Gibson seeks road to redemption
Actor/director finds better kind of conviction with war movie
LOS ANGELES — Mel Gibson hasn’t had an alcoholic drink in 10 years, so he can soberly celebrate his latest directorial effort, Hacksaw Ridge.
Coincidence or not, it has also been a decade since his last effort as a filmmaker, Apocalypto, received a split decision from fans and critics.
Gibson’s new war film, Hacksaw Ridge, has already been embraced by audiences at last month’s Venice Film Festival, followed by pundits’ predictions of potential Oscar glory.
Gibson’s latest movie follows the exploits of Seventh-day Adventist Desmond Doss (played by Andrew Garfield) before and during the Virginian’s service as an army medic at the Battle of Okinawa. Subsequently, Doss became the first conscientious objector in U.S. history to be awarded the Medal of Honor.
When Gibson was offered the opportunity to shape the unique story of a hero, the 61-year-old didn’t hesitate to accept the challenge.
“Real superheroes don’t wear Spandex,” says a bearded Gibson with key cast members promoting the film.
Certainly, the battle elements are in his repertoire. He earned multiple Oscars for his 1995 medieval effort Braveheart. And he had parts in 1981’s First World War film Gallipoli and a headlining part in 2002’s We Were Soldiers, which focused on the Vietnam conflict.
Yet despite his movie past, Hacksaw Ridge came with budgetary limitations.
To save money and pick up a few tax breaks, the director shot the narrative of a U.S. war hero in Australia, using mostly Aussie actors in co-starring roles during the quick 60-day shoot.
“I had 25 per cent of the budget of Braveheart and half the time, and that’s 20 years ago,” Gibson says. “This is really an independent film.”
It’s also a narrative in two parts — Doss before the war and at the Hacksaw Ridge confrontation when the medic retrieved 75 wounded soldiers from an active battlefield.
Indeed, Hollywood studios had been trying to make a film of the achievement since the end of the war. Both the Seventh-day Adventists and Doss (who died at 87 in 2006) were reluctant.
Finally, Seventh-day Adventist and documentary filmmaker Terry Benedict, who owned the film rights to the Doss story, decided the time was right to tell the tale on the big screen.
Two years ago, a team of producers approached Gibson with a screenplay written by TV writer Andrew Knight and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan.
“Firstly, I wanted Hacksaw Ridge to be realistic,” the director says. “But it also had to highlight what it means to be a man of conviction, a man of faith, and to get into a situation that is hell on earth.”
Garfield, a British actor best known as Peter Parker’s SpiderMan, impressed Gibson from the start with his dutiful devotion to the Doss portrayal.
“I was proud and pleased to stand back and watch it happen,” Gibson says. “Andrew inhabited that character very truthfully.”
And true to his reputation, the filmmaker’s Hacksaw Ridge battle sequences are gritty and devastatingly authentic.
And while he decided against having a co-starring role in the movie, he did get down and dirty to show his cast how to behave in the chaos of war.
“I have spent quite a bit of time crawling around foxholes, but I’m too old to (act) in this stuff,” Gibson says.
The director’s immersion into the fray did invigorate his crew of actors.
Vince Vaughn, one of the few U.S. actors in the cast, insists Gibson led by example when the going got rough despite the time constraints and the limited production budget.
“What (Gibson) brought to it was incredible,” says Vaughn, who plays Doss’s army sergeant. “I was impressed with watching (Gibson) be a conductor.”
The cinematic effort may complete a return to favour of sorts for Gibson after his infamous 2006 arrest for a drunk driving, his racist rants and his recorded threats toward an ex. All of the incidents combined to relegate him to a persona non grata status in Hollywood.
Now, Gibson’s 26-year-old girlfriend is pregnant with his ninth child as he tries to make amends. He’s an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous and a movie man on the rebound thanks to Hacksaw Ridge.
Indeed, the film might be a redemption yarn in more ways than one.
“I am a poor practitioner,” Gibson says of being Catholic. “That’s why when I see a good story like this, of someone whose faith is unshakable, I can be inspired.”
As an afterthought, he adds: “I’ll sort my own stuff out, maybe in private.”