I Love Virginia More: Gods and Generals

   Every war has more than one side. Each side has a cause. Every soldier in a war has a reason for supporting the side they're on. Gods and Generals is a Civil War film that looks at that in a certain way: For the sake of home. They say that home is where the heart is. Gods and Generals is a perfect example of that. The prequel to Gettysburg, (which was released in 1993,) Gods and Generals came to theaters in 2003. I'm warning you, this movie is hard to watch because of it's long running time of three hours and thirty nine minutes, but it can be worth it. We're going to look at reasons why...

  

From Left to Right: Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee

    Our story starts in 1861, at the start of the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee has been offered the role of Major General of the Union, or Northern, army. Because his home is in Virginia and it's a southern state, Lee declines saying, "And though I love the Union, I love Virginia more." Soon after Lee is chosen to lead the Confederate army of the South in which he accepts. Next we have Thomas Jonathan Jackson. He is a very religious man and will also be a strong general of the Confederates. During the war he'll gain the famous nickname of "Stonewall" Jackson, due to his poise in battle. Although most of the film is about the Confederacy, another side of the story is taking place within the Union. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain has left his wife and children to become a Lieutenant Colonel of the 20th Maine Regiment of the Union. Who will this war be in favor of, and who will survive? 

    Gods and Generals is a film of pure emotion. All my life, I've thought of the Confederates as "the bad guys" because they wanted to keep slavery. But I have ancestors who were in the South or even fought in the war at that time, and the film showed that those with the Confederacy were not all bad people. The Civil War was a war that tore people apart. In a scene set in Fredericksburg, we see the American Irish fighting on both sides. One man starts to cry during battle. Why? He is Irish, and he realizes that he and his fellow Irishmen are killing their own.
    
       So why is it called Gods and Generals? A lot of the characters in the film are portrayed as very religious, specifically Christian. Stonewall Jackson demonstrates this the most. He is shown reading the bible with his wife, and there are scenes where he prays with emotion. It is Stonewall himself that says during the movie, "My religious faith teaches me that God has already fixed the time of my death; therefore, I think not of it. I am as calm in battle as I would be in my own parlor. God will come for me in his own time." Religion will offer many people strength over the course of the war. But why "Gods" instead of, "God" and Generals? Of course "Gods and Generals" does sound better than "God and Generals", but is there anything more to it than that? I'm really not sure, so please leave ETF a comment with your thoughts on this! 

      Tears, as well as blood, will be shed in the Civil War. So, so many tears. Tears for family, tears for fellow men, and tears for homes. From the first to the last ten minutes, Gods and Generals displays the beautiful theme of home and the identity that one's home gives to them. In the film Lee talks about how a place could be a mark on the map to one person but so much more to another. He says that, "But to us, my goodness, they're birthplaces and burial grounds. Places where you and I learned to walk, to talk, and to pray. Places where we made friendships and oh yes, fell in love." Lee emphasizes that where you grow up makes a part of who you are. Some of the men in the war are not fighting for slavery. Some are fighting to protect their families. Some are fighting for the state(s) and the country they call home. 
        A beautiful song by Mary Fahl entitled, "Going Home" is accompanied with the film and is heard in the opening credits. The lyrics are perfect for this film: I know in my bones that I've been here before. The ground feels the same, though the land's been torn. I've a long way to go; The stars tell me so, on this road that will take me home. 

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