Rescue Dawn

I saw the film "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" by Werner Herzog in my university documentary class and I enjoyed the true story of Dieter Dengler. I remember very clearly not long after when I saw the trailer for "Rescue Dawn" and I knew I had to see it. I was excited to see this story acted out more so than on the documentary. What made me happier was that Herzog directed this feature film as well. I was so glad that the film was shown close to where I was living in Utah at the time of its theatrical release because seeing it on the big screen made it better. I was so impressed by the realism. I had lived as a missionary in the Philippines for two years and I could tell that the film was produced in an actual jungle. The acting and directing is masterfully done, as is the musical score. I can relate a little to Dieter's story because of my missionary service.

The opening bombing shots are very dramatic because of the slow motion. They effectively establish the setting of the film. If I am not mistaken, the cheesy survival video that the pilots are watching is authentic. "Rescue Dawn" is quite accurate in terms of location and design. After Dieter's plane crashes and he flees into the jungle, I really got excited by the film because Thailand (where the movie was filmed) looks so much like the Philippines. I have such good memories of the environment and settings that I see on screen. Just as the prisoners discuss their ideal refrigerator, my missionary companions and I would talk about the first thing we were going to eat once we got home to North America. When Dieter is shot at for fun on the way to the camp, it was effectively shocking because we didn't see the gun beforehand. The cinematography creates another surprise when Dieter is dunked in the well. I love the scene when Dieter will not sign the document because of Christian Bale's acting. You believe Dieter's love for flying. The film does a good job revealing Dieter's back story. He was a child in Germany during WWII and came to America so he could fly planes. He had experience in a machine shop also and this gave him the knowledge to be able to pick handcuffs. There are a couple liberties taken with the story because Christian Bale doesn't use a German accent that Dieter had and Eugene was not an antagonist in the true story. I don't mind these changes because an American accent allows us to relate to Dieter more and Eugene's constant opposition provides drama. The real Dieter had escaped a mock-POW camp three times during training and so his escape from this real camp was very plausible. I like the sequence of scenes where Dieter obtains the nail and pick the cuffs. He earns the trust of the other prisoners. I enjoy how Dieter nearly quotes the title of his own documentary, "little Dieter needed to fly." I like inside humor like that. Another fun fact is that the caterpillar that moves across the leaf that is on top of Steve Zahn is actually poisonous. They did not discover this until after the shot was filmed. There is one quality about this film that separates it from other war movies: instead of portraying a graphic, violent story as it happened, Herzog holds back to achieve a PG-13 rating. In truth, Dieter and the other prisoners went through torture and experiences much worse than what we see. Instead of capturing them on film like some other directors, Herzog only replicated the feelings that Dieter must have felt during his ordeal. Instead of fully showing Duane's decapitation for example, we his headless body less than a second before it falls out of frame. We are led to understand what has happened instead of being shown it and I applaud that kind of direction. Just because a violent thing happened in the true story, that doesn't mean you have to fully show it. By the choices he made, Herzog allows a much larger audience to enjoy this incredible story than if it had been an R-rated film. Duane's last appearance in the film turns out to be a hallucination and the audience is almost fooled into thinking that maybe his head wasn't chopped off. We realize instead that Dieter is starting to lose his mind as well. The diminuendo of the film has some very satisfying moments such as the soldier being scared by the dead snake and Dieter's buddies sneaking him away from the CIA (both of these actually happened in Dieter's story).

It is obvious that the filmmakers did not try to change many of the locations they shot at. Instead, the used them to create realism. The villages are probably authentic as is the jungle that Dieter and Duane forge through. The film extras are probably locals. This sense of realism does wonders in making the film dramatic. Being resourceful during the production is what this story demanded. Christian Bale did such a great job. I don't know how he is able to act while eating those worms. I love his delivery of the line, "Please be real!" I have seen Steve Zahn in a comedic role before and so I was very much impressed by his acting in "Rescue Dawn". His comedy skills do come in handy such as with the lines "A guy tries to kill you and you want his job." and "Six pack stays where it is." The second best actor in the film is Jeremy Davies as Eugene. I can't believe how skinny he was. The musical score for this film by Klaus Badelt, the composer for "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl", is one of my favorites. A genuine sense of despair and loneliness is created.

I am happy whenever I discover and enjoy a little known movie because it is like finding a treasure. This is one treasure though that I can share. Having lived and worked in a climate very similar to the one seen on the movie, "Rescue Dawn" has sentimental value for me. The movie feels very real thanks to the acting, directing and musical score.

4 Stars