Scene of the Week: Glory – Forest Battle

I’ve been talking an awful lot recently about “perfect” movies, it seems. With all of the Predator talk on the Podcast and my recent re-watch of The Terminator, it’s only natural that I would still have them on the brain. Another film that feels like every scene means something is 1989’s Glory. An absolute masterpiece of a war film and among director Edward Zwick’s best.

Freaking Denzel, man….what an incredible actor. It’s rare that a performance from Morgan Freeman gets overshadowed by another actor and that is exactly what happens in Glory. His passion and fury is felt in every line and each performance throughout the film. Who could forget the scene of him being flogged in front of the rest of the regiment while the tear streamed down his face? Such powerful images from an often unspoken about time.

I think that Glory packs such a punch because it is based on true events. Many of the lines and descriptions of events were taken from diaries and letters from those who witnessed it first hand. I find it hard to name a movie that so moved me as a young boy and continues to do so today. This scene of the 54th Regiment’s first battle with the Confederates is particularly brutal. The loud bangs of the musket, the smell and taste of sulfur and smoke in the air, and ending with the savage bayonet charge. I count myself lucky that I never had to experience such a thing.