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Andersonville (1996)

Rate: 9
Viewed: 9/14

9/14: Although there were many prisoner of war (POW) camps during the U.S. Civil War, Andersonville Prison, aka Camp Sumter, remains the most famous of them all, resembling an early Nazi concentration camp.

Approximately thirty percent of 45,000 captured Union soldiers died in captivity at Andersonville Prison, due to mostly starvation and disease. Enter Andersonville. Honestly, I've found it to be a much better film than Gettysburg. The best part is no speeches. Instead, it portrays a spiraling cycle of progress from capture to liberation as the POWs undergo different phases of change. It's shocking and sad at the same time.

If I thought The Great Escape was a colorful picnic, what happened at Andersonville was the antithesis. The POWs were unkept, dirty, and full of mud, and there were no showers and restrooms during their long stay. Many, after given their freedom, resembled Holocaust victims: malnourished and skeletal-looking, full of lice and mosquito bites.

I read up on the true story and then realized the film was a close portrayal of what happened with some liberties taken with the truth, especially during the uprising against Raiders. The acting is uniformly good, and everybody looks the part. However, it's the conditions of the camp that overshadow their performances, quicky becoming the main highlight of the picture.

All in all, Andersonville is a must-see about the other side of the Civil War.

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