by Phil Mcdonald

Created on: October 15, 2008

It is often very hard to present a true story as a convincing big screen movie. It makes it even harder when the tale is of war and there is a lack of survivors to give a true rendition of what actually happened. Rescue Dawn is the story of Dieter Dengler, the US fighter pilot shot down over Laos during the Vietnam War. The film is based on Dengler's 1997 documentary, entitled 'Little Dieter Needs To Fly', and tells the tale of Dieter's experience as a captured US soldier in Laos. Criticisms have been levelled at the documentary and the film from people Dieter met whilst in Laos and relatives of others, claiming that facts had been falsified to make the story more interesting. So, it is with an open mind and a fair chunk taken out due to artistic licence that I watched this very good film.

The film is told chronologically, although it is very easy to lose track of time as the story unfolds. We have a brief introduction to Dieter's flying mission as he and the rest of his crew prepare for a dangerous covert operation. We are left a little in the blue as to the exact date and the political situation, which is a little confusing if you are not completely up to date on the Vietnam conflict, as I am not. One thing is made clear, and that is Dieter's obsession with flying, and it explains that all he wanted to do was fly from an early age.

Following being shot down, we see a frantic piece of the film where Dieter is fleeing from the Laotians for fear of being captured, tortured and killed. The emotion comes through here from Christian Bale as Dieter, and the actor's intense and laudable role continues in this vein through much of the film. He portrays Dieter as a very positive character throughout, and upon his capture, he is taken to a very small prison camp with a couple of huts and a small handful of guards, and this is where he meets his fellow inmates with whom he bonds very quickly.

This takes us up to the half-hour mark in the film, and by now we have been treated to some stunning scenery by director Werner Herzog. Filming was done mainly in Thailand, and it is breathtaking at the same time as bleak and causing a certain amount of anxiety. The views are beautiful, but the worries of a lack of civilisation and rain for miles around further deepens the worry we see in the prisoners in the camp. There are a small handful of them of mixed race, with two of them being American. These two are the main focus of the film in terms of forging a relationship with Dieter,

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