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    		•

    FILMS

    Windtalkers (2002)
  • Starring Nicolas Cage, Adam Beach, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Brian Van Holt, Martin Henderson, Roger Willie, Frances O'Connor, Christian Slater

  • Directed by John Woo


    • This is a World War II film, told from the viewpoint of the Navajo codetalkers and the men assigned to guard them. According to the film, Cage and Slater's characters are supposed to protect the Beach and Willie characters.

    Of course, they are also told that a Navajo cannot be allowed to fall into the enemy's hands. No codetalker is to be allowed to be taken alive. The code must be saved...so, Cage and Slater are "secretly" also told to kill the Navajo codetalkers if it looks like they're going to be captured.

    Which, if true, begs the question: How many marines killed the codetalkers they sword to protect?

    The premise of the film makes for good drama and exciting action. It creates a nice moral dilemma for the characters—but, ultimately, I don't buy it as historical fact. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to. It's not like this is a documentary or anything.

    I recently took a trip to the NSA's Cryptology museum off of 95, just north of Washington, DC. Therein I saw a brief history of war as seen from the vantage point of codes and codebreaking. With the recent release of Windtalkers they had a nice display on the film and the reality of it. According to the proctor at the museum, the dramatic situations in Windtalkers never happened. It's absurd to think that one marine would kill another marine—or that one soldier would kill his buddy. The museum did note, however, that almost all Navajo codetalkers had to have bodyguards because they might have been confused with the Japanese.

    So the premise of the film is a bunch of hooey. Does that make it a weak film or an unlikable film? Not at all. In fact, for me, that really doesn't matter. For those of you who need complete realism in your war movies, you may want to avoid this one; however, if you can make it past the main conceit then Windtalkers is immensely enjoyable.

    Some of the war scenes feel incredibly real, not unlike the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan. I say "feel" because, obviously, I never have been in a war. But if war is one iota close to moments depicted in Windtalkers—thank you, but I'll pass. I'd rather stay at home and eat my Grandma Utz potato chips and watch DVDs. War doesn't look like any fun.

    I'm not an across-the-board Cage or Slater fan. I like films they're in, but I don't follow them as actors. Beach is the guy to look out for. He plays Ben Yahzee, a young Navajo who's volunteered to talk in code for the army. I haven't seen Beach in any film before—but keep your eyes open for this guy. I think he'll be around for a while. John Woo's directing is, as always, tight and action-packed.