Military

DATE=10-11-01

TYPE=English Programs Feature

NUMBER=7-35418

TITLE=From the Civil War to the War Against Terrorists

BYLINE=Keming Kuo

TELEPHONE=619-0936

DATELINE=near Charles Town, W. Va.

EDITOR=vicki swaney

CONTENT=

_

INTRO: A new movie about the U.S. Civil War is being filmed not far from Washington D.C. The director and some of the actors in the film, "Gods and Generals," talked with VOA's Keming Kuo about parallels they see between what happened 140 years ago and events of the past month.

TAPE: CUT ONE SFX [directors instructions on set] IN FULL to :16, fade out .

TEXT: On location for the filming of "Gods and Generals," it's not hard to escape from the modern world. A magnificent, 19th century mansion has been transformed into a lavish Christmas-time setting for a Confederate Army officers party. And just a few kilometers from the actual 1860s Civil War battlefields of Antietam and Harpers Ferry, thousands of bearded actors dressed in blue and gray soldiers uniforms reenact battles on sprawling farmland. The epic series is being produced on location in Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia. The $50 million production, which began filming last month [9/01], is sparing no expense for historical detail.

The September 11 terrorist attacks did not stop the filmmaking, but many actors still dressed in period costumes- visited local churches to offer prayers for the victims.

During breaks in the film production, some of the actors discussed parallels between their 19th and 21st century worlds. Stephen Lang portrays one of the Confederate Army's most respected generals, Stonewall [Thomas J.] Jackson:

TAPE: CUT TWO LANG :48

"It's a very different type of situation in that, during the Civil War, there were no 'bad guys,' as it were. There were very two distinct points of view of what our nation should be. They both had their merits, but it turned into a slugfest; the discussion turned violent but essentially it was about ideas. What happened on the 11th was an absolute influence of evil, it seems to me. Any ideas that anyone may have had were totally invalidated by the actions that were taken. I see what happened there as an act of total nihilism and of absolute evil."

TEXT: Mr. Lang a veteran film, television and stage actor- says his character, Stonewall Jackson, would have known exactly what to do with the Taliban terrorists:

TAPE: CUT THREE LANG :46

"Stonewall Jackson does come into play a bit. Jackson was of the opinion in the Civil War that the 'black flag' should be raised at once. "The black flag is a term that means that no quarter shall be given. It means that when people step over the line, you eliminate them. His feeling was that the only way to bring the North quickly to its senses was to bite them hard and bite them now. The minute they invaded: no quarter. He said, 'No quarter to the violators of our homes and our firesides.' I see that concept as being quite relevant to the events of September 11. It's certainly not clear-cut on how to do it. But I think the black flag has been raised."

TEXT: In the movie being filmed, Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall plays the leader of the Confederate army, General Robert E. Lee. Mr. Duvall says General Lee might have empathized with today's Americans who saw the continental United States invaded by the terrorists:

TAPE: CUT FOUR DUVALL :36

"I think there's a direct parallel. The Civil War was the only time that anyone invaded our soil, when the Federal troops invaded the South [in 1861]. It's a close approximation of what happened on September 11. I think [the attacks] have been the catalyst process in bringing us together patriotically as a nation. It's a horrible thing that happened. In spirit, we're in a state of war. I don't care what the pacifists say, we're in a state of war."

TEXT: Ron Maxwell is the writer and director of "Gods and Generals," as well as the earlier acclaimed Civil War-era film, "Gettysburg". He echoes Robert Duvall's observation that the September 11 attacks have unified Americans:

TAPE: CUT FIVE MAXWELL :54

"One of the things we saw - the hours and days after September 11 - was a transformation of a very fragmented, egocentric and complacent society to a unified people. We are a multifaceted, many-colored mosaic. That is what our country has become. Sometimes - because we're always bickering and arguing- it's easy to think we're just a collection of tribes. Sometimes we are. As the French say, 'Vive la difference.' It's wonderful to have this spice that constitutes our differences. But what we saw after the 11th is what we have in common. I realize, and many realize, that we have so much more in common as American citizens than the differences we're always dwelling on."

TEXT: Ron Maxwell, writer and director of the film "Gods and Generals." He joined several of the actors of the film in drawing parallels between the Civil War and the current war against terrorism.