I would never have thought that my reflection on Transformers 2 would be superceded by something so quickly. I just stumbled across, what I personally feel, the trailer to what is quite possibly going to be one of the most beautiful documentaries ever made. You can view the trailer here. Please watch this trailer either now or after you read my thoughts.

When I read the brief synopsis of this film I was instantly touched. The film follows three American senior citizens who take time out of their lives to greet and thank troops returning from their trips of war. The film is described as turning into “a moving, unsettling and compassionate story about aging, loneliness, war and mortality”. These concepts, the notion of compassion towards troops and the loneliness of aging are fascinating to me and things I often think a lot about. But it wasn’t until the shot of an old man, limping with frailty, holding a post for support, alone in a airport arrival gate…seeing this I just felt so much raw emotion. And I could feel that this would most certainly be an experience I would want to go on. As the trailer progresses and the enormity of the emotion involved with the story, it smacked me like a sledgehammer seeing the tears well in the eyes of the old guy named Jerry. And the tears were knocking at my door as well.

There are three of these “troop-greeters”: Bill Knight (aged 87 and to the left of the picture), Joan Gaudet (aged 75, middle, duh) and the aforementioned Jerry Mundy (right in pic) at the ripe old age of 74. What really touched me about Jerry’s story is that – and this is taken from the film’s website – the reason he greets the soldiers is to put a smile on their face, as this helps him cope with the tragic loss of his son. The fact that a man can go out and try to make other people happy when he has every fucking right to just turn his back on the world and drown in his own misery is something I find absolutely beautiful. And towards the end of the trailer, as the tears well in his eyes, the goosebumps and wells in mine, really struck a chord.

Bill Knight sounds like a man that could spin a yarn over a few beers and truly make you feel proud of being American. And I am saying this based purely upon my experiences of having a beer with some of our diggers on Anzac day. The nationality is irrelevant – it is the selfless-ness of his actions that is universal. Bill served as a marine in World War 2 and saw the lack of appreciation for the troops returning from Vietnam and vowed to never let that happen again. His dedication to greeting the troops is so high that his own life takes a back seat. This includes his rapidly deteriorating health – he was at the airport to greet on the day he found out he had cancer. What an absolute fucking inspirational man.

Joan Gaudet is the mother of the film’s director, Aron Gaudet. Age had taken its toll on her body and after devoting her life to her family, she was now alone. Five years ago she found out about troop greeting and has been as devoted to this cause as she was her own children. She welcomes them as a mother, grand-mother and fellow, thankful, respectful and loving HUMAN. This is what astounds me. Sometimes I think that the human race does not deserve the luxuries that living can bring; then I see examples of the purest and most genuine people. It is truly touching.

What I reckon will be the most heart-breaking element to this film is the fact that whilst we get to know these three most remarkable people, we also will see them challenged by their own confronting and challenging issues. Jerry with his need to face the loss of his son and unexplained heart problems – heart-broken anyone? Gee fuck. The more I think about this guy and what he is going through and the look on his face…the more I am moved to tears. Fuck. Bill, who has been diagnosed with the big C word, yet still makes his way to the airport, defiant to the end. As his jumper says, Not as lean, not as mean, but still a marine. Not only is he facing health battles but he has armies of debt seeking creditors coming at him from all directions. And Joan, who forever says hello to the troops, greets them back into the open arms of their families and far too often the closed minds of those who ignore their sacrifice. Now she has to face one of her ultimate tests – saying goodbye to her grand daughter who is flying off to Iraq.

With these three incredible people’s stories I hope that this movie can show to people that the issues of mentioned earlier – war, mortality, loneliness, etc. – are powerful enough to cross all cultural boundaries. It should not matter if you are for or against the wars we are fighting, but the fact of the matter is troops deserve to be treated with respect, be shown recognition and be welcome. I hope to whatever deity is listening that no lefty anti-war dooche bags grab a hold of this and use it for their own agendas. To me this movie is not entirely about war – it is about three remarkable human beings restoring my faith of humanity through an unsettling, challenging and ultimately rewarding story.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 11:36 pm and is filed under movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.