Soldier's Story

Norman Jewinson's 1967 "In the Heat of the Night" delved into racial prejudices through the unlikely partnership between a White Southern cop (Rod Steiger) and a Black officer played by Sidney Poitier. His name was Virgil Tibbs and his non-welcomed involvement in a murder investigation revealed interesting facets of his personality not entirely devoid of prejudices. The Best Picture winner spoke many powerful statements about racism, while sticking to the basic formula of a mystery thriller, it wasn't just groundbreaking but entertaining.

I needed to start with a long preamble to assert that Jewison's "A Soldier's Story" certainly carries the same noble intentions but never really manages to elevate itself to the level of its glorious predecessor. The film grabs the viewer's attention thanks to the wonderful characterization of a complex character named Sergeant Waters, played by Adolph Caesar, some stand-out performances from Harold E. Rollins Jr. and a young and promising Denzel Washington, not to mention a well-written screenplay from Pullitzer-winning playwright Charles Fuller (he adapted his own play to the big screen) but there's a problem with the film: it forgot to be one.

We gather that the whole 'whodunit' structure is only an excuse for a character study, but the latter succeeds at the expenses of the former. That's the trick with play adaptations, dialogue is the raw material so they end up loaded with insights that confine to stage lecturing without that emotional kick only the big screen can provide. "A Soldier's Story" reveals some disturbing truths about Black soldiers' mindset in the segregated South and the way self-hatred inhabits the hearts of those torn between duty and their feeling of a tacit oppression but there's never anything crucial at stakes. Even Reginald Rose's play "12 Angry Men" had the life of the accused boy pending on the jury.

But in "A Solider's Story", Waters is dead already. Sure we want to know the truth about his killer, but in fact the real mystery is the victim himself. And Waters is quite a character, I never knew whether to be in awe of or despise him. When we first meet him, he's drowning his sorrow in a Louisiana jazz club, his state of total inebriation betrays a visceral admission of failure, such an overwhelming one that his death was the closest thing to a deliverance; hence his last burst of nerve when he's being beaten later. He's got the time to shout "they still hate you" and laugh manically before a .45 automatic bullet finally silences him. Naturally, we don't know who shot him but the Klan suspicion is way too obvious to fool us. From the start I suspected the killer would be one of his own soldiers and the film one of these stories where everyone has a motive.

Captain Davenport, lawyer by training, is assigned to lead the investigation and he's got three days to conduct the mission; he's played by the late Rollins. He's commanding and charismatic with his shady sunglasses that convey the same mix of threat and dignity as Colonel Mathieu in "Battle of Algiers". His presence inspires the respect and admiration of other Black soldiers and the bafflement of White officers, when it's not sheer disdain, as demonstrated by Colonel Taylor (Dennis Lipscomb). Rollins is the implacable force that confidently drives the plot, the Virgil Tibbs I would say. And his method is straight-to-the-point, investigating the case by interrogating different soldiers who were under Waters' iron-handed commandment.

First there's Private Wilkie, a disgraced former sergeant played by Art Evans. Then C.G. Memphis (Larry Riley) as the Southern gentle fellow who only inspired Waters' disgust, reminding him of the 'yes boss' sellouts of his youth. And there's First Class Petterson, Washington as the rebel who had the guts to stand against Waters and fought him with bare fists. As the flashbacks reveal the tormented relationships Waters had with his troop, we see the ramifications sneaking toward an unfamiliar territory. The "black vs. white" canvas vanishes, unveiling the very demons that inhabited Black people in a context where race still mattered. And for that I command the script and the play by Fuller, and the performances too.

But I also sympathize with Ebert's statement about the rather loose mystery structure, the film waits for the right moments to reveal the clues while in "In Heat of the Night", the narrative was linear and we were never one step behind the protagonists. To put it simply: there's a suicide that is never mentioned until there's twenty minutes left before the ending and a precious information about the weapons could have accelerated the whole investigation. Of course, we had to get through all these testimonies for the sake of the "message" but just because a film has powerful things to share with the viewers doesn't mean they should have a convenient timing as if they were following plot requirements more than sheer logic.

