Gods and Generals

[Caius Fabius]

I was pleased that "Gods and Generals" didn't add a bunch of conversations and touchy-feely stuff. Some of the "speeches" were taken directly from the personal memoirs of people who were there. While the costuming and novelization weren't perfect, the way people interacted was different in the 1860's. Even they way they wore their clothing. A handmade replica of Robert E. Lee's original uniform (adjusted for size) was rejected by Martin Sheen, because it was too constricting and made him sit too straightly.<br>
The film did not show the gruesome violence of the American Civil War, and could have been much more disgusting in it's depictions of the results of cannister/grape, and shell, as well as the actual damage done by .54 cal to .69 cal projectiles.<br>
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The love between General Jackson and his wife is an important story, told by most of the people who served with Jackson, as is his virtual adoption of the young girl of a family who hosted him.<br>
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There are many first person accounts of these incidents available, from both sides of the Mason Dixon line. The film seems to portray the period well, except for the glaring costuming errors with General Jackson's hat.<br>
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An example , the field at Fredrickburg, it is written that you could walk completely across the field on dead bodies, the film doesn't do justice to the carnage.<br>
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If you want to write a film about war, this is a good example. War is boring for long periods of time, with people, politics, meetings and accidents, with only a few minutes or days of intense excitement, pain, death and confusion, which is remembered by the survivors for the rest of their lives.<br>
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You can't set the story for non-historians in 90-120 minutes.<br>
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