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Wars can be won with bullets, bravado, bombers, battleships, tanks and espionage, but sometimes it all comes down to sneaking words past the enemy. Windtalkers is a film about a little-known (until now, that is) episode of World War II in which Navajo men were recruited as U. S. Marines and trained to use a code in their native language, which is considered unbreakable. In the film, a Japanese radioman is listening and says, "It sounds as though they are talking underwater." The idea of Navajo code men was only declassified in the past 35 years or so. If the language was considered unbreakable, who knew when it would be used again?

The story has Nicolas Cage as a marine who followed orders but lost his men in action. He has hearing problems in one ear and is definitely shell-shocked, but goes back into action with a new assignment. Protect the code men, nicknamed "windtalkers," at all cost. Get it? All cost means no survival. Cage, and a fellow marine with the same orders, Christian Slater, are teamed with Adam Beach and Roger Willie. Slater and Willie bond and their duets of native flute and harmonica are something to hear. Cage, however, rebuffs Beach's attempts at friendship and doesn't intervene when the rest of the company hassles Beach about his native heritage. This is a war film, so men learn to come to terms with each other and the enemy.

John Woo goes all out with explosive action and we have bullets flying, flame throwers, bayonets, tanks and bombers to deal with. Body parts are everywhere. Friendly fire is something to deal with, as is an enemy who plants land mines and fights guerilla-style. Actually, there is a rhythm to John Woo's artillery. A few shots of running feet, bodies flying, back to the ground, eye-level fighting, down to the knees, and a pattern forms of a warfare symphony. This may be his best direction so far.

Nicholas Cage may be pulling for an Oscar nod for next year. His portrayal of a man fighting ghosts is quite good, but we have yet to see what the rest of the year brings in male performances. His character says he was "…baptized Catholic as a soldier of Christ, but I seem to be on a different path now." Adam Beach successfully goes from a naïve kid to a mature killer in order to survive. The short time Roger Willie is on screen is enough to make quite an impact. Here is a marine who chooses to fight western style and with success. This isn't just a white man's war; it is a war for everyone. Unfortunately, Christian Slater isn't there long enough to make much of an impression. As far as the rest of the cast, Frances O'Connor gets good billing as a navy nurse with about three sentences of dialogue and then is gone. Mark Ruffalo shines as the young soldier who wants to go home and drive a taxi while Noah Emmerich plays the guy with prejudice as his middle name. 

Windtalkers was to have been released months ago and is finally seeing the light of day. The ensemble cast works well together. As with Saving Private Ryan, Blackhawk Down, and We Were Soldiers" the audience wants to duck behind seats and cover their ears during the film. It's a little too easy for communications to always reach the intended party and for gunners to sight accurately and war ships to bomb accurately and planes to hit just the right bunker, but in Windtalkers, it happens. This is a Woo-ism to get the job done in just the right amount of time and with just the right amount of style. The windtalkers get their due.

Copyright 2002 Marie Asner
Submitted 6/25/02