Buffalo Soldiers

Gregor Jordan, UK / Germany, 2001, 98 minutes

Though hardly an enthusiastic volunteer - he joined when the alternative was a jail term - Elwood (Joaquim Phoenix) has found the military life, with all its opportunities to run scams, to be to his liking. Whether it be selling supplies or heroin, it's all the same.

When a soldier dies during a football match, Elwood pitches the body off the roof and contrives a cover up. But when the autopsy reveals traces of all manner of drugs in the man's body, the higher ranks send Sgt Lee (Scott Glenn) to investigate. Glenn takes an immediate dislike to Elwood, who reciprocates by fucking Glenn's teenage daughter, Robyn (Anna Paquin) and thereby escalating the conflict.

Meanwhile a tank - its crew doped up to the eyeballs - has gone AWOL and left two supply trucks laden with weapons in its wake. Elwood sees an opportunity to score big and hides the munitions in a nuclear facility...

Australian director Gregor Jordan's adaptation of Robert O'Connor's Buffalo Soldiers has had a difficult time reaching our screens. First it was shelved in the wake of 11/9. Then came Gulf War II. One can understand that the US military won't like the way they are portrayed here, but if even ten per cent of what we see is true then it's equally clear why they have something of an image problem abroad. "Be all you can be" means racism, brutality and opportuism and a Hobson's choice of positions, the fucker or the fucked.

Review by Miichel Gentil
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2004