Glory
1989 · Directed by Edward Zwick
Original language: English
- drama
- history
- war
The story
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates.
What it’s like
Cold, overcast light and muddy earth give Glory a grey-brown palette that warms only in the candlelit camp interiors, with handheld camerawork that stays close to faces in the training scenes and opens into wide, smoke-filled battlefield vistas during the assaults. Its sound is built on fife and drum marches, a stirring brass-and-strings score by James Horner, and sudden silences before gunfire. The vibe is sober, dignified and tense, a historical drama carried by weight rather than spectacle. Its battle sequences are intense and visceral: bodies fall in volleys, bayonets and cannon fire are shown bluntly, and there are whippings and a sustained sense of cruelty, though the gore stays restrained rather than lingering. Pacing moves from slow, sometimes stiff military routine into bursts of chaos. Emotionally it follows a young white officer and his recruits, with the arc of a new commander learning to see his men as soldiers, and a strained friendship growing between him and a proud, bitter private. It suits viewers drawn to American history and wartime drama who can handle racism and violence on screen, and want something earnest and affecting rather than gentle.
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