Mel Gibson just dropped a trailer (below) for his new film Hacksaw Ridge. Gibson has chosen the story of a conscientious objector from the so-called Greatest Generation to make his Hollywood re-entry. Hacksaw Ridge tells the story of Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), a Seventh-Day Adventist who eschews combat in WWII, instead performing heroic duty as a medic during the brutal, bloody Battle of Okinawa.
Gibson brings his story of individual protest, faith and heroism to theaters on November 4, the weekend before Americans head to the polls to elect the next US president. It’s an election that will weigh many of the themes the film explores: rights of individuals v. obligations to greater society, the real consequences of war, what constitutes heroism, and what kinds of exceptionalism religious affiliation affords under an ostensibly secular government. Doss was given the Medal of Honor by President Harry S. Truman. Hacksaw Ridge is Gibson’s first directorial effort in a decade, after 2006’s Apocalypto.
