Chickamauga (1962)

Second episode in the three-part French anthology based on eerie Ambrose Beirce tales IN THE MIDST OF LIFE – since I had first watched the last and most famous segment, AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE, I opted to keep going through the film in reverse order! It is unusual that such an intrinsically American subject (since all the stories have a Civil War backdrop) be handled by European hands, but the results are both evocative and impressive. Incidentally, though the credits and opening text are in the 'original' French language, the brief instances of dialogue and singing are authentically presented in English; by the way, this bore the subtitle THE RIVER OF DEATH, which is what Chickamauga refers to.The plot deals with a young boy's personal experiences of the conflict, and the whole makes for one of the most harrowing yet perceptive films I have seen about childhood. After playing around with the elderly black manservant of the family, he sets about roaming the countryside on his own (having kicked a wooden toy out on the porch, suggesting he was after something more exciting). Soon, shooting and cannon-fire can be heard in the distance and, as he gets deeper into the woods (even the branches look distinctly ominous now!), the kid runs straight into a decimated battalion (with the trees still smoking from all the consumed gunpowder). They move about slowly and in pain, trying to get back on their feet or giving out their last breath…but, the boy being what he is, believes them to be 'putting on a show' for his benefit (at one point, the 'performance' becomes so real that a dying drummer-soldier is literally seen through the child's innocent eyes in clown outfit!). Later, when he goes back home (I was not sure where he was until I noticed the very toy he had rejected, followed by the charred corpse of his mother), he finds this has also been ransacked and set ablaze by the enemy troops; the boy is thus left all alone to ponder an uncertain future.Admittedly, like OWL CREEK itself, the short film (lasting for 28 minutes) is only marginally horror-related but, as I said, the images of carnage are so powerful (vividly-captured by cinematographer Jean Boffety who, ironically, around this same time lent his services to a number of Pierre Etaix slapstick comedies and which I only recently caught up with as part of my ongoing Jean-Claude Carriere retrospective!) that the overall impression proves quite disturbing and undeniably haunting.

I've been fortunate to have attended multiple screenings (16mm) of all three pieces of the Bierce Civil War trilogy by Robert Enrico: Chickamauga, An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, and Mockingbird. Together, they form "In The Midst of Life" (which seems to now be in the midst of lost). Separately, they are each excellent, but my vote for "great" is Chickamauga. A young deaf boy wanders off to play as his family and the slave assigned to watch him are distracted by the approach of battle. He falls asleep in a woods and, when he awakes, the battle is over, but the wounded are crawling, stumbling, shambling, doing whatever they can to return to their lines. The boy has no concept of war, or injury; the only way he can relate to these strange-acting men is by comparison with the animal world he knows. Thus, some become ants, some, bears, and (at least) one a pig, and the boy takes a ride on the "pig" (who is too gravely wounded to care). "Occurrence" has gotten all the publicity, and deserves much of it; "Mockingbird" is the story of two brothers on opposite sides and, while good, is probably the weakest of the three, at least cinematically. "Chickamauga" is, without doubt, the most frightening vision of war that I have ever seen on film. The eerie setting, the half-light at end of day, the (what appears to be) callous disregard for the humanity of the wounded troops (but was simply unfamiliarity), all work to create a hellish nightmare of pain and suffering. The realization that this is probably not far from the reality of a Civil War battle aftermath - no MASH, no medics, no Florence Nightingales, just the often vain attempt to survive intensifies the emotions. This is not a film with a happy ending, but the ending is true to both the reality of the times and the story. I would suggest that you watch this, but be aware that you may never forget you did, and that there are images which will haunt you. Superb film-making; the trilogy is long-overdue for a re-release.

I just recently saw Chickamauga, and I thought it was very well shot and the story line was like no other. My film analysis class saw it for the first time and the reactions were very different. When Johny, the deaf-mute begins envisioning the drummer soldier as a clown was a little frightening. It just goes to show how blind our eyes were at the Civil War. All being seen through the little boy's mind was quite surreal. All and all it was a very good film that I would recommend. Just don't be scared when Johny starts riding the slave and the dying soldier, he doesn't know any better. His mother and father let him go off and play out in the forest by himself for an extended period of time, even when they know there is a battle beginning. Johny falls asleep and wakes up to encounter, what it seems to him, a fun atmosphere. Watch for yourself and see where it takes you!

when I saw this over 20 years ago in high school, I was told it was the second in a French trilogy based on Ambrose Bierce's civil war short stories. The first, and most popular, was An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge, which gained much of its popularity by being shown as a special episode of the Twilight Zone. Chickamauga takes place at a wooded homestead that , because of happenstance, becomes a battleground when Union and Confederate forces meet there. It is told from the viewpoint of a little boy who witnesses the battle. The view point is surreal....the child doesnt seem to realize the carnage is real....I recall one strange scene where a wounded soldier, crawling on all fours, reminds the kid of a hog, and he proceeds to ride him like a toy horse....the film had many striking black and white images such as these....I believe only Owl creek Bridge, through the twilight zone dvds, is available for viewing.....perhaps one day they'll release all three on one disc....