Saving Lives Without Carrying a Weapon: Hacksaw Ridge

Hacksaw Ridge is a film based on the true story of pacifist medic veteran, Desmond Doss and the actual events of World War II. This biographical drama illustrates the essence of hope, forgiveness, loss, and honor in all stages. The high level of tension presented in the majority of the scenes infiltrate the reaction of viewers. The movie was directed by cine veteran Mel Gibson, the mastermind behind films like A Braveheart and The Passion of Christ.

After a ten year absence from Hollywood, Mel Gibson returned to directing with Hacksaw Ridge leading 13 nominations from the Australian Academy Awards, which includes awards for best film, best direction and best original screenplay.

The success behind the masterpiece was triggered by the heroic true story of U.S military veteran Desmond T. Doss played by Andrew Garfield. Doss was a man of great will and endless courage to serve others even despite suffering many episodes from his childhood and early adolescence. His father, Tom Doss, played by Hugo Weaving was an addict and abusive man. His behavior was induced by his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) influenced from fighting in combat during World War I. Tom Doss relieved his pain over alcohol because he experienced he was exposed to too much death in battle, including the the death of his best friend.

Doss wanted to be a different version of his father. He learned from his religious mother Bertha Doss, played by Rachel Griffiths. According to Griffiths, the worst sin a man can ever commit is to take another life.

That phrase helped him convert into a good man and reinforce his belief in the sixth commandment of the Old Testament. Years after, his mother continued educating him with religious principles, Doss practiced his values by helping neighbors in his hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. In regards to his belief of serving others, Doss saves an injured man and takes him to the hospital, where he meets Dorothy Schutte, played by Teresa Palmer. Schutte works in the same hospital as a nurse and soon Doss and Dorothy fall in love.

The majority of men in his town are enlisting in the US Army to fight World War II, including his brother, Harold E. Doss, played by Nathaniel Buzolic. Doss is also motivated to serve the country and signs up too.

Doss leaves Virginia to train for the Army at Fort Jackson, South Carolina and he is placed under the command of Sergeant Howell, played by Vince Vaughn. During the first week of training Doss immediately becomes an outsider among his fellow soldiers when he refuses to handle a weapon and trains on Saturday’s as he is a seven-day Adventist.

Sergeant Howell reports Doss to Captain Glover, played by Sam Worthington, with the intention of discharging him for psychiatric reasons. Doss maintains his sheer faith of serving the Army without carrying a weapon and is replaced from training by working in grueling labor.

Doss is rejected by his fellow soldiers one night by getting beaten, but he refuses to report his attackers as a symbol of forgiveness. He continues to train until one day he is arrested for insubordination for his refusal to carry a firearm. At this trial, Doss proceeds praying but desperate thinking about Dorothy and their wedding. The charges against Doss are dropped and he will then serve in the war as a combat medic.

Doss and his fellow soldiers are sent to the Pacific Ocean to participate in the Battle of Okinawa where the Americans must climb the cliff of the Maeda Escarpment, also known as the “Hacksaw Ridge” to take on the Japanese forces positioned there.

It was an atmosphere of tension, scarcity, and death. In the initial fight Doss surprised Sergeant Howell and his fellow soldiers by demonstrating his courage in saving several lives. Gibson was literal and graphic in his war scenes where he portrayed the vivid injuries, explosives, and dead bodies in all types of destroyed forms. This was definitely a motion picture directed by Mel Gibson.

During the night Doss spends the night with Smitty Riker, played by Luke Bracey, who was the first one of his fellow soldiers to call him a coward, Doss explains to Smitty his reason for not carrying a firearm.

The next day, the Japanese launch a massive counter-attack and drive the Americans off Hacksaw. Doss hears cries and screams of dying soldiers and decides to run into the carnage instead of running away. He spends day and night carrying wounded soldiers to the cliffs edge.

The most emotional part of the film is seen when Doss prays in combat to save one more life. The men were surprisingly inspired by Desmond Doss faith and when day breaks, the soldiers were not going to fight in the second round of combat without him.

Ultimately, “Hacksaw Ridge” commemorates all the veterans that fought for their lives in combat and their honor to serve their country and is a movie I recommend you go see.