There is something enduringly appealing about the war film, even if the genre sometimes features underrated performances from its main cast. These are the types of films which immerse the viewer in the dark, sinister and terrifying world of combat. However, while war films are often praised for their cinematography and epic scope, it’s truly the acting that helps to elevate them into the realm of greatness.
The men and women who appear in these films help to ground the broader picture, anchoring the drama and giving audiences people they can cheer for and care about, often showing the very human, and devastating, impact it has on the individual.
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Wes Studi has earned significant critical praise for various film appearances, most notably in such early 1990s projects as Dances with Wolves and, just as notably, The Last of the Mohicans. Though Daniel Day-Lewis tends to earn the lion’s share of the plaudits for the latter, Studi deserves just as much praise. He portrays the character of Magua, a Huorn warrior filled with righteous rage.
In lesser hands than Studi’s, such a character would have been little more than a stereotype. Instead, Studi allows the viewer to truly understand the rich complexity of this fascinating creation. Part of the power of his performance stems from his physical appearance - in particular, his eyes, which are gleaming and penetrating. However, he also has that tremendous and imposing charisma which are the marks of a truly great performer.
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Every time he appears on-screen, Ken Watanabe manages to cast his own unique and magnetic spell. There is always a weightiness and gravitas to his performances, and there is also often a wounded nobility that makes him impossible to look away from.
This is very evident in Letters from Iwo Jima, one of a pair of films directed by Clint Eastwood which intend to show the complicated nature of World War II and its legacy among both the Americans and the Japanese. Watanabe’s General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is a man of honor, even as he also recognizes the inevitability of defeat in the Battle of Iwo Jima. It’s the type of performance Watanabe was born to play, and he makes the general into someone the viewer can’t help but admire, whether one is American or Japanese.
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Saving Private Ryan is often regarded, quite rightly, as one of the best war films of all-time. Steven Spielberg showed once again why he is one of the most adept directors, providing viewers with a story rich in nostalgia, emotion, and the visceral experience of combat. Much praise has focused on the performance of Tom Hanks, but his supporting cast is just as talented.
Giovanni Ribisi, Tom Sizemore, and Vin Diesel all show, in their own ways, extraordinary skill. They each bring something unique to the table, showing the various types of young men who went off to war, where they faced unspeakable violence but yet also managed to find a measure of camaraderie with one another. Hanks obviously deserves all of the credit he receives; his supporting cast helps to anchor his own performance. Credit is particularly due to Vin Diesel, who brings to his performance both a battle-hardened stoicism and a surprising vulnerability.
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While some of the most noteworthy World War II films are those which are told from the American perspective, Das Boot is a notable exception. Focusing as it does on the crew of a German submarine as they patrol the Atlantic Ocean, it features a number of dynamic performances from its central cast, most notably from Jurgen Prochnow, who plays the character of Kapitänleutnant.
Much of the film’s strength stems from its ability to capture the mundaneness of life aboard a submarine. However, it is also anchored by Prochnow’s performance. He allows the viewer to understand the complex nature of a German soldier who is loyal to his men and his country but has nothing but loathing, contempt, and dismissal for the Nazis who are in charge. Due to his riveting performance, the film provides a scathing indictment of war and the impact it has on the lives and minds of the men involved.
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Clint Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers is a companion piece to the director’s other film, Letters from Iwo Jima, demonstrating the different ways in which the same event - in this case, the Battle of Iwo Jima and its aftermath - can take on radically different meanings depending on which side of the battle one happens to be on. The film is notable for its exploration of the iconic photograph associated with the battle and its impact on the soldiers who were involved.
Adam Beach is particularly inspired in his performance as Ira Hayes, a Native American man who is haunted by his unwanted fame. Beach allows the viewer to feel compassion for him as he descends into alcoholism and despair, never quite able to reconcile the person he is with the one that is created by the photograph and its afterlife. In some ways, Beach’s is the most well-wrought performance in the entire film, elevating Ira into the most interesting, if also the most tragic, of all of the characters.
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For quite a long time, World War I was often overshadowed in film by World War II, which in many ways seemed much more morally clear. In recent years, however, the First World War has become increasingly present on the big screen, and perhaps no film makes this clearer than 1917. Under Sam Mendes's steady direction, the film immerses viewers in the truly horrifying world of the trenches.
The true heart of the film, however, is George MacKay, who plays Will Schofield, one of a pair of soldiers who are sent on a suicide mission in order to prevent more bloodshed. There is a stoicism and reserve to MacKay’s performance that is quite effective, but there is also a quiet tragedy lurking behind his eyes, even though he always seems to be keeping something back from both the viewer and his fellow soldiers. At the same time, there is also a fundamental humanity to his performance which is undeniable, a reminder of the truly terrible cost of war.
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Ridley Scott has long excelled at creating compelling epic films, and Kingdom of Heaven is no exception. Though it focuses primarily on Orlando Bloom’s Balian Ibelin as he becomes part of the conflict between the Crusaders and the Muslim forces led by Saladin, the film as a whole is a remarkably thoughtful affair, showing the impossible position the many soldiers find themselves in.
Though it is a largely male-dominated film, Eva Green gives a layered performance as Sibylla of Jerusalem. She seems to have significant power - she is the sister of the king, after all - but in truth, she is just another pawn in the great game of geopolitics being played around her. Green, as always, shows just why she is regarded as one of the great actresses of her generation, allowing modern viewers to appreciate the complicated and contradictory status that even royal women had in the Middle Ages.
