his loyalty to the faith.
I was deeply moved by the relationship between Desmond and Smitty during the war. When the two were training in the army together at first, Smitty misunderstood Desmond deeply, and even humiliated him in public. But when Desmond threw down the enemy in time to save Smity’s life regardless of the past, Smitty began to re-examine him. Therefore, when Desmond braved the artillery fire and rushed to the battlefield to save his comrades, Smitty followed closely to cover him. After the battle, Smitty took the initiative to accompany Desmond to find the wounded scattered everywhere. In the dark night, the two began to sit and chat like a pair of old friends. After experiencing life and death, Smiti had completely cast aside all prejudice against Desmond. The sympathy and friendship that arose during the war. Unfortunately, this beauty only existed for a moment and then disappeared. Under the second fierce attack of the enemy, Shi Miti lost his life. His death hit Desmond deeply. Looking at the artillery fire ahead, Desmond felt confused.
Suddenly, hearing a cry for help from his comrades-in-arms, he resolutely returned to the purgatory battlefield. He rescued every comrade-in-arms who was still breathing, and constantly brought them spiritual comfort. No matter how serious the comrades were injured or how small the probability of survival seemed, he even rescued a few Japanese soldiers. . He never judges other people’s lives easily, because in his eyes, every life is equal and worthy of respect. He risked his life to snatch life from the hands of war again and again, racing against time. “God, let me save another one”… At the moment when he was physically exhausted, what supported him to continue was the firm belief in his heart.
When the war came to an end, Desmond came down from the cliff, in a trance, acting like a frightened bird. When the officer tried to reassure him, he suddenly revealed a distressing vulnerability. He is just an ordinary person, and he is afraid and in pain, but when the words “saving lives” occupy all his thoughts, he forgets all fears. He staggered out and accepted the baptism of everyone’s eyes. These gazes are so heavy…
To some extent, Desmond is not only saving the lives of the soldiers, but also awakening the trust and love in their hearts. The bravery and perseverance shown in him greatly boosted morale, allowing the soldiers to find their spiritual belonging in the war full of fear and pain. Therefore, when they boarded Hacksaw Ridge again to fight, everyone showed an unprecedented firmness and courage, and this is the key to victory in the war.
After the war, Desmond became the first conscientious objector to be awarded the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest honor for the bravery of service members. During the interview, he humbly attributed this to his faith, and said: “The real heroes are buried here…” There is no doubt that he has won the acceptance and respect of everyone.
