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Gods,
Generals and Governors
Film
making and historical tourism came together last
week for a gala benefit for five historical
foundations. What was good for the generals might
be good for the governors.
Virginia's
governor and his two immediate predecessors joined
together February 18 for a self-described
"Evening of Historic Proportions," the Richmond
premiere of the Ted Turner Pictures Gods and
Generals motion picture. Mark R. Warner and
Jim Gilmore donned black tie, just as half of the
200 other guests did, for a reception and dinner
at the Tredegar Iron Works Gun Foundry Building
along the James River, then the premiere itself at
the Carpenter Center.
George
Allen, now a U.S. Senator, made the more glamorous
entrance. Alternately beaming and singing a chorus
of "Bonny Blue Flag That Bears a Single
Star," Allen actually appears in a movie
scene as one of several dozen Confederate generals
and staff officers seeking ease between battles.
Look hard and one could see West Virginia Senator
Robert Byrd, Texas Senator Phil Gramm and even Ted
Turner himself in other scenes.
Gods
and Generals, based on the novel by Jeff
Shaara and produced and directed by Ronald Maxwell,
stars Robert Duvall as Robert E. Lee and Jeff
Daniels as Maine's Colonel Joshua Chamberlain.
Virginian Duvall signed the most autographs at the
dinner and received the greatest applause in
theater introductions before the film began. But
the show really revolves around actor Stephen
Lang, blue eyes sparkling above a beard of massive
proportions, as Thomas "Stonewall' Jackson.
It
is Jackson who made the dramatic move from
instructor at the Virginia Military Institute to
Lee's most effective combat general in two years.
It is Jackson who shows the greatest character
development, including scenes in which he is
befriended by a five-year old girl, who later dies
of scarlet fever. It is Jackson who invokes the
name, guidance and will of God as an active
partner at every turn, whether preparing for
battle, pondering the end of slavery or enjoying
the child's description of Christmas
ornaments. These historically correct
incorporations of deeply held religious beliefs
work to elevate the film in some scenes, but are
distracting in others as mere attempts to
transform human limitations, shortcomings and
conflicts into some godly plan.
Movie
goers appear to be mixed in their reviews of the
film. Duvall
captures not only Lee's looks, but his quiet and
understated demeanor. But skimming any chapter of
Douglas Southall Freeman's four biographic volumes
on Lee will give a fuller picture of the man that
one can see in "Gods and Generals." Real
historians wonder how the film could have skipped
Antietam or even Jackson's absolutely brilliant
maneuvering in the Shenandoah Valley. At certain
points one longs for a great story-telling
narrative from someone like Shelby Foote to help
fill the gaps between battles.
The
film version released in theaters runs three and
one-half hours, clearly too long if one is wearing
a tuxedo. It is hard to believe that the actual
battle of Fredericksburg could have gone on much
longer than the movie treatment, in which brigade
after brigade of Union troops form neat lines and
march up a sloping field to their destruction. But
real Civil War buffs who can't get enough can
hardly wait for the five and one-half hour version
due out on DVD later this year.
At
one level, the film marks a second triumph for
dedicated Civil War reenactment fanatics.
Maxwell's film, "Gettysburg," based on
the novel The
Killer Angels written by Michael Shaara,
Jeff's father, some years ago, provided just as
many starring roles for re-enactors as for actors.
At another level, the film and the gala show how
film-making and historical tourism can come
together for the common good. The gala raised
several hundred thousand dollars for five
historical foundations – The Black History
Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, The Center
for the Civil War Living History, the Museum of
the Confederacy, the Richmond Civil War Roundtable
and the Tredegar Civil War Center Foundation. The
film may ignite new tourist interest this summer
in major battlefield venues from Manassas to
Fredericksburg to Chancellorsville.
Chancellorsville,
of course, is where the Stonewall Jackson scored
his greatest victory by rolling up the Union
flank, only to be shot accidentally by his own
pickets as he returned to camp late at night.
There is a new battle of Chancellorsville that
hinges on limiting real estate development that
could permanently alter battlefields and site
lines.
At
his director's after party at the Museum of the
Confederacy, Maxwell told well-wishers he remains
excited about the third leg of the trilogy, based
on Jeff Shaara's Last
Full Measure. How long that film will run is
anyone's guess. Supporting
actresses Donzaleigh Abernathy, daughter of civil
rights leader Ralph Abernathy, and Karen
Hochstetter added to the gala atmosphere, but both
confided privately that they were looking for
their next role, thereby identifying the problem
of one-term movie roles.
For
his part, former Gov. Gilmore was pleased that his
administration along with the Warner
administration had been acknowledged for its part
in the arrangements for the film, which was shot
on location in Virginia and neighboring states.
Gilmore remembered that it had been difficult to
get government officials and the General Assembly
to understand the economic development potential
of film-making and historical tourism initiatives.
Now the Virginia Civil War Trails program features
more than 200 Civil War sites in the state at
www.CIVILWAR-VA.com., including Appomattox, where
the film "Last Full Measure" undoubtedly
will conclude.
--
February 24, 2003
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