Susan Granger’s review of “Rescue Dawn” (MGM)
Back in 1965, a cocky U.S. Air Force pilot, German-born Dieter Dengler (Chrisian Bale), took off on a top-secret bombing raid over Laos. Before flying out, he and his cohorts cynically watch an authentic military information film about surviving in the jungle – but the advice is invaluable once he’s shot down, captured and tortured.
An ant’s nest is tied to his face. Bound hand-and-foot, he’s dragged by a cow through a village and almost drowned in a shallow well. But no coercion will make him denounce American imperialism. “I love America because America gave me wings,” he declares.
Eventually, he’s dumped in a POW camp, where he meets two fellow Americans (Steve Zahn, Jeremy Davies) and plans a daring escape to Thailand during the rainy season. But if he can manage to get out of the compound, he’ still imprisoned by the impenetrable jungle.
Screenwriter/director Werner Herzog knew the real Dieter Dengler, who died in 1991 of Lou Gehrig’s disease, and made the acclaimed documentary, “Little Dieter Needs to Fly,” about him but wanted to bring this story to the screen as an action-adventure. As with “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “Fitzcarraldo” and “Grizzly Man,” Herzog is intrigued with the man-versus-nature survival concept, aided in great part by cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger. That’s understandable, but the stereotypical script – Herzog’s first in English – could benefit from simple devices like back story and character development, accompanying the heat, hunger and exhaustion.
What’s most memorable is Christian Bale’s physically transformative performance. Once the buff “Batman” hero, he – literally – starved himself to look emaciated in “The Machinist” and visibly drops weight, once again, here. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Rescue Dawn” is an intensely visceral and violent 7. It’s not for the faint-hearted.
