There was one movie that I specifically wanted to see, and it remains the best one I've seen so far. "Taking Chance" is the story of a Marine escorting the remains of a young man killed in action in Iraq. Based on a terse journal of the events written in 2004, it is singularly saddening and uplifting in the way that only stories about fellowship can be.
Your homework: find the original story online -- Google "taking chance phelps strobl wyoming" and you'll get hits for the movie and the original narrative. Read the story. I first read it in '04 or '05, and I've read it every Memorial Day since then. When I read the synopsis of the movies at Sundance and realized that this story was now a film, I made damn sure I was literally front row center for this one.
You can watch the trailer for the film as well. While the story can prepare you for the movie, and the trailer can prepare you for the movie, it still is a humbling, enriching, soulful presentation that is done with care, respect, objectivity about the war, and sensitivity of the impact of sacrifice. It's about the fellowship of warriors, the rituals they observe to mark the passing of their own; and the way that one soldier's death can allow us to share that loss.
It's beautifully done, too. There's a sense of reverence in every shot that is not merely slow pacing. It's respect in mourning for a brother lost. There is a montage in the Dover AFB mortuary of the preparation of the bodies prior to their final trip home, and it's so clear that the people there are washing away the war and pain, readying the fallen for rest.
It got a standing ovation, well-deserved. The director spoke after the film, with Kevin Bacon and the original author, Lt. Col. Strobl. I wanted to ask a question or make an observation, but didn't have the nerve -- or a good question.
I did take the opportunity to linger after the Q&A to speak to Lt. Col. Strobl, and it was difficult to talk. I thanked him, as I try to do for anyone in the armed forces; but still felt very useless, as I usually do around anyone in the armed forces. I hope he understood that he brought home more than Chance Phelps, he brought home to me the meaning of losing just one boy in battle.
Put this one at the top of the list.
