In many ways, the military in this country has been in the forefront as far as social advancement is concerned. When Harry Truman decreed back in 1949 that the segregated military had to go, the armed forces went thru most of the same turmoil that the civilian world was to undergo years later.
In the Vietnam war era these upheavals were still going on in the services; while not officially segregated, there were two distinctly separate groups living and working together under an uneasy truce. The film talks about those times, and the frictions of the situation come through with amazing clarity.
CADENCE tells about another basic truth about military life that is that is unknown to those who never wore a uniform.
To outsiders, military people seem monolithic; everybody is identical, interchangeable, and of a like mind. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
There are sharp and RIGID social divisions based on rank and tradition, justified by the concept of military discipline. Privates don't hobnob with colonels, and frankly even if the opportunity presents itself they never really communicate frankly with each other. To be honest about it, they don't even LIKE each other very much. Nowadays, the divisions will include gender lines. Those lines are why bases with bars will usually have separate Enlisted, Noncommissioned Officer's, and Officer's clubs; the doctrine may claim that everyone in uniform is equal, but the reality is that nobody wants to press that idea very far.
To these divisions CADENCE adds the aspect of "free" versus "prisoner", something we don't often see presented accurately in films. This is the niche that the film centers on.
Each division within the military macrosociety has it's own social mores and it's own loyalties to others within the group. There is a fierce pride in each group, and interestingly that holds true for the prisoners too.
That pride, an amalgam of both the Black and prisoner subdivisions shows itself clearly in the startling march cadence the stockade soldiers have adopted, based on Sam Cooke's song "Chain Gang". Private Bean, the new prisoner, is mightily confused and astonished the first time he sees it, but it gradually teaches him a lesson that the Army tried, but failed, to impart; you're no longer an individual, but part of a GROUP, dedicated to a common cause and to the welfare of the group.
It's ironic that the unit cohesion and esprit de corps this bunch of stockade prisoners has forged on it's own should be the ENVY of every officer on the base; interestingly, there isn't a single scene where an officer actually SEES their expression of it. The only time these distant, disconnected officers interact with the prisoners is in stiff, structured, and regulation proscribed situations like in church services and courtrooms where they're dealt with as INDIVIDUALS, not as a unit.
In many ways, Bean's stockade time is his REAL basic training. He learns "courtesy" ("Ask a man what he's CHARGED WITH; NEVER ask him what he's DONE"), he learns unit loyalty by standing with his fellow prisoner and keeping his silence about what happens in the barracks. He learns that a man has to carry his own burdens (in this case, doing his own time in a manly, stoic manner). He learns that a man must earn respect by his own actions and skills, be it on a basketball court or by repairing a broken windmill.
And in the final scene he learns the most important lesson of all; the most valuable thing a man can possess is the honor and respect that is bestowed on him by his peers.
Martin Sheen as Sgt. McKinney radiates evil, and epitomizes those still present vestiges of racism that the military tried in that period to pretend didn't exist. He's hard core, burned out, and Old School all the way. This hardassed old Noncom knows full well what sort of men he has locked up in his jail, and he also knows, but refuses to respect, the tightly integrated unit they've formed. Given other circumstances, I can see McKinney proudly leading these guys into combat... but he's been discarded by the Army because of his age. He in turn clings to the old military pecking order and despises the prisoners... the military says they are scum, and he holds fast to that opinion to bolster his own fallen position in the food chain.
Otis McKinney's is infuriated by the fact that private Bean has done something that he couldn't; after a long, hard struggle, Bean has earned the respect of the stockade prisoners. McKinney MUST destroy Bean or accept the fact that this young punk private is a better man than he is, and is able to survive in a world defined by race, age, and culture that would destroy McKinney's supposed "superiority" based on rank and race.
The situation develops into a battle of wills that constantly escalates through Bean's 90 day stay, with ultimately tragic results.
Lawrence Fishburn is outstanding as Stokes, the leader of the compound. The movie never makes it clear just WHY he's been imprisoned, and he pointedly tells Bean not to ask. Despite that, we get the impression Roosevelt Stokes would be a powerful leader of men in or out of the stockade.
Special mention has to be made of Harry Stewart, as "Sweetbread" Crane. Sweet is an obviously retarded soldier who doesn't speak, but who isn't totally mute; as Stokes puts it "The man has PIPES... pipes that will put Jesus into your heart instantly". Besides singing a solo part on the "Stockade Shuffle", his performance of a hymn in a chapel sequence (one that Stewart WROTE, incidentally) shows the man to have an amazing vocal talent!
