Pharaoh's Army

Starring:Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson, Kris Kristofferson, Robert Joy, Richard Tyson, Frank Clem, Huckleberry Fox, Will Lucas, Mac Miles, Robert E. Simpson, Maude Mitchell, Rebecca Ryland, Scott Coffman, Gale Wilson, Stacie Coffman, Leon Cain, Alvie Cox, Zach Lee, D.J. Wade, Margaret Ellis
Director: Robby Henson
Studio: Lions Gate
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Product Description
During the American Civil War, a Union Army Captain (Chris Cooper) leads his ragtag Calvary troop up a misty creek to a remote farm to steal enemy livestock and supplies. The farm is owned by Sarah Anders (Patricia Clarkson), whose husband is away fighting for the Confederate Army, and her young son. When an accident forces the patrol to stay, the captain and Sarah find they have more in common than they want to admit. Thrown together by destiny, the captain, and Sarah are forced to make choices beyond their control and want to come to terms with their divided loyalties.

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE
Amazon.com
First-time writer-director Robby Henson probably grew tired of being compared to John Sayles when Pharaoh's Army was given a limited release in 1995, but the comparisons were flattering, and this independent gem deserves any praise it can muster. Like Sayles's Matewan, it illuminates a small incident from rural America--in this case, an intimate episode of the Civil War in 1862 Kentucky--and in doing so adds richly shaded brush strokes of humanity to the grander canvas of history. Based on an actual incident as told to historian and folklorist Harry Caudill, the drama focuses on a widowed Kentucky farmwife who must protect herself and her 11-year-old son when their small farm is commandeered by a Union captain and four Yankee soldiers, one of whom is seriously injured shortly after their arrival.

Product Description

During the American Civil War, a Union Army Captain (Chris Cooper) leads his ragtag Calvary troop up a misty creek to a remote farm to steal enemy livestock and supplies. The farm is owned by Sarah Anders (Patricia Clarkson), whose husband is away fighting for the Confederate Army, and her young son. When an accident forces the patrol to stay, the captain and Sarah find they have more in common than they want to admit. Thrown together by destiny, the captain, and Sarah are forced to make choices beyond their control and want to come to terms with their divided loyalties.

System Requirements:

Running Time 90 Min

Format: DVD MOVIE

Amazon.com

First-time writer-director Robby Henson probably grew tired of being compared to John Sayles when Pharaoh's Army was given a limited release in 1995, but the comparisons were flattering, and this independent gem deserves any praise it can muster. Like Sayles's Matewan, it illuminates a small incident from rural America--in this case, an intimate episode of the Civil War in 1862 Kentucky--and in doing so adds richly shaded brush strokes of humanity to the grander canvas of history. Based on an actual incident as told to historian and folklorist Harry Caudill, the drama focuses on a widowed Kentucky farmwife who must protect herself and her 11-year-old son when their small farm is commandeered by a Union captain and four Yankee soldiers, one of whom is seriously injured shortly after their arrival.

Sarah Anders (Patricia Clarkson) has good reason to hate the Yankee invaders, but Captain Abston (Matewan's Chris Cooper) is a gentle warrior, doing his duty with civility and honor (which is more than can be said about his unruly soldiers). Nevertheless, the Civil War's stranglehold still grips this divided region of Kentucky hills, where a gruff preacher (Kris Kristofferson) tries to uphold delicate moral order. Tensions rise, and blood will be shed, but Pharaoh's Army (which takes its title from a biblical passage) is more concerned with the roiling emotions stirred by war and death, and the extra effort required to maintain one's decency in the context of conflict. There's not a false note in this entire film, and each performance is perfectly pitched to capture a specific time and place, so it's easy to imagine that this incident unfolded very much as Henson shows it. In the roll call of little-known independent films, Pharaoh's Army should not be forgotten. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

A rare masterpiece.......2007-01-25

I agree with all the kudos viewers have accorded this film. It's shockingly honest and even "politically incorrect" -- something almost unheard of in moviedom.

Whether anybody involved in the production meant it that way, Pharoah's Army (PA) is strongly pro-South in its viewpoint. It is in fact a microcosm of the ugly issues the war was really about. The North had plenty of problems (and plenty of SLAVES) and no to need moralize at anybody else, much less to straighten another country out with guns and bombs and torches. In the remoteness and quiet of a barn, the bluecoats sort out the Union army's patently feckless motivations, but in the end they're loyal to the federal juggernaut against all human impulses.

The Southerners (Sarah Anders and her son) aren't perfect, but are emblematic of the real South -- grossly put upon and violated. I simply cannot believe the story can still be told with such honesty in a dramatic production. For once, movie brutality has a purpose -- illuminating real-life brutality.

