Review of Rescue Dawn (2007) by Eric F — 05 Jun 2009

In 1997, German director Werner Herzog filmed the memoir of Deiter Dengler - an American pilot who was gunned down over Vietnam and kept as a prisoner of war for six months. Dengler was a man still haunted by his past, hearing voices and obsessing over open doors. He died of Lou Gehrig's disease in 2001, and six years later Herzog took it upon himself to film a dramatized remake of his own documentary. The story mostly remains the same, and the material is certainly reminiscent of the Herzog we've gotten to know. Dieter battles nature as Fitzcarraldo did in "Fitzcarraldo", and he struggles with sanity as Aguirre did in "Aguirre: The Wrath of God". All three films take place in a similar lush and overwhelming forest - a setting in which Herzog constantly returns to, fascinated by what he considers chaotic.

This 2007 film is Herzog's first official American film, and Christian Bale was cast as Dieter Dengler. Like he did with "The Machinist", Bale lost a bunch of weight for the role (after, of course, gaining all of it back in "Batman Begins"). He certainly looks the part, however his Dengler is a bit different than the one we saw in "Little Dieter Needs to Fly". He is relentlessly optimistic, a hero almost laughing in the face of his opposition.

In the POW camp, Dieter meets Duane (Steve Zahn), a character the real Dieter remembered fondly in the documentary. Zahn had an interesting task as Duane wasn't described in too much detail, however he is very effective. We see Duane as Dieter in a few years time - a completely broken man with all hopes crushed. When Dieter arrives, he's almost a savior to Duane. Duane seems progressively more human as the film goes on and escape seems like a more likely possibility. A lost cause is added to the mix in Gene (Jeremy Davies), who to my recollection is not referenced in the documentary. Davies' weight loss mirrors Bale's in "The Machinist", and he plays Gene as a completely fried and paranoid conspiracy theorist.

"Rescue Dawn" didn't completely work for me. I didn't find the dialogue to be too convincing, and Dieter's recollection of the camp in "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" is much more intimidating than what is painted in "Rescue Dawn". To me, it mostly felt like a lie - Bale, although good, is too arrogant to sympathize with, and his captors are not horrifying in the slightest. I'm not suggesting that we needed torture sequences, but it may have benefited from a more balanced pacing. The scenes in the prison camp simply go on too long and, at some point, go completely flat and kill the driving suspense.

If you see one of the films, definitely check out "Little Dieter Needs to Fly". Much like literature snobs dread film depictions that ruin their own interpretation of the text, "Rescue Dawn" doesn't translate the cerebral terrors Dieter's story gave us in the documentary.