Poetic Film Review: Buffalo Soldiers (2001)

In the shadows of the free world's guard,
A tale unfolds, of men misbehaving hard.
In West Germany, where Cold War's end,
American troops, bored, their minds to bend.

With Soviet invasion now less dire,
They sought their thrill in other fires.
Abusing drugs, and crushing cars,
Their misbehavior left no scars.

Ray Elwood, played by Phoenix's might,
Orchestrated the night.
Heroin production, arms smuggling too,
A life of crime, just for you.

Colonel Wallace Berman, oblivious,
His wife, Elwood's illicit bliss.
Sergeant Robert K. Lee arrived,
Their illicit love, now turned and deprived.

The arrival of the new commander,
Disrupted Elwood's illicit order.
An affair with Lee's daughter, Robyn,
A daughter's heart, now torn and tattered.

Miramax, they opted not to distribute,
The film that showed the military's dirt.
In a nation where heroes were made,
This portrayal, a harsh shade.

But war in Iraq, a new sentiment,
Made Buffalo Soldiers acceptable, eminent.
The film that was once shunned and ignored,
Now enjoyed, both here and abroad.

If "anti-American" or "anti-military",
The film shows truths that are far from petty.
The sorry state of US military's might,
Explicit through Elwood's opening sight.

A professional military, a new era,
But those who join, marginalized, a sera.
Low income, low intelligence,
Drugs and crime, their tendencies.

A soldier's virtues, not for civilian life,
A heretical thesis, a hard-to-believe.
But Buffalo Soldiers, with humor bold,
Delivers a message, a story untold.

Joaquin Phoenix, in Elwood's role,
His actions might be despicable, a soul
A reflection of a society,
Corrupt, but no better or worse than we.

His humanity, a conscience at play,
But no epiphany, in Hollywood's way.
The obligatory romance, a subplot's strain,
Anna Paquin, but a distraction, a drain.

The heavy-handed symbolism, at the end,
A blunt to the satire, a story to mend.
But in the shadows, a film to behold,
A dark, entertaining, thought-provoking mold.

Pacifists and militarists, alike,
This film, a testament, a reason to like.
In the shadows, a story to tell,
Of Buffalo Soldiers, in their military hell.

(Note: The review in its original form can be read here.)

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