The cast of PA understands all this on some level, whether or not they'd consciously agree with it. And they live the war all over again through this story, more meaningfully that I can remember it having seen it before on film (not even in Birth of a Nation or Gone With the Wind). The acting is near-perfect (even at its most stone-faced) and gets better with each viewing. You feel like you've known every character in real life somewhere before.

Normally I wouldn't recommend a movie with even mild vulgarities in it, but here again there's a point: showing up character. It's OK with me if nobody under 13 (maybe 16?) sees PA -- and responsible parents will explain all this to any kids they allow to see it.

My only real complaint is that you can't understand the dialogue at times. Anybody else? Also that a scene in which Anders and the captain hold hands over an ailing Yankee soldier (to weepy background music) strains credibility.

If this masterly film languishes in obscurity, that's tragic but no surprise in view of the socio-political agenda most of filmdom pushes. Here's to all who hunt out quality in culture -- and keep it in circulation.

Oh man, what a dud........2006-10-12

I cant believe the reviews for this tripe. First of all, this is a Civil War "era" film, but actually has very little to nothing to do with the war.

The film centers around a squad of Union soldiers on scavenger patrol, who in the process of relieving a woman and son of their chickens and other supplies, suffer a freak injury to one of their troops, and are "forced" to hold up at the farmhouse while he heals up. The whole thing is slow slow slow, and entirely acted out on this farm, which does not add to the story or entertainment value at all. Its boring actually, very boring.

Dont look for Kris Kristofferson, he only makes a brief cameo. We all know Chris Cooper aint no leading man, and Patricia Clarkson is as droll and depressing as ever. Fine cinematography shines through on the DVD but the audio is just bad, sounds distorted at times. 2 Plows

It's a Cold World; War really is Hell!.......2006-07-10

A classic study of conflicts. Cooper's attempt to deal with the heartless men in his command and reconcile his personal feelings in dealing with the spoils of war, which in this case is the pillaging the farm of a wife and son of a Confederate soldier. Clarkson is brilliant. Her facial expressions require no words. It is a bleak view of the hardness of humanity and the pain that accompanies it. This feeling is emphasized by the coldness of the setting. The lack of attention this movie received when released is hard to believe. But, not the first good movie to be ignored.

Stark Look at War's Effect on Civilians and Those that left to Fight .......2005-11-23

A small but very personal Civil War movie with a realistic portrayal of a mother and young son who return to their modest home in a holler located somewhere next to the Cumberland Gap. After facing the brutality of unionists in her county, mother and son hope to stay put on their modest farm stuck tightly between mountains and creek. A foraging party made up of 5 union soldiers from the gap arrive and the mother attempts to hide her livestock and food. The captain, played by Chris Cooper, while regretting his duty to take foodstuffs, is taken back by the farm, reminding him of his place and family back home. Due to an unfortunate accident to one of his men, the small platoon overstays it's welcome. The film captures the loneliness of the spirit in time of war as the mother does not know if her husband is alive or dead, nor does the captain know when he will return north to his farm. The innocence of the soldiers is captured very well as some are recent immigrants struggling to do their duty while it is apparent that most are of them are not professional soldiers, still raw recruits. The mother, played by Patricia Clarkson, guards the burial site of her daughter passionately and for a moment the captain and the mother find an almost spiriturtal bond, both having lost something important in their life. Everything looks to be vintage 1864, the uniforms and materials all look like they are appropriate for the period. Reality steps in place as time for the soldiers seems to have a sense of foreboding. Worried about being captured by partisan rangers, they suddenly become the hunted in this shattering of a seemingly truce between the two parties. As violence enters the scene both parties revert to their respective sides of anger and frustration. The movie is very realistic with a tragic ending that could be more severe if not for the last minute use of rational thought. Kristofferson has a modest but convincing role as a revenge minded southern preacher. The scenery and materials are so rustically real, you have the impression that the farm's flatland is squeezed tightly by a mountain range in Kentucky or somewhere in Appalachia. The acting is excellent and the story thoughtful, capturing the lonesome feelings of those left far behind the lines with limited support.

The Civil War wasn't just about armies fighting it out........2005-09-20

This movie brings home one of the reasons why Southerners remember the war so much more vividly than the rest of the country. For many Southerners the war wasn't over "there" it was fought in their midst. In their barnyards, schoolyards and front yards, and in certain regions of the South, the war was fought with their neighbors.

This movie is just one story, but it reminds us of all the incidents in the war that never made it into the battle epics. The characters are civilians, and in the end nobody appears as clean as the fallen snow. Everybody is soiled by the war. This isn't an uplifting movie, in fact it is fairly depressing. It shows how inhumanity is a very human reaction. But, for anyone remotely interested in the Civil war, or how it is protrayed in modern media this movie is a must see.

DVD:

DVD

DVD: Set It Off/Fallen

Amok-Jagd