I can't really call CADENCE a great film, but it's indeed an interesting glimpse into the social and psychological factors at work within the armed forces.
In the Vietnam war era these upheavals were still going on in the services; while not officially segregated, there were two distinctly separate groups living and working together under an uneasy truce. The film talks about those times, and the frictions of the situation come through with amazing clarity.
CADENCE tells about another basic truth about military life that is that is unknown to those who never wore a uniform.
To outsiders, military people seem monolithic; everybody is identical, interchangeable, and of a like mind. Nothing can be farther from the truth.
There are sharp and RIGID social divisions based on rank and tradition, justified by the concept of military discipline. Privates don't hobnob with colonels, and frankly even if the opportunity presents itself they never really communicate frankly with each other. To be honest about it, they don't even LIKE each other very much. Nowadays, the divisions will include gender lines. Those lines are why bases with bars will usually have separate Enlisted, Noncommissioned Officer's, and Officer's clubs; the doctrine may claim that everyone in uniform is equal, but the reality is that nobody wants to press that idea very far.
To these divisions CADENCE adds the aspect of "free" versus "prisoner", something we don't often see presented accurately in films. This is the niche that the film centers on.
Each division within the military macrosociety has it's own social mores and it's own loyalties to others within the group. There is a fierce pride in each group, and interestingly that holds true for the prisoners too.
That pride, an amalgam of both the Black and prisoner subdivisions shows itself clearly in the startling march cadence the stockade soldiers have adopted, based on Sam Cooke's song "Chain Gang". Private Bean, the new prisoner, is mightily confused and astonished the first time he sees it, but it gradually teaches him a lesson that the Army tried, but failed, to impart; you're no longer an individual, but part of a GROUP, dedicated to a common cause and to the welfare of the group.
It's ironic that the unit cohesion and esprit de corps this bunch of stockade prisoners has forged on it's own should be the ENVY of every officer on the base; interestingly, there isn't a single scene where an officer actually SEES their expression of it. The only time these distant, disconnected officers interact with the prisoners is in stiff, structured, and regulation proscribed situations like in church services and courtrooms where they're dealt with as INDIVIDUALS, not as a unit.
In many ways, Bean's stockade time is his REAL basic training. He learns "courtesy" ("Ask a man what he's CHARGED WITH; NEVER ask him what he's DONE"), he learns unit loyalty by standing with his fellow prisoner and keeping his silence about what happens in the barracks. He learns that a man has to carry his own burdens (in this case, doing his own time in a manly, stoic manner). He learns that a man must earn respect by his own actions and skills, be it on a basketball court or by repairing a broken windmill.
And in the final scene he learns the most important lesson of all; the most valuable thing a man can possess is the honor and respect that is bestowed on him by his peers.
Martin Sheen as Sgt. McKinney radiates evil, and epitomizes those still present vestiges of racism that the military tried in that period to pretend didn't exist. He's hard core, burned out, and Old School all the way. This hardassed old Noncom knows full well what sort of men he has locked up in his jail, and he also knows, but refuses to respect, the tightly integrated unit they've formed. Given other circumstances, I can see McKinney proudly leading these guys into combat... but he's been discarded by the Army because of his age. He in turn clings to the old military pecking order and despises the prisoners... the military says they are scum, and he holds fast to that opinion to bolster his own fallen position in the food chain.
Otis McKinney's is infuriated by the fact that private Bean has done something that he couldn't; after a long, hard struggle, Bean has earned the respect of the stockade prisoners. McKinney MUST destroy Bean or accept the fact that this young punk private is a better man than he is, and is able to survive in a world defined by race, age, and culture that would destroy McKinney's supposed "superiority" based on rank and race.
The situation develops into a battle of wills that constantly escalates through Bean's 90 day stay, with ultimately tragic results.
Lawrence Fishburn is outstanding as Stokes, the leader of the compound. The movie never makes it clear just WHY he's been imprisoned, and he pointedly tells Bean not to ask. Despite that, we get the impression Roosevelt Stokes would be a powerful leader of men in or out of the stockade.
Special mention has to be made of Harry Stewart, as "Sweetbread" Crane. Sweet is an obviously retarded soldier who doesn't speak, but who isn't totally mute; as Stokes puts it "The man has PIPES... pipes that will put Jesus into your heart instantly". Besides singing a solo part on the "Stockade Shuffle", his performance of a hymn in a chapel sequence (one that Stewart WROTE, incidentally) shows the man to have an amazing vocal talent!
I can't really call CADENCE a great film, but it's indeed an interesting glimpse into the social and psychological factors at work within the armed forces.