IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH
Paul Haggis

In the valley of Elah David beat Goliath. A little boy is told this as bed time story by Vietnam veteran Hank Deerfield who also tells him that David had to overcome his own fear first before he can succeed. Hank Deerfield wants to find out what happened to his son, a young soldier who just returned from Iraq and has gone AWOL. He checks into a cheap motel and patiently and quietly talks to the police, the military, strippers, waitresses and fellow soldiers of his son, tracing his son’s last whereabouts. Every now and then he receives another part of a video that was filmed on his son’s mobile phone in Iraq. Hank believes in the US army and its codes but he has discover what wars do to young men fighting in them and that they might overcome much more than just their fear, with horrifying consequences.

American cinema is very exciting at the moment and many films discuss the country’s political situations openly and informed. From the great Syriana and Jarhead to Rendition or Lions for Lambs. While their filmic qualities might differ, their intensions are very clear. In the Valley of Elah however has a more subtle agenda. It makes very good use of its actors. The minute Susan Sarandon appears on the screen, the audience knows the position of the film, there is no need to hammer a message home. Therefore it never slips into polemics and gracefully places an army man in its centre who questions neither army nor war. The result is a movie that is about more than ‘just’ the current war in Iraq but generally questions what happens to young people in war zones and the impossibility of returning home and continue life without consequences. It is about the refusal to face this enemy. The Goliath of normality after adapting to a war zone. Hence Hank Deerfield hits walls whenever he tries to get information from any official. Only detective Emily Saunders (Charlize Theron), single mom of the boy with the bed time story, helps him, partly to establish herself among her misogynistic colleagues but also because she has kept a sense of right and wrong.

Tommy Lee Jones plays Hank Deerfield with great subtlety. He seems to shrink under the truths he discovers rather than displaying great emotions. His performance is an event, being neither brash nor vain. The combination of this brilliant performance with the unagitated tone of the film makes it so very good.