Touching the Ancient One

December 24, 2006

I talked up WE ARE MARSHALL in recent posts. Now I feel some obligation to add my humble opinion on the movie. Millie and I attended an afternoon showing in Emeryville, California on the 22nd. In all fairness, my thoughts may be biased by several factors: I grew up in the Huntington area (Salt Rock), I’m a Marshall graduate (1957), I know the family of one of the victims of the 1970 crash (Barry Nash), and my own experience as an air crash survivor will, no doubt, color my perspective. Nevertheless, here goes:

WE ARE MARSHALL is an excellent movie. My gut feeling makes me want to shout “great” movie, but for the general audience it falls just short of that. However, for those of us who live close to the circumstances, it is a great movie because we read between the lines––or scenes if you prefer. We can fill in some blanks that the casual moviegoer cannot. An example is the depiction of the community’s grief. That is alluded to and shown briefly in a few individual scenes, but showing the extent of the devastation that tore apart the university and surrounding area falls short. Another shortcoming was the lack of information about most of the victims. A few individuals were shown in depth, and I understand that in telling about a tragedy of this scope you have to choose the things to empathize, but a three-second list of the victims at the end of the movie is really not enough.

Nevertheless, there’s much that is excellent. For those who want an exciting crash scene with slow-motion detail of every angle of a disintegrating aircraft hitting the trees short of the runway––you’ll be disappointed. And that’s a plus. If you expect certain actors to step forward as strong swashbuckling protagonists and antagonists, you’ll also be disappointed. Another plus. Don’t get me wrong––there’s no lack of fine acting in the film, but it’s a dignified, graceful kind of shared presentation. In fact, “dignified” is the word I choose to describe the whole movie. Even the football scenes later in the film, though riveting in themselves and good enough to satisfy the most critical sports fans, possess an overriding statement––that there is more at stake than just winning a football game. Faithfully kept before us is the symbol of  “rising from the ashes.” The real antagonist in the film is DESPAIR and the protagonist is HOPE. For those who understand that, WE ARE MARSHALL is a great movie. It has depth, and as such will probably not lead the way at the box office or attract the attention of the Academy Award folks. However, it will be around for a long time, unlike a couple of the “spectacular” flicks that are playing alongside it. There’s my two cents worth.

On this Christmas Eve, I wish everyone a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

God bless you all.

Rupert