glory a review

Glory: A Review
Stephanie Beck
April 9, 1997
Prof. Deutch
Glory captures the heroism of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and
the first black
regiment in the Civil War, the Massachusetts "Fighting"
Fifty-fourth. An
extremely talented cast and crew earned three Academy Awards
(cinematography,
sound and supporting actor) and five nominations for their work
in Glory. The
outstanding cinematography, sound, score and acting recreate the
events leading
up to the Union attack on Fort Wagner on July 18th 1863.
Matthew Broderick portrays the young Bostonian abolitionist
Col. Robert G.
Shaw who takes command of the Fifty-fourth, following the
Emancipation
Proclamation. Shaw along with Cabot Forbes (Cary Elwes) leads a
band of ex
slaves, servants and other black volunteers including a
rebellious runaway slave
Trip (Denzel Washington), Shaw's educated childhood friend Thomas
Searles (Andre
Braugher), and a former grave digger Rawlins (Morgan Freeman).
Together these
men face the adversity of a racist Union Army, struggling to
prove themselves
worthy of their government issued blue uniforms.
After months of training and exploitation for physical

labor, the Fifty-
fourth gains the opportunity to fight in an attack on Fort Wagner
on the beaches
of South Carolina. Poised to dispel the belief that blacks would
not be
disciplined under fire, the Fifty-fourth leads the almost
suicidal attack on Ft.
Wagner. There Col. Shaw valiantly falls and the Fifty-fourth,
suffering great
losses, displayed the courage that persuaded the Union to enlist
many more black
soldiers.
Matthew Broderick delivers a noteworthy performance in the
role of Col.
Shaw, which Leonard Maltin calls his most ambitious part. In an
interview for
the New York Times, Broderick spoke of his method acting,
"The first step [in preparing for the role of Robert Gould
Shaw in Glory]
was to try to learn as much as I could about the real person.
That was mostly
from letters, photographs, descriptions and a poem by Emerson.
The thing I had
to do was bring myself into that situation. I didn't want to be
an imitation of
what I thought Shaw must have been like."
Broderick's acting talent has been noted on Broadway as well as
in films.
Broderick won a Tony Award for his performance in "Brighton Beach
Memoirs" in

1983, a year after his film debut in Max Dugan Returns. (Maltin,
102) But it was
his role as a computer hacker in War Games and his role as a
handsome young teen
touring Chicago in Ferris Bueller's Day Off that alerted
moviegoers to his
talent.
Denzel Washington has received critical acclaim for his role
as Trip (as
well as an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). Denzel commented on
the role of
Trip in an interview with the New York Times.
"Trip's an instigator - wild, rebellious, angry. He's a
product of racism
who's become a racist. He hates all white people, Confederates
most of all. But
in the end, when he sees the white officers make the maximum
sacrifice, he's the
most patriotic one in the bunch."
Director of Glory, Edward Zwick described Washington by stating,
"Whatever that
mysterious chemical process is that makes the camera love
someone, he has more
of it than any one person should."(Maltin, 921) It is that
presence that earned
him an Oscar for Glory and nominations for his roles in Cry
Freedom and Malcolm
X.
Equally as important as acting to the impact of the movie
Glory is the

Musical score composed by James Horner. In the final battle
scene in Glory,
Horner chose the Boys Choir of Harlem which creates a moving
effect during the
death of Col. Robert Shaw.(Magill, 158) Horner won a Grammy
Award for the score
for Glory. He was nominated the same year for an Academy Award
for the score
for Field of Dreams. Horner's previous Grammy Awards include
song of the year
and best song written for a motion picture or television, all for
"Somewhere Out
There" from An American Tale in 1987. (CTFT, 228) Leonard Maltin
calls Horner
one of today's most prolific film composer's. Horner composed
thirty one motion
picture scores from 1979 to 1989. (Maltin, 411)
There are many elements that contribute to the success of a
film. Glory
combines the best cinematography, sound, score, and acting to
create a moving
representation of this portion of U. S. history. Roger Ebert
called it a
"strong and valuable film." In his review written for the Chicago
Sun-Times,
Ebert notes the amount of effort devoted to accurate period
detail.
One of Ebert's criticisms of Glory is that the perspective
of the movie is
constantly seen from one view, that of the white officer. Ebert

points out that
a white man is cast as the lead role when the movie is
essentially about a black
experience. Glory could have been told from the eyes of a black
soldier in the
Fifty-fourth. Ebert makes a valid assumption when he suggest
that a totally
different film could be made from the same material.
Indeed Glory is a story of how the freed blacks were able to
prove
themselves in battle. The Fifty- fourth regiment could also be
considered one
of the first times we see blacks look for equal opportunity.
Ebert notes the
scene when the black soldiers of the Fifty-fourth learn they will
not be paid
the regular (white) wage. "Blacks march as far, bleed as much
and die as soon,
they argue."(Ebert) It would be 100 years later that they gained
equal
opportunity when in Vietnam both black and white soldiers were
interspersed in
the military. While Roger Ebert discusses the idea of a
different point of view
he notes that Glory is an important film no matter who's eyes it
is seen from.
Blake Lukas on the other hand is far more critical of the
film. In Lukas'
review for Magill's Cinema Annual he picks at elements of the
film, including

