| By Fred Topel
In Theaters August 12
|
War films always have their standout characters, the oddball soldiers who lead the pack. Benjamin Bratt plays Lt. Col. Henry Mucci in The Great Raid, and he based his performance largely on a picture of the real Mucci in the book Ghost Soldiers. Showing the Lieutenant Colonel standing, hands on hips, with a pipe hanging out of his mouth, Bratt began taking on Mucci-isms.
“I got a lot from the picture actually,” Bratt said. “You get that from the interviews, and the way he’s described in the book is that he was this incredibly magnetic guy, not so large in stature as he was in personality and nature. And a natural born leader, someone who was well loved by his men. And that was the question I always asked myself. What have I admired in [people] whether I’m talking about coaches or teachers that I’ve had? Beyond their natural magnetism, what was it? The best of them were the guys that were right in there with you. And so it was clear that Colonel Mucci wouldn’t ask anything of his men that he wouldn’t expect to do himself.”
The film tells the first cinematic account of the raid on the Cabanatuan prison camp in the Philippines. Many do not even know about the Philippine front, let alone the raid which is considered the most successful mission in U.S. military history (or so the text in the film says.)
“It was the clear intent of the filmmakers obviously to be as authentic as possible,” Bratt continued. “I think they realised early on that the actual and very specific details of the event as it occurred make a far more compelling tale than anything you could fictionalise given the subject matter we’re talking about.”
The legend, however little known, of Mucci and the mission was too daunting for Bratt to take lightly. “To be really frank with you, there are a lot of roles that I could just show up and kind of walk through. This wasn’t one of them because while I consider myself skilled, I had no idea how to be a leader of 120 men. There was no way I was going to be able to fake that onscreen without the audience calling bullsh*t on me.”
Fortunately for Bratt, the film employed military advisor Dale Dye. Dye is famous for “The Dale Dye Method” in which he puts actors in war movies through his own boot camp. His theory is that actors cannot play leaders unless they learn how to lead. As such, he designs missions for them to lead, sometimes asking them to create their own plans.
“From the outside it seems like something that would be considered a lark, but I found it to be incredibly invaluable. It was very much an education for me. And, yeah, we did learn things as mundane and basic as how to march or how to carry a firearm, and all the protocol of being an officer, but more importantly we learned how to behave as a cohesive unit. And I learned how to become a leader. Not easy to do but it was a crash course that served that purpose.”
Filmed in 2002, The Great Raid began its long delay due to political sensitivity and suffered further in the turmoil between Miramax and their parent company, Walt Disney.
“It was a bit frustrating to know that it was sitting on a shelf somewhere collecting dust and all the more frustrating to understand that potentially people’s perception of that wait means that something’s wrong with it. There’s nothing wrong with this film. It’s a wonderful, inspiring film. I think there’s a lot of different guesses as to why it was delayed for so long. One – and I think it was the most obvious – is that we made this film before the whole Iraq situation came to light. Rather smartly, I think they understood that it doesn’t make much sense to release a film about war during certainly the initially stages of wartime. But I think we have enough perspective on what’s going on and what the temperament of the country is. It kind of reflects I think a readiness to see something heroic.”
Whatever ones thoughts about today’s war, Bratt hopes people can appreciate the timeless qualities of The Great Raid. “When we’re talking about the life of a soldier and the acts of a soldier, I don’t care what your politics are or what your opinion about the current administration’s foreign policy is. You can have a strong opinion on either side of what’s going on, but when at issue are the lives of soldiers, men and women who are basically making the ultimate sacrifice to accomplish something, you can’t help but feel somehow inspired by the choices that they make. In the film we’re talking about 120 men led by Lt Colonel Henry Mucci, the man I play, who are willing to put their own lives on the line for the sake of their fellow soldiers.”
Bratt saw the same qualities in today’s soldiers when he had a chance to visit the troops. “I had the chance to talk to some recently returned injured soldiers from Iraq last week at Walter Reed Hospital and I was struck by that same quality that existed in them that you find in the soldiers in this film. That is this desire to – even after losing a limb – to get back to the field to make sure that their own men get back. Mainly I was talking to NCOs, sergeants, who were responsible for entire platoons and without exception – of the 12 or so that I spoke to – they couldn’t wait to get back. It’s pretty admirable, a pretty admirable quality because what we’re really talking about ultimately is love.”
The Great Raid opens August 12. |
