Buffalo Soldiers

A film set on an American base in Germany in 1989. Ray is doing military service. He chose the army to stay out of prison and works in supply. The base is dull. The wall has not come down yet but there is no war either; the soldiers have nothing left to do. Ray makes use of that. He siphons goods from the store, manufactures drugs from cleaning materials, and sells the product on the base and outside it. His commanding officer does not see it. The man is after promotion and believes everything in his unit is in order. Then a new sergeant arrives. Sergeant Lee is an old-school soldier and works out on the first day what Ray is doing. Ray makes a counter-move. He starts seeing the man's daughter. From there the film is a contest. A missing shipment, an exchange of weapons, a tank and an exercise. What the narrative is interested in is not crime but emptiness: what the film really describes is an army with nothing to do, and it says the violence comes from there. The humour is black. A scene with a tank and one with a helicopter present disaster as comedy. The tone is mocking. The narrative shows no respect for the uniform, for discipline, or for military order. Its release was delayed. The production was shown in Toronto at the start of September 2001 and its American release was held back for a long time after the attacks; its subject drew objections at the time. Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn and Anna Paquin are in the cast. Gregor Jordan directed and co-wrote. Who it is for: anyone who likes anti-military black comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for sympathy; the main character is self-serving throughout and the film neither clears him nor punishes him.