Some live. Some die. Some are changed forever. That’s not only the tagline for Triage, it’s the truth about watching this film. Colin Farrell plays Mark Walsh, a war reporter whose assignment in Kurdistan involves following a doctor as he determines what injuries will heal and who will not be able to recover. Mark gets up close and personal with these patients, gathering photographs that express the pain and suffering they go through and even watching as the doctor puts those who are not going to get better out of their misery.
This isn’t easy for anyone to see, and Mark’s friend David (played by Jamie Sives) seems to especially want to get home, which also has a lot to do with the fact that his wife is set to give birth pretty much any day. Then Mark returns home with no word on where David could be, leaving Mark’s girlfriend (Paz Vega) to figure out what happened. When it becomes more than even she can discern, she calls her dad (Christopher Lee), a therapist, to help Mark work his way through everything that he’s witnessed and discover what really went down.
While Triage covers the horrors of war with a surprising amount of sensitivity, they are in no way glossed over. There’s a lot of disturbing imagery, and I wouldn’t recommend watching it before bed, or for the weak of stomach, ever. Seriously, this movie is very intense and was one of the hardest ones for me to review, simply because it was hard to watch.
That said, it was incredibly well done. Entertainment Weekly called it “the best work of [Colin Farrell’s] career” and it’s true. He does an amazing job in the role of Mark. The other notable performance is Christopher Lee, although that hardly comes as a surprise. Still, for his age, Lee manages to really grasp the heart of the story and portrays his character exquisitely.
This isn’t the first war film that Danis Tanovic has directed, and it’s clear that he is very talented, especially when it comes to this genre. After all, he directed No Man’s Land, which won an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. Still, this kind of film must be particularly difficult to direct, and at times, it does show. For a large part of the film, the viewer may feel like the pacing is slow, and it tends to drag when not in the midst of the action scenes. However, it is definitely interesting to see how much effort and how many people are necessary to complete the healing process. Triage gives a clear example of what it takes to become whole again after tragedy.
Overall, it seems the point of Triage is to make the viewer think. Complicated questions are posed in ways that really require a lot of reflection. The alternating perspectives allow the film to draw in the audience and allows everyone who watches Triage to draw their own conclusions about war and the photojournalism profession. And by "allows everyone to draw their own conclusions", I mean, there are a lot of different opinions displayed, but this movie will probably make you decide that war is pretty much the most awful thing ever in life.
DVD Bonus Features
There is a “Making of Triage” featurette, behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast, director and others. The interview segment is the longest of the special features, ringing in at approximately half an hour, and includes a lot of the same stuff from the “making of” featurette. If you’re short on time, I’d recommend watching one or the other.
"Triage" is on sale August 10, 2010 and is rated R. Drama, War. Directed by Danis Tanovic. Written by Scott Anderson, Danis Tanovic. Starring Branko Djuric, Christopher Lee, Colin Farrell, Jamie Sives, Kelly Reilly, Paz Vega.