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Throughout his career, Quentin Tarantino has shown remarkable skills as a director, and no matter which genre gets his attention, his authorial signature is always evident. While his authorial presence looms large in Inglourious Basterds, the film’s cast also deserves significant praise, particularly Melanie Laurent, who plays the character of Shosanna Dreyfus.
Laurent’s skill lies in large part in her ability to capture the feeling of this particular character. She is a person of tremendous strength and endurance - having survived the slaughter of her family and becoming someone committed to the downfall of the Third Reich - but there are also moments when she feels genuine fear of her enemies. Nevertheless, Laurent still gives viewers a formidable character, someone it is impossible not to cheer for as she takes on the Nazis who destroyed her family.
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Rescue Dawn is a haunting, brutal, and finely-wrought war film. This is no surprise, given it was directed by no less a cinematic great than Werner Herzog and stars a cinematic giant like Christian Bale. However, the film is also notable for another strong performance, this one from Steve Zahn, who plays Duane Martin, one of the other prisoners of war.
Zahn, of course, is more well-known for his comedic portrayals, and this is precisely what makes his acting in Rescue Dawn so extraordinary. There is a potent conviction to his portrayal, one which suggests just how much he committed to the role. It’s easy for the viewer to believe this is truly a man who has endured the worst sort of punishment, and Zahn digs deeply in order to bring out his character’s despair and despondency.
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Jake Gyllenhaal is one of those actors who deserves the accolade of being one of the best actors of his generation. Though often playing sensitive characters, in Jarhead, he turns his tremendous talents to the character of Anthony Swofford, a member of the Marines.
Gyllenhaal brings a powerful machismo to his character, but he also makes it clear just how unstable this male performance truly is. Just as importantly, he allows the viewer to understand the extent to which his character truly believes in the Marines. This is something he wants to do, and the authenticity of Gyllenhaal’s performance allows for a richer, deeper understanding of the many things that motivate young men to sign up to be soldiers, even when they know doing so could lead to their own deaths on the battlefield.
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It’s unsurprising just how popular the war film was throughout the 1940s. Many of the most important entries of the genre were those which brought in elements of both psychological and social drama films, and in this regard, Home of the Brave truly excels. It focuses on the struggles of an African American veteran, who struggles with both the prejudice of the society in which he lives and his own inability to walk.
Due in no small part to his own service in the Army, Edwards brings a rich and textured authenticity to his performance. There is, indeed, a rawness to his delivery, which helps to elevate the film to the top rank of 1940s war movies, particularly since it deals with a pressingly important issue in the military - both at the time the film was made and in the present.
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Sean Penn has long shown his tremendous skills as an actor, in large part because he leans so heavily into method, working to fully inhabit his characters, their psychologies, and their lives. In The Thin Red Line, his unique style of acting meets the equally unique directorial vision of Terrence Malick. Like so much of Malick’s other work, it’s a richly textured and philosophical film, and Penn’s performance helps to anchor it.
He plays the character of Edward Welsh, a man who is far more often out for himself than for anyone else. In less capable hands than Penn’s, the character would be nothing more than an unsympathetic lout. Penn, however, allows the viewer to see the truth: he is a man faced with the existentialist despair of an increasingly brutal and pointless war.
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Three Kings is a war film that manages to bring together both the grittiness of the traditional genre with some notes of dark comedy. With its story about a group of men who undertake a gold heist in Iraq, it also features an embarrassment of riches with its cast, which includes George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Spike Jonze, and Ice Cube.
Ice Cube in particular is quite stunning in the film, and his performance shows the extent to which he was able to transition from a rapper to an actor. He manages to combine both the specificities of a character - a thoroughly American individual who believes he is protected by a bit of divine intervention - as well as fitting nicely within the ensemble as a whole.
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The King is a fascinating and gritty retelling of the various Shakespeare plays about King Henry V. Understandably, much critical praise surrounded Timothée Chalamet’s turn as the young King Henry, but Robert Pattinson also deserves a great deal of credit for portraying the delightfully unhinged Dauphin, a dissolute prince who nevertheless thinks it’s a good idea to challenge the much more martially skilled Henry to a duel.
With this performance, Pattinson shows once again why he is more than just Edward of the Twilight films. There is something bleakly funny about Pattinson’s Dauphin, and his style is in marked contrast to some of the other, more serious performances that populate the rest of the film. He’s a breath of fresh air, ultimately highlighting the absurdity of history and grand epic narratives.
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Delroy Lindo - ‘Da 5 Bloods’
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Few films have excited the cinematic imagination quite as much as the Vietnam War. In large part, this is because it remains a blight on the American imagination, and Spike Lee turns his capable and searing directorial hand to this conflict in Da 5 Bloods. The film focuses on a group of vets who meet in the present day to try to find a treasure buried deep in the jungle.
Delroy Lindo turns in a performance which is one of the best of his entire career. His character, Paul, is a man tormented by the past and by his inner demons. Afflicted with paranoia, there is also something Shakespearean about this individual. He is the type of character who is impossible to look away from, even as the audience also finds themselves more than a little terrified about his downfall into complete and utter madness.
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