Re-enactors Add Realism To Civil War Stories Film
September 15, 2007

by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor

So much of what you see in movies and television is largely bunkum, especially when it comes to guns and military or police action. Probably that is one of the reasons we don’t often report on or review many movies in Gun Week.

However, once in a while something comes down the pike from which you get a good dose of realism. That was largely the case with the immensely popular film and television mini-series “Lonesome Dove.”

Well, several months ago I received a DVD copy of a film produced last year by some people in the film and publishing business who obviously place a high price on realism as well as entertainment. It’s called “Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories” and was produced by Hannover House in association with Owl Creek Productions and Don Maxwell Films.

Built around the premise of an 1891 meeting of acclaimed author “Bitter” Bierce with his San Francisco newspaper editor, William Randolph Hearst, and novelist Gertrude Atherton, the film evolves into a presentation of a trilogy of Bierce’s best-loved Civil War short stories. These include: “One Kind of Officer;” “A Story of Conscience,” and the world-renowned “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

The film features Campbell Scott, son of the immortal George C. Scott and star of the ABC drama “Six Degrees,” as the unforgettable Bierce; award-winning actress-novelist Vivian Schilling as Atherton, and noted character actor Nathan Darrow as Hearst. Less well know are some of the other actors who play key roles in the dramatization of the three Civil War stores.

The war scenes have been extolled by some critics as impeccably accurate and authentic. Re-enactors, using absolutely correct dress, accoutrements, firearms, and cannon truly accomplished an amazing feat in depicting all the horror, misery, and grief of The War Between the States that Ambrose Bierce wrote about so very well.

And these critics are right. I’ve watched the whole film at least twice and some of the individual stories more frequently. The battle scenes in the middle story—“One Kind of Officer” are outstanding as fog and cannon smoke cloud the high ground where a devastating “friendly fire” incident results from the inaccurate briefing of a general. The battery of Union guns is instructed to shoot at anything that moves on their flank as they are assured there are no friendly forces there.

The work of the actors, the music, sound and lighting are singularly arresting, but, more important, is the work of the authentically uniformed and equipped re-enactors who carry the action across the screen. The detailed loading and firing of each gun in the battery is a tribute to the firearms and history buffs who contributed to this excellent film.

The producers have added some bonus features to this approximately hour and a half film, including additional details in making a Civil War stories documentary, the director’s commentary on selected scenes, and a photo gallery of memorable stills from the film, and, finally, the director’s extended version of the final story of the “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”

I’ve reported that the actors, the guns, the costumes and settings are realistic and well worth the price of the video. But even more noteworthy to me was the dialogue, which captures the cadence and syntax of the mid-19th century in America. Of course the actors and writers of the script (Don Maxwell, Kathrin Gnorski and Brian James Egen) were guided by the dialogue created by Bierce’s original stories, but even the manner of speech cultivates the realism in this film.

The re-enactors contributed a lot, but the choice of locations, the commitment to detail and the visions of the producer and director make this film unique. It is great theater, history and social commentary.

You’ll find this especially noticeable in the “Story of a Conscience,” an episode in the film which recounts the ironic second meeting between a Confederate spy and a sleepy Union soldier who became an officer.

The suggested list price of this film in professional DVD format was $19.95, and an excellent investment in a film that you will want to watch and share with others. But you may see it priced somewhat lower at some of the outlets who were reported to be stocking it. They include: Amazon.com; NetFlix; Borders; Hastings; Wal-Mart, and Blockbuster Video.

For additional information about purchasing or learning more about “Ambrose Bierce: Civil War Stories,” contact: Hannover House, 5 N. West St., Fayetteville, AR 72707; phone: 479-521-4999; on-line: www.hannoverhouse.com.
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