Herzog had previously focused on the life of Dieter Dengler in his documentary LITTLE DIETER NEEDS TO FLY, and RESCUE DAWN is the screen version of the same story, with Christian Bale, who proves once and again that he remains one of the best actors currently working today, as Dengler. Beginning with a mission briefing aboard a US naval ship, Dieter Dengler gets to undertake his first mission, bombing strategic targets in Laos, South Vietnam. Yet he is shot down on the mission. Rather than stay in one place, he takes himself into the jungle and adapts to its elements to evade his captors for a short while, though he is eventually caught and after being offered the chance to denounce US involvement in Vietnam, which he refuses stating that he maybe German born but his loyalty lies with America, he is subsequently tortured and then sent to a P.O.W camp, where he meets other prisoners, though on immediate arrival, plans his escape. Herzog's film does note contain any anti war message, nor does it attempt to draw comparisons with current political events, rather it focuses on the character of Dieter, and his resourcefulness under extreme situations, and it is also a study of mans insignificance and survival against such extreme elements. Bale is brilliant in his role, and like in THE MACHINIST, he again loses weight to perfectly convey the starved and decrepit state that Dengler was in, though even in his weakened state Dengler still proved a strong and determined individual, determined not to let the guards, the jungle and the elements destroy him.
Review of Rescue Dawn
