|
''Glory'' is a 1989 American drama war film directed by Edward Zwick and starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, Cary Elwes and Morgan Freeman. The screenplay was written by Kevin Jarre, based on the personal letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the novel ''One Gallant Rush'' by Peter Burchard (reissued in 1990 after the movie), and ''Lay This Laurel'' (1973), Lincoln Kirstein's compilation of photos of the monument to the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry on Boston Common. The film is about the first formal unit of the Union Army during the American Civil War to be made up entirely of African-American men, as told from the point of view of Colonel Shaw, its white commanding officer. They were the first unit of what became known as the United States Colored Troops and known for their heroic actions at Fort Wagner. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards and won three, including Denzel Washington for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Private Trip. It won many other awards, including from the British Academy, the Golden Globe Awards, the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, Political Film Society, the NAACP, among others. The film was co-produced by TriStar Pictures and Freddie Fields Productions, and distributed by Tri-Star Pictures in the United States. It premiered in limited release in the U.S. on December 14, 1989, and in wide release on February 16, 1990, making $26,828,365. It was considered a moderate financial success, taking into account its $18 million budget. The soundtrack, composed by James Horner in conjunction with the Boys Choir of Harlem, was released on January 23, 1990. The home video was distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. On June 2, 2009, a widescreen Blu-ray version, featuring the director's commentary and deleted scenes, was released. ==Plot== During the American Civil War, Captain Robert Shaw is injured in the Battle of Antietam and sent home to Boston on medical leave. He visits his family there, where he meets the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a former slave. Shaw is offered a promotion to the rank of Colonel to command the first all-black regiment in the Union Army, the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He accepts and asks his childhood friend, 2nd Lieutenant Cabot Forbes, to serve as his second in command, with the rank of major. Their first volunteer is another friend, Thomas Searles, a bookish free African American. Other recruits soon follow, including gravedigger John Rawlins, timid freeman Jupiter Sharts and Silas Trip, an escaped slave who does not trust Shaw. Trip instantly clashes with Searles and Rawlins must keep the peace. The men learn that the Confederacy has issued an order that all black soldiers found in Union uniform will be summarily executed, as will their white officers, and are offered a chance to take an honorable discharge, but none of them do. The black soldiers undergo a severe training regimen under Irish Sergeant-Major Mulcahy. When Shaw confronts Mulcahy about his methods he comes to realize that Mulcahy is in fact training them fairly and is trying to prepare the men for the extreme challenges that they will face. When Trip goes AWOL and is caught, Shaw orders him flogged in front of the troops. The scars from his beatings as a slave are exposed, giving pause to the abolitionist Shaw. While talking to Rawlins, Shaw discovers that Trip had left to find shoes to replace his worn ones. Shaw learns that his men are being denied regular supplies and confronts the base's racist quartermaster on their behalf. He further supports them through a pay dispute, as the Federal government decided to pay black soldiers $10/month as opposed to the $13/month that white soldiers earn. Trip encourages the men to go without pay in protest, and Shaw tears up his own pay stub in solidarity, earning the respect and admiration of his men. In recognition for his leadership among the troops, Shaw invests Rawlins with the rank of Sergeant-Major. Once the 54th completes its training, they are transferred under the command of General Charles Garrison Harker. On the way to joining the war in South Carolina, the 54th is ordered to sack a Georgia town and burn it by Harker's second-in-command, Colonel James Montgomery. Though Shaw initially refuses to obey an unlawful order, he ultimately obeys under threat of being relieved and having his troops taken away, and the town is destroyed. Shaw continues to lobby his superiors to allow his men to join the fight, as their duties since being activated involved construction and manual labor. Shaw finally gets the 54th into combat after he confronts Harker and threatens to report the smuggling, looting, and graft he has discovered unless Harker orders the 54th into action. In their first battle on James Island, South Carolina, early success is followed by a bloody confrontation with many casualties. However, the Confederates are beaten and retreat. During the battle, Thomas is wounded but saves Trip, finally earning the respect of the former slave. He subsequently refuses to go home to recover. Shaw offers Trip the honor of bearing the regimental flag in battle, but he declines. Trip states that he doesn't believe the war will result in a better life for slaves, but at the same time that he knows he must fight for the mere hope that it might. Sometime after, General George Strong informs Shaw and his other staff officers of a major campaign to secure a foothold in Charleston Harbor. This will involve assaulting the nearby Morris Island and capturing its impenetrable fortress, Fort Wagner. The fort's only landward approach is via a small strip of beach with little cover, and the first regiment to charge is sure to suffer extremely heavy casualties. Shaw volunteers to have the 54th lead the charge. The night before the battle; the black soldiers conduct a religious service where individual soldiers offer their prayers amid hymn singing. Jupiter, Rawlins, and Trip make emotional speeches to inspire the troops and to ask for God's help. The 54th leads the charge on the fort and heavy casualties ensue from artillery fire. As night falls, the bombardment continues, forestalling progress. Attempting to spur his men forward, Shaw is shot and killed. Trip lifts up the flag and rallies the soldiers to continue the charge, even as Rawlins provides covering fire. Trip is shot several times while doing so but holds up the flag to his last breath. Forbes takes charge of the regiment, and the soldiers are able to break through the fort's outer defenses but find themselves greatly outnumbered, leading to the death of Charlie Morse and the wounding of Thomas in the back. The morning after the battle, the beach is shown littered with bodies of Union soldiers and the Confederate flag is raised over the fort. The corpses are buried in a mass grave, with Shaw and Trip's bodies next to each other. The closing narration reveals that Fort Wagner was never taken by Union forces but that the courage demonstrated by the soldiers of the 54th resulted in the Union accepting thousands of black men for combat, which President Abraham Lincoln credited with turning the tide of the war. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Glory (1989 film)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|