Hollywood set for row over satire on US army (film is more like disgusting insult to US military)

UK Telegraph ^ | July 15, 2003 | Hugh Davies

[FairOpinion]

A dark comedy film about the US military that opens with a painting of the Stars and Stripes being stamped on by soldiers is expected to raise a political storm.

Buffalo Soldier: Joaquin Phoenix Buffalo Soldiers depicts rampant heroin use and trafficking by bored soldiers in Germany and the theft of lorryloads of Pentagon property, including guns that are sold off to gangsters.

A poster advertising the film shows Joaquin Phoenix, playing an army "spiv", in combat fatiques with an ammunition belt wrapped around his neck, saying: "Steal all you can steal."

The film has earned favourable comparisons to the military satires Catch 22 and M*A*S*H, but this is an uneasy time in America, with rising concern at US casualties in Iraq.

Each night, all television networks usually lead on the rising death toll, amid fears of a Vietnam-style quagmire.

Before Buffalo Soldiers has been seen by the public, a retired army colonel, Franklin Henderson, representing the Ninth & Tenth Cavalry Association, has complained about scenes showing military policemen "committing acts of violence and engaging in corruption".

He was particularly anxious, he said, as some of the MPs were black, degrading "the sterling service" given to the army by the historical Buffalo Soldiers, a black regiment founded in 1866.

Set at the end of the Cold War in Stuttgart, Germany, Buffalo Soldiers follows the misdeeds of Army Specialist Ray Elwood, played by Phoenix, and a brigade of fellow rogues and addicts. Suffering the malaise following Vietnam, the soldiers have no interest in duty or heroism.

The Los Angeles Times said the film "is to military service what One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was to mental health."

Miramax won a studio bidding war for the rights, but executives clinched the deal the night before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Suddenly the film was in trouble. A year later, at a test screening in New York, a viewer said, while she did not dispute the film's accuracy: "I think this is a time when we need to be patriotic and I don't think the American public should see it."

It has been postponed five times but is now due to be released in New York and Los Angeles on July 24.

At the moment, caution has to be exercised in even vaguely provocative acts. The Baseball Hall of Fame cancelled a showing of the film Bull Durham in case the liberal stars Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins talked of the war.

On Capitol Hill, the mood is such that the Senate has just concluded hearings over the fury in America caused by the Dixie Chicks country band at the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London. The group's lead singer, Natalie Maines, said from the stage: "Just so you know, we're ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas."

The Cumulous Broadcast Group banned the group's songs for a month from its 270 radio stations. Maines had to apologise, saying she meant no disrespect to the White House.

Rick Sands, Miramax's chief operating officer, said: "We don't want this film to be misinterpreted and we want to be sensitive to the current situation in the world."

He added that the same New York audience had been tested again for its reaction, which was "much better". "People said it was great to see a movie that wasn't sanitised," he said.

The film, which also stars Ed Harris and Scott Glenn, was well-received at Robert Redford's Sundance festival, although one person threw a plastic bottle at the director, Gregor Jordan.

Jordan, an Australian, said: "After September 11 it would have been the wrong time to release it. But now the film's become even more topical than when we first made it.

"I hope it'll work the same way as M*A*S*H did in the Vietnam war and provoke a bit of thought and create a bit of controversy."

[FairOpinion]

And they wonder why there is a common perception that the left and Hollywood hate and detest the military and are unpatriotic... It's because it's true and they are proving it every day by all they do.

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[Hildy]

Memo to Hollywood: Great timing guys. Always have your finger on the pulse of America, don't ya?

[prisoner6]

I did this story durning a couple of newscasts on WJAS radio yesterday morning. Amazingly - to me anyway - not one person called in about it. WJAS is an older demo with lots of vets and parents of soldiers tuning in so I thought it would create a stir. Was I ever surprised!

Apparently people are just apathetic OR they've decided to ignore the hollywierd folk....or me, LOL!

prisoner6

[FairOpinion]

Maybe you need to do it again, with a few more specifics, to give people the real flavor of the film.

The UK Telegraph calls it a satire. I call it a disgrace.

Here we have thousands of our heroic dedicated military mena and women on foreign soil fighting and dying for our freedom, while the Hollywood crowd mocks them, lies about them and tries to disgrace them.

[zingzang]

Yeah, the Hollywood Left will air something like this to prove that they aren't "against the military" but their brethren in the media won't show shots of the people who jumped to their deaths at the World Trade Centers because that would be "below their standards" It's better to make fun of our military than it is to show how our people died at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. Absolutely amazing.

[Empireoftheatom48]

This is awful how can we get this stopped???

[FairOpinion]

"This is awful how can we get this stopped??? "
--

Freep Disney (Disney's Miramax Studio produced it), boycott the film.

"Although according to The Drudge Report, Disney’s Miramax did produce the movie “Buffalo Soldiers” in the summer of 2003, which according to its director, “Gregor Jordan describes SOLDIERS as a robust satire illustrating the corruption, drug use and violence that goes on in US Army bases.” In other words, while American soldiers are giving their lives in Iraq, Disney is presenting a film depicting America’s warriors as low life’s."

http://www.americandaily.com/item/1531

[Paleo Conservative]

Memo to Hollywood: Great timing guys. Always have your finger on the pulse of America, don't ya?

I think they were doing something else with their finger.

