Although Italian in heritage, Roberto Minervini's filmmaking career has been deeply informed by the intricate social and political landscape of the United States. Particularly intrigued by the American South, where he lived for many years after finishing his studies, a number of Minervini's works have concentrated on documenting the marginalized communities in the region, from 2013's Stop the Pounding Heart to his best-known work, What You Gonna Do When the World's on Fire? Through his fascination with these often underserved Southern societies, Minervini aims to gain a deeper understanding of the nuances of American civilization and the foundations of its development.

While there are standards of blending documentary and fictional elements within Minervini's body of work, his latest, The Damned, serves as his first fully narrative feature, along with the director's first exploration of period settings. A minimalist envisionment of the most Westward borders of the American Civil War, The Damned serves as a stark and eerie rumination on one of the country's most contentious junctures, merging the past and present through vaporous denunciations of war and its impact on the men who wage them.

The Damned takes place in 1862 –– one year into the Civil War –– and follows a ragtag group of Union soldiers sent out West on an undefined mission to guard the country's frontierlands. The company is comprised of men who range from teenage to middle-aged with a variety of motivations propelling them to join the Union effort: some are chasing the financial benefits, others want to protect early American democracy, and a few are just searching for purpose in life. The movie's early section plays out much like a 'hangout film,' with the director paying close attention to the conversations and blossoming bonds between this motley bunch of men, capturing the group as they play cards and baseball or wrestle upon the frost-bitten landscapes they move through.

Just as the viewer becomes familiarized with the dynamics among the troops and the ennui of their rather monotonous life together, a violent battle suddenly breaks out. Among the chaos of the fray and the smoke of musket rifles, the identities of the enemy become totally obscured, with a lengthy shootout ensuing. Collecting their dead and laboring to move forward with their task, the soldiers soon become disillusioned by their mission and its meaning within the grand scheme of existence. As they trek further into the snowy mountains, the group's members face their distinct crises of intention.

Exhibiting a DIY approach (shot on a tight schedule in Montana with the assistance of National Guardsmen assigned to the area) that complies with Minervini's oeuvre, The Damned seems uninterested in depicting period-accurate details and more fascinated with capturing the American systems which propel us to war, both historically and contemporarily. When one soldier condemns the immorality of slavery in the South, another inspects the area's rivers for gold. Moments like these intriguingly recontextualize our perspectives on the Civil War, a period of America's past when Union troops were idolized when, in actuality, many were out West claiming Indigenous territories for the government’s economic gain, somewhat in parallel with the South's use of slavery, although the history books would never choose to frame it in this way.

As with many films that employ elements of the 'war film' genre, The Damned chooses a singular method of capturing male interactions and visions of masculinity. Initially, the viewer experiences these characters as gun-loving, horse-playing fellows. However, the outlook shifts as these men lose control of their wartime situation and are forced to soften, to look inward, some of them for the first time ever. One of the youngest scouts (Judah Carlson)–– accompanied on the mission by his father and brother–– possesses an immature idealization of America until the bitter end. Still, his arguments are frequently challenged by the older men in the group, capturing a philosophic connection between men that is relatively uncommon on the silver screen. Much of the movie's dialogue is fixated on these meaningful exchanges. As this gang of soldiers travels farther from home, they seem more in tune with the profound hopelessness of their predicament, wanting to understand what has pushed them to make these life-altering choices.

Shot by cinematic multi-hyphenate Carlos Alfonso Corral, the visual language of The Damned embarks on a tandem journey with the spiritual quest of its characters. Favoring drawn-out long takes and handheld camerawork, the film captures full conversations and untouched panoramic landscapes, speaking to the vast emptiness of the area and the soldiers' defenselessness against it. During its latter half, The Damned leaves behind the sweeping vistas of the American West in favor of focal shots on the faces of the soldiers, making their existential queries the film's emphasis, taking us away from the frigid topography and into the headspace of the soldiers.

While Minervini's investigation of America's most consequential conflict goes to spiritual and reflective lengths to rebuke the ongoing pursuit of warfare, its hushed somberness effectively confines The Damned to arthouse sensibilities. Nevertheless, longtime devotees of the Italian filmmaker's inquiries of Americana will undoubtedly be satisfied and intrigued by his first narrative effort, which begins its limited theatrical release in New York City on Friday, May 16.

3.5/5

2024 / 89 minutes / Italy, USA, Belgium / Color / In English

‘The Damned’ world premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 2024 in the Un Certain Regard section, where Minervini was awarded the Best Director prize. Click here to find screenings of ‘The Damned’ near you, courtesy of Grasshopper Film.

‘The Damned’ Review: Soldiers Seek Faith at the Farthest Reaches of the American Civil War

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