Hacksaw Ridge's Fantastic Mise-en-Scene

                  What's up people! I am here today to discuss how Hacksaw Ridge utilizes Mise-en-Scene during the film, Hacksaw Ridge, and amazing film about a soldier named Desmond Doss, who went into World War 2 without a gun, but had saved dozens of soldiers lives during the Battle of Okinawa. His heroism provided him the opportunity of receiving the Medal of Honor and he has become such an idol to millions of Americans, including me. If you have not watched this film, I highly recommend dropping this blog right here, jump on the couch, and renting this movie.  However, enough said, let's get into it!

    The first image that I wanted to comment on was one with Desmond and Mr. Doss, who are currently located at a graveyard. Desmond is considering enlisting for the war, to which his father highly goes against and attempts to persuade him out of it. These earlier scenes and the backstory before the battle are much brighter with greenery being present. Natural lighting is used here, as the scene is located outside, with soft lighting used to convey the peacefulness of the film before the war begins. In addition, we do have 1900s dressing being used to achieve historical context, such as Mr. Doss's vest accompanied by long sleeves tucked into his pants. The entirety of the scene gives us false security to what war really is. The high key lighting being utilized battles against the gloomy setting of the graveyard, providing us Desmond's positivity in this situation that he is putting himself in. He is going to war to save as many people as he can, even if it is all in vain.

    The second image I am including in this blog is one where Desmond Doss is located within a jail cell. The context of this scene is that he refused to use a rifle during training, meaning he could not graduate from bootcamp. This counted as a violation, leading to his imprisonment for the duration of the war if he is convicted of this crime. The lighting of the cell is gloomy for the most part, with back lighting emphasizing his silhouette and key light being minimized, only being used to light up his face. It allows the character to appear as if he is reflecting on his situation, and the conflict he faces for refusing to use the gun. I do also want to mention that at this part of the story, we can see that Desmond is wearing his army uniform, and that throughout the rest of the duration of the film he has it on.  

    This scene contains the location that is where the rest of the movie will be located in. Hacksaw Ridge, Okinawa, Japan. The battle begins with bloodshed and fear develops within the 307th infantry, 77th infantry division. The costuming of every character consists of the normal soldier outfits with their respective rankings and roles taken into consideration, such as Desmond with his medical decorations. Additionally, the battle field uses natural light, with barely any sun being shone on the battle. It is a much different environment than the first half of the movie, where sunlight brightened up the scenes. It conveys the dire circumstances that the soldiers were put in, featuring much fatality's that the film was able to pull off, such as both of a soldier's legs being blown clean off by explosions. 

        The story takes a dark turn, where hundreds of men were killed during the assault on Hacksaw Ridge. Desmond's uniform is tattered, stained with the blood of men he could not save. His grief expressions are encapsulated by the gloomier lighting used to express the sadness of all the men. We can see fill lighting is used to remove shadows from his face, to reveal those scratches and blood that is found all over his face. Desmond was able to escape from the war, but not without causalities, and even a personal loss. Doss carried Smitty Ryker on his shoulders through gunfire and hell. Smitty was heavily injured and could not move on his own, so Desmond decides to play hero and attempt to save him. Unfortunately, Smitty dies from his injury, which is why our protagonist is tearing up during this scene. If I am being honest, Smitty's death was a tragedy, even making me tear up during the movie. The lighting, the bloodiness of Desmond's face, all this contributes to how depressing his death was, and really sells you on the terrible consequences of war. I understand I may be going off tangent with describing how fitting this scene was to the movie, but it develops Desmond's character so well. He could not save his friend from the tragedy of war, even after he tried so hard to get him out of there. This crushes him, and leads to his epiphany in the film, to go save the men still injured on enemy territory.

        The final scene that I want to leave you with is the last scene you witness when watching Hacksaw Ridge. The context of it is the result of Desmond's actions, where he had saved well over 50 men, and some even say upwards of 70 to 80. Desmond appears to be at peace, although he is heavily injured. His uniform is even more tattered up here than the last image, as he had spent all night on the Ridge saving soldiers. The designers for the gore in the movie did amazingly, showing their talent through the disturbing leg injury's that Desmond obtained from kicking a grenade away. The lighting is much brighter here, where we can actually see the sunlight over the scenery, to express the peace that our protagonist has over saving those men and surviving the battle. He is led down to the ground by ropes and a stretcher. His facial expressions are not captured, but rather the camera positions itself to show how wide the setting really, as well as how high up Desmond is. Although I do not know what effect his current position in the setting has, I do think it looks amazing and a fitting end to this story. 

    In my personal opinion, I give the film a 10/10 for how they were able to portray Desmond Doss and his bravery under fire. Andrew Garfield is such an outstanding actor in his films, and this one is surely one of his best. The movie's use of Mise-en-Scene was delivered perfectly, and really conveyed how terrible being at war is. I also want to applaud costume and make-up designers for making each uniform and outfit feel as if the film really does take place during WW2, as well as gore artists showing how brutal warfare is. I thank you audience for reading through this blog, and I will see you tomorrow where we discuss Tom Hank's influence on a generation of kids!