More than a few times in “The Damned,” the camera is bringing up the rear in following a trail of Union soldiers heading westward during the Civil War, a perspective that suggests how difficult it was even away from the main action when even the slightest bump in the ground could upend a wagon carrying supplies and the vastness of the land is constantly intimidating where there’s no end in sight. The uniforms consecrate Roberto Minervini’s riveting return to narrative drama in the 1860s, but the themes are timeless as an exhausted regiment assigned to find open land look lost even if it weren’t for the geography, a group that for one reason or another doesn’t appear to be anyone’s choice to serve on the front lines of battle and begin to be at war with themselves over what their compass, moral and otherwise, is telling them.
Although Minervini’s films have always eluded easy classification as drama or documentary, with naturalism trumping all else, there’s a fascinating fusion of instincts from both realms in “The Damned” after the director leaned more towards nonfiction over the past decade, shaking off any historical grandeur inherent in the subject by tapping into the same look and feel he’d apply to contemporary films such as “What You Gonna Do When the World’s On Fire” and “The Other Side.” He goes one step further in recruiting brothers Tim and Noah Carlson, two of his leads from his 2013 doc “Stop the Pounding Heart,” in which he embedded on a family goat farm in Texas, to play soldiers in the beleaguered battalion. At around 16, the two are far less conflicted about why they’re there than the other older soldiers around them, believing it’s a no brainer to join their father in the army when it means spending more time with him, but also compelled by a devotion to their country, all of which is born out of their strong religious beliefs.
Their army brethren appreciate their idealism, but have lived long enough to be skeptical that it’s in any way sustainable, most notably the most skilled of the squadron (Jeremiah Knupp), a Virginia native whose motive for enlisting is as pure and simple as the brothers, only it’s because he could use the paycheck, no more, no less. Although the pressures to fight aren’t evident from the way the soldiers carry themselves, Minervini cleverly unveils how the uniform hides how much they’re all holding within, and in different ways from one another. By the time a surprise ambush on the regiment arrives where gunfire is coming from all directions, it feels as if they’re better equipped to protect themselves than from the unexpected outbursts they experience making their way across the wilderness where the desperation to connect with others and hold onto a sense of purpose can sneak up on them with no obvious defense.
While dialogue can come across as slightly clunky when the soldiers speak so starkly about themselves in the rare moments they decide to let their guard down, it can also be a bit endearing when the characters exude such a strong desire to be understood with hesitation about finding the right words to match. (When compared to “The Damned”’s clear spiritual antecedent “The Thin Red Line” where Terrence Malick sidestepped such issues with as little banter as possible, the frankness can be bracing.) Impressively acquitting himself in the film’s action sequences along with cinematographer Carlos Alfonso Corra (also responsible for the film’s jangly, impressionistic score), Minervini creates campfire scenes that are every bit as taut when the men are left to sit with where they are in relation to what brought them there, a feeling that extends to those off screen as any number of global conflicts are brought to mind. “The Damned” may depict a quagmire, but in finding a fresh approach, the film suggests we don’t have to be stuck in how we think about war.
“The Damned” will screen again at the Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section on May 17th at 5 pm at the Cineum Imax, 9:30 pm at the Licorne and 10:30 pm at the Agnes Varda Theatre and May 18th at 2:15 pm at the Cineum Aurore and May 19th at 1:30 pm at the Cineum Salle 3.