Pharaoh's Army

"Pharaoh's Army" defies formula. Instead of selling out for cliches and big stars, it relies completely on the excellent acting from a strong cast, the strength of a well written script, and a fascinating and bitter story. The result is a raw and realistic film that moves along fast, with a heavy emotional current. One of the best I've ever seen about the Civil War, and I think it can owe that to the pleasure of being an independent film (if you like this film, try to see the similarly brilliant indie Civil War film "Wicked Spring" as well).

"Pharaoh" simply tells the true story of a small expedition/forage team of Union men who ride into a Confederate farm to take provisions, but end up stuck there because of an accident of one of the men. Tensions broil and relationships are made and broken. Nothing happens the way Hollywood would write it; this movie comes from the mind of someone who actually cares about quality film and the telling of history. Superb dialogue and plot exposition move along a film that looks highly professional, but often doesn't feel like you're watching a movie, more along the lines of hearing a story.

The film boasts an incredible performance from Chris Cooper who shows an amazing versatility in the exploration of his role. He transforms, but is always at the height of believability and is easy to emotionally relate to. Patricia Clarkson is equally as stellar and realistic in a role that many actresses would crumble in. She shares an interesting chemistry with Cooper's character and where she's the more severe of the characters, is still as easy to identify with. The rest of the cast is quite capable, and fill their roles in well.

The art design and the set are wonderful, and personally I love the cinematography. It all has the feel of a Civil War period photograph with the camera presenting strong contrasting colors and shadows and a tin-like metalic tint, but always keeping the naturalistic look of the rustic setting. They seem to have used natural lighting, but whatever they used works beautifully. Everything looks like it belongs where it is, it feels period, something I find rare in American period films. The actors act 19th century, not like 20th century people in old clothes.

Above all, this film is very personal. I think that as an indie it can afford it. The film is nearly flawless with an outstanding script that effortlessly creates and explores the relationships and personalities of these characters and lets them grow in a situation, as bad as it is. It doesn't fail in getting it's point across, and it gets it's point across without the usual and overused techniques that are used in all war films these days. It's brave. It relies on it's characters, a fantastic script, human emotion, and in the cold hard fact that the Civil War wasn't all CGI, big stars, and hoop skirts.

This is one of my personal favorites, a rare little gem that seems to be undiscovered by the general population. Chris Cooper and Patricia Clarkson form the heart of the piece in what is a well-chosen cast. Few movies have ever captured the true hostilities that undergirded the Civil War, but this one seems to capture all the right tones and moods. If you're a fan of the book, Cold Mountain, try this movie out and see if you don't think it makes a good companion piece.

Pharoah's Army is a rare, realistic view of the American Civil War, which, like all wars, mostly happened "somewhere else". While almost all war movies focus on that "somewhere else", the pinpoints of battle and battlefields, this one courageously covers the other ninety per cent of the war, in the hills and countryside far from sweeping drama.

The director's gift for understatement and getting complex emotions across without phoney speeches give it almost a documentary feel, as does his willingness to let the late autumn Appalachians have their own beauty, without staging or drawing attention to it.

His most courageous choice was making the characters normal people: neither evil nor noble, just people, in a hopeless, hurtful time. The actors are incredibly powerful, all of them, down to the dog and the mule.

People who know little about the American Civil War, and the scar it left on American society -- still deep in the national psyche, even today -- may find the movie thin; the director assumes viewers are well-informed on these points, and doesn't do any "teaching" on them. But Pharoah's Army is one of the best of its genre, and a badly needed perspective that few other directors have explored. It certainly commanded my attention, from start to finish.

Okay, I kept waiting for the little "Gem" that other reviewers promised was in this video, but I must not be sharp as others because I never caught what that was! Regardless my main reason for viewing this piece is mainly due to my being a fan of Clarkson's work. This film itself is supposedly "inspired by true events", but during the horrors of the civil war, there were probably many stories similar to this one! Also, it's a bit on the slow side if you are looking for lots of gun fighting action, but then you remember (like I did), that this truly happened & that's what makes it worth watching.

Thought provoking, humbling depiction of the human tragedies of war. A small, but altruistic view of one family's interactions with the enemy during the civil war in Kentucky. This movie lessens the "glamor" of war; showing it's effect on not only the soldier but the entire family unit.

A lot of today's movies show war as an opportunity to highlight the "hero's" and other glamorous features of war, but very little attempts to show the true effect war actually takes on a community. This movie attempts this through a retelling of a person's memory of those days. This movie is stated to be loose translation of an actual events, when in reality, this movie is probably a factual reality of hundreds, perhaps thousands of "actual events" during the civil war. I highly recommend those interested in our civil war to watch this movie.