The Last Castle
***1/2
Cinema Releases - January 4, 2002
Rated on a 4-star scale. Certificate 15. 131
minutes. Directed by Rod Lurie. Written by David Scarpa, Graham Yost; from
a story by Scarpa. Starring Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Rufallo,
Steve Burton, Delroy Lindo, Paul Calderon.
Rod Lurie was the editor of Empire magazine in
those days when it walked the line between populism and intelligence, instead
of just pandering to readers who know nothing about movies. Now he's a rising
star in Hollywood, a director with that old-fashioned determination to balance
entertainment and edge. "Deterrence" was a story of nuclear tension that
did a good job of winding up the audience and was marred only by a dishonest
ending. "The Contender" was an intelligent political thriller with effective
hints of sentimentality that appeared on my list of last year's best
films.
Lurie's new film, "The Last Castle",
is a slick action picture with rich intelligence and personality. It's one
of those movies that prove genre filmmaking can transcend expectations when
carried out by men of passion.
Robert Redford stars as a legendary army general
sentenced to ten years in a military prison for defying a presidential order
to remove troops from Burundi. James Gandolfini plays the colonel in charge
of the prison, a man whose mind is a strange combination of romanticism and
authoritarianism -- he behaves with manners and decorates his office impeccably,
and yet manipulates prisoners like a behavioural science professor playing
with rats, toying with the sore spots of their environment and implementing
Old Testament justice when they get out of line.
Gandolfini idolises Redford as a military leader,
but turns on him when he overhears a remark criticising collections of war
memorabilia. "Any man with a collection like this," says Redford of Gandolfini's
knick-knacks, "has obviously never been on a battlefield." The movie begins
with Redford cooperating with prison procedure and telling his fellow inmates
that he's not to be treated with inordinate respect, but he becomes increasingly
weary of Gandolfini's misconduct as a commanding officer, as well as his
growing spite. An unspoken battle of wills begins, through which Redford
reveals his strength -- there's a scene where he is ordered to lift rocks
that has echoes of "Cool Hand Luke".
Eventually a full-scale campaign of civil disobedience
emerges, with Redford organising his fellow inmates in army fashion, despite
prison regulations forbidding the use of salutes or the mention of former
rank. Redford makes a speech pointing out that Gandolfini is a weak man who
could not retain control of his prison without improper tactics and should
be forcibly relieved of command. From this point "The Last Castle" builds
to a climax of armed uprising, finishing with operatic scenes of guerrilla
warfare reminiscent of "Braveheart".
"The Last Castle" is designed and photographed
with striking presence, but the dynamics of the characters make the film
involving on another level. Redford has deeper, more soulful flaws than a
lot of action heroes -- his defiance of executive order resulted in the deaths
of eight men, and he admits that he deserved his court-martial. The Gandolfini
character comes across as a pathetic, rather than evil, villain; when he
warns his prisoners against following a guy whose pride has put men in danger,
it occurred to me that he's not really one to talk. Redford might be consumed
by ego from his years of power, but Gandolfini grabs power exclusively to
feed his ego and stave off self-loathing. I liked the irony of the music
playing in Gandolfini's office -- it's by Salieri, the composer who in legend
felt homicidal jealousy towards Mozart, and became obsessed with seeming
like a bigger man.
Lurie, and his screenwriters, David Scarpa and
Graham Yost, do an excellent job of setting up their pieces so that the finale
doesn't just throw violence at us, but logically extends the story to let
threads become resolved with action. "The Last Castle" has received little
publicity for an expensive studio release, presumably because the executives
at DreamWorks didn't think it would be wise to do much hyping for a story
about military strife in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Pity
about the timing -- this is a strong film.
COPYRIGHT©
2002 Ian Waldron-Mantgani
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