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Glory Movie Essay

Decent Essays

“Glory” is a movie I’ve been looking forward to watching because it’s right up my alley. One of my favorite genres is war dramas, and this film is considered one of the best ones about the Civil War. Throw in the fact that it boasts an exciting cast and is directed by Edward Zwick (whose “The Last Samurai” I love), and I fully expected to give this movie a positive review. At best, I can give it a mixed one. “Glory” tells the story of the first all-black volunteer regiment in the Union army. The men are led by one Robert Gould Shaw (Matthew Broderick), an inexperienced new Englander and son of abolitionist parents. While leading his men, Shaw soon discovers he has to fight not only the opposing force, but racism within his own side. At the time of his casting, many people were skeptical of …show more content…

As one would expect, the Confederates demonstrate a distaste for these men, but Jarre takes pain to show us that racism existed in the Union, as well. He shows us both systematic racism, like the army paying the black soldiers $3 less than white soldiers, and individual racism, such as when various white fighters hurl racial slurs at their black comrades. This provides moviegoers with a fuller picture of what it must have been like for these volunteers. Moving past the writing, “Glory” features some iffy directing by Zwick. He does a suitable job of giving the movie an epic feel, as it should, but he never makes it as sweeping as one would expect. He uses some good shots of the environs these men fight in, but the battle scenes are poorly staged, shot and choreographed. These hamper the epic tone of the film because its most epic moments don’t feel that way. Perhaps, given the subpar nature of these sequences, Zwick could have shown us more of the war, giving viewers more of a context for the actions of the black regiment we

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