Actually, it seems more like ‘God and Generals’ because there is a whole lot of Scripture quoting, praying, conversing about the mysterious will of the Almighty in a reverential tone and, on deathbeds, the literal assurance of Heaven. It’s not often a Hollywood movie is so very religious. But it is also very violent.
‘Gods and Generals’ is the adaptation of Jeff Shaara’s Civil War historical novel about the early part of the war, when the Confederates were consistently victorious. Lee and Jackson looked invincible, while the Union suffered with a series of hesitant commanders who were either intimidated, afraid to make a mistake, paralyzed into inactivity, or all three.
The carnage displayed is incredible but accurate. Soldiers stood facing each other in open fields and fired short-range at each other. Men were mowed down by cannon fire and grapeshot, and still, the lines closed and they continued to charge. Somehow it was still considered brave and honorable to stand there taking enemy fire without seeking cover, or even trying to make yourself a more difficult target. Officers spoke to each other formally, and to the men in exalted phrases, often quoting Scripture and sometimes poetry and, occasionally, even Julius Caesar. It was a brutal conflict fought with an ancient code of chivalry.
As in most wars up through the mid-20th century, the women kept their households going, made bandages, reared their children and dreaded hearing the one thing from the battlefield that they could not bear: that their sons and brothers and husbands would not be coming home.
‘Gods and Generals’ is not all blood and guts. There are some very intentional interludes, especially around Christmas: singing carols in a parlor, time spent writing letters home or just whittling.
Some battles (First Bull Run, Fredericksburg) are explained in great detail, complete with maps. Some (Chancellorsville) are mentioned but not explained. Others are not even mentioned, so it’s not as systematic an account as, say, Ken Burn’s series on the Civil War. But it does paint vivid portraits of Lee and Jackson, and introduce significant other characters (Burnside, Hooker) while still maintaining a vivid narrative, even if it is too long, and even if it is slow in places.
It’s more than an important history lesson. It’s a commentary on the horrors of war, the evils of slavery and the incredible difference that a few brave men can make.