[FairOpinion]

More info about the film:

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808403334

(Go to link above, there are more links in the article, I am just not good enough at HTML to insert them in the copy below)

Release Date: July 25th, 2003 (LA/NY); expands to other cities at later dates

Release Date Notes: (8/12/02) This was originally scheduled for July 19th, 2002. (1/28/03) The release date was then moved to March 28th, 2003, before now being moved again to May 9th. (4/22/03) According to The Los Angeles Times, Miramax has bumped this movie back another two months, to position the film a bit away from the recent controversies about patriotism that are hounding people like Janeane Garofalo, the Dixie Chicks and Susan Sarandon. It's a really great article and a highly recommended read.

World Premiere: September, 2001, Toronto International Film Festival

What This Isn't: Most people think of Buffalo Soldiers as the name given to African-American soldiers during the Indian Wars. This, however, isn't about them.

MPAA Rating: R (for violence, drug content, strong language and some sexuality)

Running Time: 94 minutes

Distributor: Miramax Films

Distributor Note: (4/23/03) In a bizarre case of awkward timing, Miramax Films acquired the rights to this film on the evening of September 10th, 2001 at the Toronto International Film Festival, and within 24 hours... found that the climate for releasing this movie had changed drastically.

Production Company: Odeon Films, FilmFour, Good Machine, Gorilla Entertainment

Cast: Joaquin Phoenix (Ray Elwood), Anna Paquin (Robyn Lee), Scott Glenn (Sgt. Robert Lee), Ed Harris (Colonel Wallace Berman), Elizabeth McGovern (Mrs. Berman), Brian Delate (Col. Marshall), Glenn Fitzgerald (Hicks), Amani Gethers (Kirschfield), Kick Gurry, Leon (Stoney), Shiek Mammud-Bey (Sgt. Saad), Gabriel Mann (Knoll), Noah Margetts (Rothfuss), Michael Pena (Garcia)

Director: Gregor Jordan (Two Hands)

Screenwriter: Eric Axel Weiss (1998's Wicked), Nora Maccoby (writing team of Bongwater), Gregor Jordan (Two Hands)

Based Upon: The novel of the same title by Robert O'Connor.

Premise: Set just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, this is the story of a criminal drug culture among U.S. Army soldiers, focusing on Sgt. Ray Elwood (Phoenix), the clerk to the battalion commander, Colonel Berman (Harris). What Ray doesn't know is that there is an investigation working its way in his direction, even as he is falling in love with the daughter, Robyn (Paquin), of the soldier, Sgt. Lee (Glenn), of the man who's tipping the investigation off about Ray.

Filming: Production started on November 6th, 2000 in Berlin and elsewhere in Germany (including the U.S. Army base in Karlsruhe), on a budget of $15 million, and wrapped in early February, 2001.

Genre: Based on a Book, Comedy, Crime, Historical

Unofficial Actor Fan Site: MrJoaquin.com

Article About the Film's Many Schedule Delays: The Los Angeles Times

Festival Profiles: Sundance, Toronto

Watch the Trailer: Apple.com

Official Production Co. Site: GorillaEntertainment.com

Official Site: Miramax.com

Message Board: Share your thoughts on our "Buffalo Soldiers" Message Board

[BonnieJ]

This movie will be a total flop. Bad timing. They are mis-reading the audience. Maybe teenagers will like it but I doubt it, there is too much competition for their money at the theaters now that is far better.

[JackelopeBreeder]

Sounds like a real turd of a movie, especially the title. I live here right outside Fort Huachuca, the home of the Buffalo Soldiers. The black 9th and 10th Cavalry and the 92nd and 93rd Infantry. A real slap in the face at a proud tradition, a sterling reputation, and some of America's finest frontier soldiers.

Ever wonder how General Black Jack Pershing got his nickname? Leading Buffalo Soldiers.

Disney and Miramax deserve a severe set of bitch-slaps for this one.

[Commie Basher]

FWIW, Buffalo Soldiers had one of the most crowded, eagerly anticipated screenings at the L.A. Film Fest last June, and had one of the hottest "buzzes" and biggest applause.

[BradyLS]

The armed forces are a reflection of the society that creates it. Among the overwhelming majority of honorably serving troops can be found a few murderers, rapists, thieves, and drug abusers. Sometimes they find one another and form gangs.

How Hollywood (and the public) finds "entertainment" in those elements is often a mystery to me. It's scandalous if it's accurate and damaging if it's not.

[Hugin]

Remember in the wake of 9/11 how the Hollywood execs got together and pledged to make patriotic movies that would support the war on terror? I didn't believe the weasels then, and they have shown themselves for the treasonous rat bastards they are.

[BossLady]

I agree! PEEEEEUUUU!!! So, the more press we give this...the movie will go from obscurity to people wanting to see it out of curiosity. I say let it pass quietly in the night and go straight to video/DVD.

[what's up]

Well received at Redford's Sundance festival? Figures.

Isn't Phoenix the one who was in "Signs" with Mel Gibson? He should have taken a hint from Gibson who, when making a military movie, never fails to depict the military in a good light.

[KeyWest]

The armed forces are a reflection of the society that creates it.

That may have been true back during Vietnam and the draft, but no more. The all volunteer force is much different than our society today. They do reflect what our society once was - duty, honor, country - compared to today's slacker, liar and UN (think Clinton).

[Skywalk]

Yes and no. Though it might have been cleaned up, remember a few years ago the prevalence of gang members and their affiliates in the armed forces? I don't mean gangbangers who were turning their lives around either.

No, the U.S. Military has its bad apples, but that doesn't mean all of them are that way.

[mystery-ak]

This should really boost morale with our troops....sigh!