weak characterization and directing that leaves something to be
desired. Lukas
seems at times to be lost in his own rhetoric when he writes
about the dismal
war genre. He delves into the number of Vietnam films that are
"a far more
popular subject in this period."(Magill, 155)
After a brief synopsis of the film Lukas comments on the
dynamics of the
protagonist character who we see mature through the film. The
remaining
characters Lukas believes lack dimension. He calls the role of
Cabot Forbes
"fleetingly interesting" and the role of Trip, (which Denzel
Washington won
Best Supporting Actor for) "predictable." He goes on further to
say that the
role of Rawlins portrayed by Morgan Freeman is only enlightened
by this
"brilliant actor's own characteristic intelligence." Therefore
without the
phenomenal acting talent presented in Glory Lukas feels the movie
would be flat.
In addition to finding flaw in the characterization Lukas
compares
director Edward Zwick to the director John Ford. Ford directed
earlier Civil
War films such as The Horse Soldiers(1959) or Sergeant Rutledge
(1960)which
based on the an all black calvary regiment in the Civil War.

Lukas suggest
that Ford was able to attain a "thematic richness" that alluded
Zwick. Lukas
also remarks that Zwick used ineffective "emphasis on close ups
and shallow
focus which do little to make the film's historical moment seem
alive in
spite of admirable attention to detail in the art direction sets
and costumes."
Lukas is impressed however by Zwick's direction of the final
scene in which
he uses "vigorous tracking shots " to create a "stunning
effect." Lukas also
comments on the James's Horner's inventive use of the Boy's Choir
of Harlem.
Lukas suggest that Zwick looked to appeal to contemporary
audiences.
Interestingly enough Lukas is surprised that Glory met with such
"critical and
commercial success."
I was surprised to read the review written by Blake Lukas
where he
constantly compares Zwick to a former director of Civil War films
John Ford, and
when he persist in mentioning the dismal nature of most war
films. Lukas states
that "Glory offers an idealism and sense of heroism that contrast
powerfully to
the spectacle of bloodshed and war's waste of life that it also
visualizes."

Lukas seems hung up on the waste of life that is portrayed in war
film's. In my
opinion Glory was not a movie about whether or not we as a nation
should
participate in wars. It was about the progress of the black race
and the fierce
battle they had to fight a long the way to attain each rung on
the ladder of
freedom. Lukas criticism seems out of place when he writes about
Vietnam and
the "American soldier's potential for barbarism."
Lukas also seems hung up on the past. he makes two comments
which seem out
of place. First when comparing Zwick to Ford he states that
Zwick does not
attempt the same "thematic richness" and that "(Zwick's)
sensibilities are more
attuned with the responses of the 1989 audiences." I don't think
Zwick should
be faulted for creating a film that is appealing to contemporary
audiences." I
certainly would not go see a film directed by Lukas.
Desson Howe reviewing Glory for the Washington Post like
Lukas notes that
the scriptwriter Jarre (who's credits include Rambo: First Blood
Part II)
provides only a superficial characterization "his script is made
better by the
performers." Howe believes that the is too much "liberal eyed
giddiness (thanks

chiefly to the gushy, rhapsodizing score by James Horner)."
Both Ebert and Lukas acclaim Broderick's performance of Shaw,
yet Howe
criticizes it writing, "In this movie he is an amiable
non-presence, creating
unintentionally the notion that he Fifty-fourth earned its
stripes despite wimpy
leadership." This comment lead me to wonder whether Howe and I
saw the same
movie. Howe notes that the performance of Denzel Washington, and
Morgan Freeman
uplift the film.
Perhaps the reviewers did not have the luxury of time to
research the
history of Robert Gould Shaw or the Fifty-fourth. If so they
would have found
that Shaw was indeed a youthful officer given charge of the
Fifty-Fourth as
Colonel at the age of 26. Understanding Shaw philosophical views
as an
abolitionist and the societal views of blacks being subservient
to whites,
certainly a young man leading the first black regiment would
experience a
certain degree of self doubt and contradiction. In the end Shaw
develops the
courage to lead his men into battle to a symbolic triumph
displaying the bravery
of these black soldiers. Broderick's portrayal of Shaw is
credible from my

point of view.
The credibility of Glory is heighten by the amount of effort
devoted to
recreating the historical details. From the camps to the
costumes Glory
captures the aura of battle. Most of the critics agree that the
historical
detail was a redeeming element of the film.
Glory is a film that balances it shortcomings out with
exceptional talent.
Perhaps a lack of dimension in the characters is balanced with
outstanding
performances. Any faults in the directing are made up by the
detail put in to
the film and the superior sound and score. Glory is a carefully
constructed
film with a didactic theme. It is an accurate representation of
the lives of
Civil War soldiers.
The climax of the movie is fairly accurately represented.
The Fifty-fourth
regiment had slightly over five hundred members when they marched
into battle on
July 18th, 1863. Over two hundred and fifty members of the
regiment died in
that battle and several more were injured. That is what proved
to the white
regiments looking on that the black soldiers were worthy of
battle. Glory
captures that triumph.

Bibliography
Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. Detroit: Gale
Research, Volume 10
Ebert, Roger. The Chicago Sun-Times, January 12, 1990
Howe, Desson. The Washington Post, January 12, 1990
Lukas, Blake. Magill's Cinema Annual 1990, Englewood Cliffs,
N.J.: Salem Press,
1990
Maltin, Leonard. Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia, The
Penguin Publishing
Company, New York, NY 1994.