I wish I wouldn't have to point out these technicalities because the film deserved better. And so did Caesar who was simply outstanding with his intimidating tone that only a few facial tics could contradict, showing how full of petty resentment he was. Sure he could pretend to be big despite being towered by each soldier (wasn't he after all the one who made Danny Glover look like a pathetic Daddy's boy in "The Color Purple"?) but Waters is the kind of characters that are so well-written and complex that they end up revealing the complexities of the others. He's the spine of the film, inspiring that quote at the very end (I'm paraphrasing) "who gives you the right to tell you who's the right or wrong Black person" from a tearful Davenport.

But that's the kind of grand ending that needed a film of higher caliber. Interestingly, I thought the same of its Best Picture co-nominee "Places in the Heart", too wrapped up in its noble intentions that it couldn't transcend them.

"A Soldier's Story," directed by Norman Jewison, tells a very powerful and tragic tale of black racism in WWII America. It is equally puzzling and disturbing and will leave you thinking about it for a long time to come.

The story takes place at a military base in the American South during the last full year of the Second World War, in 1944. Sergeant Vernon Waters, a Black man, is shot to death. The locals, as well as the Black enlisted men at the base, believe it to be the work of the Ku Klux Klan. Captain Davenport, also a Black man, as well as the first Black officer most of the men at this base have ever seen, is asked to investigate this. The White officers all want to see this matter brought to a swift and tidy conclusion in order to prevent what they see as a potential race riot between the Black soldiers and local Whites around town.

Davenport (deftly played by the late Howard E. Rollins Jr.) questions the enlisted men at the base, and begins to learn that the murdered sergeant(Adolph Ceaser in an Oscar-nominated performance) had no shortage of enemies, White and Black.

Through a series of flashbacks, we learn that Waters is a man of great personal pride and dignity, a man who believes that the African-American race has great potential to "take it's rightful place in history" alongside the White race in America. But his pride is also fueled by a terrible hatred of Black men, mostly Southern men, who he believes are hurting the race by presenting themselves as lower-class bumpkins; the stereotypical shiftless, lazy, ignorant types; the smiling, singing clowns; the "yassah-boss niggers."

One soldier, C.J. Memphis, a simple but charming, illiterate, guitar-strumming man, comes to personify these character traits in Waters' eyes. The clash between those two personalities is a crucial centerpiece to this movie's message.

Ceaser is astonishing as Waters, a man so full of loathing and bile towards his own people, you can feel it oozing off the screen. His best moment occurs in a bar where he stares into a mirror and talks in a dark tone about his unit's heroic efforts in France in the First World War, and how one Black soldier destroyed that sterling image in the minds of many White Frenchmen.....and what Waters did in response. It's chilling.

An undervalued film that you may have to look a little harder in your local video store to find, but well worth the effort!

This is an excellent film, at it's heart a case study in human psychology, but also a mystery and an intriguing one at that. The cast, mostly unknowns at the time, is fantastic and contains many now-familiar faces, most notably Denzel Washington and David Alan Grier. Adolph Caesar was nominated for an Oscar and Howard Rollins, Jr. probably should have been. Another highlight (at least for me) are the songs sung by Larry Riley and Patte LaBelle. This is a gem of a film, one that is most highly recommended.

This is one of my all time favorite movies. The thing that I find so amazing is that few people have ever heard of it much less seen it. The acting and story line is excellent. This is one of those great whodunits with a great twist that compels us to examine our stereotypes and presumptions. If you find yourself looking for a great tip at the video store check this movie out. I think you'll enjoy it.

Canadian director Norman Jewison once took a tour of the U.S. south in the mid-1940s following his high school graduation and was shocked to see the way that black people were treated by white people. Jewison's intense hitch-hiking journey led to a career which includes credits like "In the Heat of the Night" and "The Hurricane". However his best film is probably "A Soldier's Story", an intense character-study that deals with African-American soldiers in Louisiana during World War II. Master Sergeant Adolph Caesar (Oscar-nominated) has been murdered. Enter investigator Howard E. Rollins (also African-American) who tries to figure out the case. What follows are intense flashbacks and the realization that Caesar was despised not only by white people (the primary suspects at the start) but also his own men (all African-American). The mystery twists and turns into chaos and in the end it is not a sure thing if the crime will ever be solved. A really chilling film that is top-notch in all cinematic departments. Robert Townsend, Larry Riley, David Allen Grier and yes the Denzel Washington are the soldiers that make the most lasting impressions in this brilliant piece of the cinema. Without a doubt one of the finest productions of the 1980s. 5 stars out of 5.