Gods and Generals

A decade after American Civil War drama Gettysburg (1993) and Ronald F. Maxell returns to the subject with his prequel, Gods and Generals. This is a monster undertaking in every sense, as Maxwell sees it as the second movie of a trilogy on the Civil War. For the audience, however, there is almost four hours to negotiate - 231 ass numbing minutes of dramatically leaden, extremely serious historical filmmaking.

The film begins with the outbreak of war between the North and South. General Robert E. Lee (Duvall) is asked to lead an army against the Southerners, but declines. Valuing his Virginia heritage too much, he heads home and takes command of his state's forces. It's there that General Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson (Lang) is carving out a reputation for himself. A committed Christian, Jackson is prepared to do anything to preserve the South's ways. Meanwhile, up in Maine, Professor Joshua Chamberlain (Daniels) finds it impossible not to help his Northern brethren in their fight.

Gods and Generals may be one of the more historically accurate films in recent memory, but in cinematic terms, there's a deep rooted lethargy about it. Maxwell's bias towards the South is not disguised by the underdeveloped Chamberlain and his characters' tendency to wax lyrical in biblical language lacks dramatic ping. Visually, Gods and Generals has pretensions towards epic status (the battle scenes impress), but it's viciously undermined by extreme self importance and narrative muddlement.