The Last Castle

The Last Castle Review

It is probably not a masterpiece but it is a film that is extremely strong and universal. It is dealing with justice for military personnel and soldiers. No one will question the justness of a court-martial but what happens to a soldier, what's more a three star general, if he is court-martialed to serve some time in a military prison. The prisoners in that prison have been humiliated and broken down into some wild animals because a colonel only decided to see the crimes of these men and not the good potential that was and always will be in them as soldiers, and probably as men. They were trained soldiers and they have made a mistake that they have to pay for, but they are no animals. They are human and they remain human, they are military and they remain military with some strong powerful values they still are ready to die for provided they find a good leadership. The colonel who is abusing his power as the boss of this military prison does not understand any other language than repression and force and killing those who do not obey. It can only work when the mass of the prisoners are divided and hostile to one another. Bring one high ranking officer among them who will know how to rebuild their self-pride and their sense of honor and they will follow him to regain their military humanity. The best part in the film is that it demonstrates how easy it is to organize a take-over in such a prison if you are imaginative and you have the sense of command and the sanity to respect the best in each man. What's more the soldiers on the side of the colonel will also recognize in the prisoners and their fight the high human and military values they believe in. These soldiers will decide to isolate the colonel and even arrest him for having lost control of his "fortress" by his own efforts and lack of moral humanism. The film is probably slightly optimistic on that point but it can go through because the flag of the fortress, which is also the flag of the USA but could be the flag of any country, is in the hands of the main rebel and he is going to hoist up on its flagpole. That very act, though the three star general prisoner will be shot while doing that by the defeated colonel, just before his own captain arrests him, creates a reaction among all the soldiers, prisoners or not that leads them to salute the flag and find an epiphany in that act. No matter what the colonel used to say, before being court-martialed in his turn, these men may have done something wrong but they remain human beings and soldiers. Once a corporal, always a corporal. You cannot have and have been, because once you have become you will always be.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID

The Last Castle Feature

• REDFORD/GANDOLFINI/RUFFALO/LIN

The Last Castle Overview

Court-martialed and sentenced to a maximum security military prison, renowned three-star General Eugene Irwin takes command to confront a brutally cor

The Last Castle Specifications

The Last Castle rides high on a wave of American patriotism, respectful of military service and protocol, and primed to ignite anyone's passion for justice against corrupted ideals. This intense prison drama begins when a court-martialed three-star general (Robert Redford) is sentenced to military prison for defying a presidential command. The prison's warden (James Gandolfini) is a jealous martinet who's never seen combat, and when the jailed general seizes command of the prison to protest the warden's abuse of power, The Last Castle erupts toward a classic showdown between integrity and cowardice. Former critic and West Point graduate Rod Lurie (The Contender) directs this intimate battle with manipulative skill, appealing more to emotions than intelligence, but his stellar cast keeps the action on track, and a potent script returns flag-waving to its rightful place of honor. --Jeff Shannon

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