Hart’s
War, loosely based on the novel (which is also loosely
based on the experiences of his father Nicholas, former Attorney
General under Lyndon Johnson) by John Katzenbach, takes place
in 1944-1945, mostly within a prisoner-of-war compound located
at Augsberg, near a German munitions factory (though actually
filmed in the Czech Republic). Lieutenant Thomas W. Hart (played
by Colin Farrell), the son of a U.S. Senator, is assigned
to noncombatant duties during the war. When the film begins,
his order is to transport an important officer and a crate
of champagne to a unit close to enemy lines. However, the
officer is killed, and Hart is captured, tortured into disclosing
the location of ammunition dumps, and then transported to
Stalag 6A. Upon arrival, enigmatic Colonel William A. McNamara
(played by Bruce Willis) interrogates Hart, infers that he
has betrayed military secrets, and assigns him to an enlisted
soldier barrack. The topdog in the barrack, Staff Sergeant
Vic W. Bedford (played by Cole Hauser) of East St. Louis has
a supply of boots, cigarettes, and other rewards for favors;
he issues boots to Hart and later collects payment in the
form of his watch. Soon, two African American officers, Lieutenant
Lincoln A. Scott (played by Terrence Howard) and Lieutenant
Lamar T. Archer (played by Vicellous Shannon) from the Air
Corps come into the camp and are assigned to Hart’s barrack,
whereupon Bedford displays open racial prejudice. One night
Archer is shot dead by a German prison guard, allegedly for
trying an escape, but Scott suspects foul play. Next, Bedford
is found dead, and Scott is accused of the murder. Although
the Germans again prefer summary execution, McNamara insists
that there must be a court martial according to army rules.
McNamara appoints Captain Peter A. Ross (played by Linus Roache)
as prosecutor and Hart as defense counsel; Ross was a lawyer
in civilian life, whereas Hart was a second-year law student
when he entered the army. As Hart develops the case for Scott,
he realizes that the charge is a frame-up, and in due course
he learns that the trial is a sideshow to buy time while McNamara
supervises tunnelbuilding so that the nearby munitions plant
will be blown up. Then, when the explosion occurs, McNamara
steps forward to assume responsibility so that he will be
executed instead of his men. But the real plot in Hart’s
War is about Hart’s campaign to stop racism.
The point of the film is to focus on how African Americans
from Tuskeegee Institute, trained as pilots during World War
II, might have been treated by their own men when shot down
and captured (in actuality, no such racism existed in Katzenbach’s
stalag). Early in the film, the Germans execute without a
trial three Russian prisoners for escaping, and Kommandant
Colonel Werner Visser (played by Marcel Iures) explains to
the Americans that the Russians are subhuman and thus do not
matter, whereupon McNamara says that Americans "do not
make distinctions." However, McNamara indeed makes a
lot of distinctions: He assigns Hart and the two African American
pilots to a barrack for enlisted soldiers. As the trial progresses,
Hart is eager to clear Scott or at least to allow Scott to
escape from the tunnel, but Scott replies that he would be
immediately spotted in a German uniform, so he would rather
take the rap and die with honor. The film ends with a voiceover
from Hart that Scott lived to tell his children about duty
and honor, and thus filmviewers are supposed to better appreciate
the sacrifices that soldiers make to defend their country.
Directed by Gregory Hoblit, the film’s release was delayed
by the events of 9-11. The voiceover appears to have been
added later, to underscore the heroism of American soldiers.
MH
I
want to comment on this film
