Andersonville

1996 "The great untold story of the American Civil War."
7.3| 2h47m| NR| en
Details

This lengthy docudrama records the harrowing conditions at the Confederacy's most notorious prisoner-of-war camp. The drama unfolds through the eyes of a company of Union soldiers captured at the Battle of Cold Harbor, VA, in June 1864, and shipped to the camp in southern Georgia. A private, Josiah Day, and his sergeant try to hold their company together in the face of squalid living conditions, inhumane punishments, and a gang of predatory fellow prisoners called the Raiders.

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Reviews

Majorthebys Charming and brutal
Manthast Absolutely amazing
ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Spike Neil I'm laughing a lot. Not because the film is funny in any way but at the lack of acting in this film. I'm not an actor, I am a musician...But quite honestly, if I played my guitar as badly as these actors play their roles then I would expect to starve to death!! I think the director must have been working in the porn industry at some point as the level of direction is strangely similar!! I will persevere to the end though.....Cos I like a laugh
heritage716 I have a 2nd cousin buried there. He only lasted there 3 months. I am trying to find out more info on him, but it seems the family just isn't interested. I took pictures when we were there, but they never came out! One night, on a genealogy chat, there was a man who had an Andersonville user name, so I asked him questions about it-he happened to work there, and was also a re-enactor. I asked him, if he would take pictures for me. He sent me 6 gorgeous pictures of my cousin's grave, of the whole cemetery, the dead house, and the 6 buried off to the side. He also sent my son a book. I never knew, that someone had a baby there. If we ever go back, and I hope we do, we will get a personal tour! We visited Andersonville yrs ago--what a humbling place! I cannot even describe how we felt. But we found his marker. I would have never known about the place, if my brother didn't tell me about it. Ironically, we were 2 weeks away from adopting a former foster child- He enjoyed re-enacting after he came to live with us. When we showed him the movie, and Cliff De Young tells one of the soldiers to be quiet, because of the tunnel? He shouted out; TOBIAS! Our son turned around, and told me how much he loved that name, and when he was adopted, he not only changed his last name, but also his first name! It was fine to me, because my great great great grandmother's maiden name was Tobias.
nz man This film won three awards and was nominated for several others. The directing, acting, editing, script and cinematography are all of a high standard. It seemed quite authentic, and this is confirmed by the comment below. Even if you do not normally like 'films of this type', this film is worth watching or even studying, because of the overall excellence. An admiration of the quality of this film is probably the reason that the brutal story that it portrays did not place a heavy or negative feeling upon me. Lesser films would contaminate the story with adding romance, light comedy or bright flashbacks. This film powerfully gives the viewer a strong sense of realism.
PMFan The movie Andersonville was one of intense drama. The historical subject matter made the film all the more pertinent to society today. Man against Man, Brother against Brother. That is what the Civil War was, and Andersonville was its worst. Men treating other men like animals and game for sport. The utter despair. The terrible suffering.Andersonville is set during the Civil War, in the south, in a Prisoner Of War camp run by the Confederate Army. The story depicts the conditions of suffering that the Union soldiers endured while held captive. The best and the worst of humanity is shown in this film as the viewer is shown all ends of the spectrum of pain and suffering.Peter Murnik's character, Limber Jim, was the voice of conscience in this film. Jim was the one who finally stood up to the injustice that other Union soldiers were enacting against their fellows. It was Jim who rallied the troops to a riot to stop the "Raiders" from continuing their carnage. Not a single 'Peter' scene went by without the viewer sensing the intensity. He portrayed it in his face, in his demeanor and most of all, in his eyes. In this film, Peter said so much without uttering a word. The look he gave in his eyes told the viewer the intensity of his feelings. His determination. His desire to see the wrongs righted. In a sense, Limber Jim was one of the saviours of this film. His standing up to the injustice he witnessed and lived through, enabled his fellow prisoners to also rise up and change the world around them, as small as it was.In spite of the fact that this was a film and an artistic production, the real Andersonville shone through. The viewer came away knowing the despair that the Union soldiers felt and lived. There was no question that humanity, as a whole, had been wronged by the cruelty that took place at Andersonville. The human race came away from Andersonville worse off for having realized that we could fall so far from the very civilization we pride ourselves on creating to treat other fellow human beings the way the Union soldiers were treated.Andersonville actually existed, and does so today as a Federal Park and tourist attraction. This movie is a very good link in telling the tale that so many never got to tell. The actors, staff and crew of Andersonville did such a magnificent job that anyone seeing this movie will know what it was like to have been there. They will know the suffering, the pain, the disease, the despair. The cast and crew are to be applauded for their efforts.In his bio, Peter lists Andersonville as one of the projects he is most proud of. And, well he should be. He did an excellent performance and is to be commended. It will go down as one of the favorites with his fans. Once again, Peter's genius comes shining through.