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Reviews (1)
02 Feb, 2008
Buffalo Soldiers
The main draw for this film is that it's a balck comedy almost as dark as a black hole. Dealing with the ennui and dislocation of the modern soldier, it's a bedfellow of more recent films on the same topic, most notably Sam Mendes' 'Jarhead', but 'Buffalo Soldiers' as an altogether more cynical beast.
Joaquin Phoenix plays Ray Elwood, a supply clerk based in Germany at the arse-end of the Cold War, dealing with his boredom by dealing heroin and trying to make as much profit as he can out of the headless-chicken attitude of his superiors. In particular leeching off his immediate superior Colonel Berman (played by Ed Harris), Elwood is having the time of his life avoiding any requirement to do actual soldiering and making up his own rules. He drives a top of the range Merc and has his own fully furnished quarters. Life is sweet.
Then the new Sergeant Lee (Scott Glenn) is drafted into the regiment to root out the drug problems that Elwood himself has helped create. Elwood's luck is out, as the new top is a complete ball-breaker, and isn't as susceptible as his commander. Thus begins a war of attrition between the two, each trying to break the other, escalating into petty one-upmanship as the stakes get raised. In the middle of all this Elwood falls for the top's daughter, Robyn (Anna Paquin) and has managed to sort out the biggest heroin deal he'll ever be involved in with the local gangsters, one that'll set him up for life, however long that lasts...
Nowadays we're bombarded with films about the futility of war and the pointlessness of armed conflict, but only in the humanitarian sense of the word. 'Buffalo Soldiers' is a film that shows how pointless war is, but because it's deathly dull. Taking its cue from a book by Robert O'Connor, the main conceit of the plot is that even in times of peace, man has to wage war to keep himself going. In the wrong hands this could have been a pedesrian stroll where the wiseguy gets his comeuppance. But Gregor Jordan imbues the low-key nature of the film with a colourful intensity. The army base is washed-out and soaked nearly all of the time, draped in olive greens, whereas Elwood hangs around a world where there is disco lighting, uncovered flesh, and gleaming automobiles beneath the street lights.
Phoenix gives one of the performances of his career, completely getting off on his role as delinquent Elwood. Laconic delivery and permanent smirk, he's a total contrast to Glenn as the hard-ass Lee, and there are neat little tesselations that come from the work of Paquin and particularly Ed Harris, who plays dumb for perhaps ten percent of the screen time and almost steals the entire film.
There are criticisms - the plot sometimes meanders and you have to rewind to avoid getting lost (for example, following the ins-and-outs of the main drug deal) and because the film is low-budget some of the special effects are a little comical (Elwood has a recurring dream of falling, and it's not hard to see the strings sticking out of Phoenix's back) but these are thin quibbles.
I managed to pick this up extremely cheaply and I would urge you to take a chance right away, regardless of price. It's not laugh out loud funny, but 'Buffalo Soldiers' is intelligent, dark and entertaining. As anti-blockbuster as you'll get, you won't regret giving this two hours of your time.