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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Lions Gate
Salesrank: 14441
Released: July 20, 2004 |
| Our Price: $3.65 |
| Used Price: $1.99 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
In the Kentucky countryside where Rebel and Yankee allegiances are mixed, a woman whose husband is fighting in the Confederate army houses a small band of Federal soldiers, much against her will.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 28-FEB-2006
Media Type: DVD
Description of Pharaoh's Army:
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
Pharaoh's Army Reviews:
KY Cival War 
2009-10-27 - I was surprised that this is such an excellent movie. Very realistic & well acted - Kristofferson has a small role, which could have been expanded. He definitely has his moments when acting, but since this movie is based on actual events his character's only contribution is for the title.
Civil War masterpiece
2009-01-05 - I've had a DVD copy of "Pharaoh's Army" in my home collection for several years, and have watched it at least a half-dozen times, each time thoroughly enjoying this little-known, Indie film that escaped my attention when it was first released in 1995. First-time writer/director Robbie Benson deserves a lot of credit for this beautifully crafted, realistic, and subtly moving film about a slice of just a few days in 1862 during the Civil War, and a small group of foraging Union soldiers, whose lives briefly and tragically intersect with a woman and her 11 year old son on their back-woods Kentucky farm. Reportedly based on a true story, this short 90 minute film captures more of the tensions that were behind the American Civil War than scores of other big-battle epics about that singular American conflict. Those looking for massive battle scenes and sweeping panoramas of smoky battlefields should look elsewhere- but if you are a contemplative sort who appreciates fine acting, beautifully framed cinematography scenes, and a subtle and moving musical score, this film will suck you in like few others. Without anything more than several carefully spaced bits of dialogue between the few principal actors, this film speaks volumes for the North-South tensions that resulted in the Civil War, and the enduring impact that conflict has had on the USA to this day.
Sarah Anders (Patricia Clarkson) and her 11 year old son (Will Lucas) are trying to survive on their small Kentucky farm during 1862- her husband off fighting for the South, and their means of existence critically dependent on a few chickens, a cow, and tilling their land for crops to eat. Enter Captain Abston (Chris Cooper) and his small band of 4 Union soldiers, sent to forage food and supplies for the larger Union army campaigning in the area. Needless to say, what they want is what Sarah and her boy need to survive. After one of the Union soldiers is accidentally injured by falling on a pitchfork in her barn, the small squad is forced to stay for several days to allow the soldier to recover from his wound. The 4 supporting actors filling the roles of the Union soldiers (Chicago, Rodie, Newt and Neely) are excellent in their small roles- the sparse dialogue perfectly fits the times, and also speaks volumes about the reasons why ordinary farmers, butchers, and ordinary folks took up arms against each other. The two leads (Cooper and Clarkson) provide a wonderfully understated interaction of North vs: South, a human microcosm of the vast war. Kris Kristofferson has a brief but powerful presence as the local Southern preacher, with a black slave Israel (Mac Miles) who eventually initiates the inevitable violence that shatters the building tensions on the farm. No spoilers here, but the climax of this movie left me very moved, and stuck with me for a long time. The narrator's voice (that of the young boy, spoken in retrospect many years later) is also intersperced perfectly throughout the movie, and compliments the story very well.
The soundtrack is also very understated and subtle, and fits the time and the story in a beautiful way.
Cinematography is A+: the clothes and uniforms are very accurately detailed, and all the actors look their part. And for once, a period movie that also avoids modern slang language, and has the actors use dialogue that would be appropriate for 1862.
I give this movie 5 stars without reservation, but only for the viewer interested in a more contemplative take on what the Civil War was all about. I liken it in many ways to "Ride With The Devil", though the latter also clearly is more of an action film.
Civil War buffs will certainly appreciate all the subtle nuances of this film, but it's worth viewing even if you aren't of that ilk.
I just wish it had been a little longer. A real hidden gem.
Why haven't I heard about this movie until now?
2008-12-14 - A terrific film about division and hatred. I agree with a previous reviewer that this absolutely superior film defies comparison. Nevertheless, the film is somewhat reminiscent of the excellent 'Ride with the Devil', a film about Confederate irregulars in Missouri, and even resembles, in some ways, 'The Last Valley,' with Omar Sharif and Michael Caine. 'The Last Valley' isn't about 'our' Civil war but about the even more devastating 30 years war in Germany. Mercenaries have discovered a hidden valley in Germany that hasn't been totally 'eaten out' and devastated by war. The mercenaries, led by Michal Caine as 'The Captain' will correct that quickly. The local Burgomeister [Omar Shariff] convinces them that their best tactic is to overwinter there taking only what they require. They do, putting them in prolonged contact with an unhappy civilian population.
In its own way, 'Pharaoh's Army' is an even better film. Essentially decent men are ordered to do totally indecent things ["I Vas just taking orders"]. Union foragers in the Cumberland region of Kentucky raid Southern sympathizing farms taking everything that their hungry army requires. Mostly what they want is food. People...mostly women and children...who are already undergoing deep privation, have Yankee soldiers show up to steal everything that they can...hams, chickens, cattle, hogs, even horses. Who knows how many of these poor people simply starved to death never making it to the rolls of 'honored dead' during the War?
This is the context of the film. A young Union forager, while looking for hidden food, falls from a hayloft and is impaled on a farm implement [great material for a modern-day lawsuit, if you think about it]. His four companions, including 'The Captain' are obliged to stay until the soldier dies or recovers enough to be moved. Therefore the Yankees are obliged to live beside the woman and teenage boy that they have robbed.
'The Captain' is a decent sort and really has no business in a looting/man-killing war. He says he impetuously volunteered for Union service when his preacher exposed the scarred back of a runaway slave. On the other hand, he is at heart a farmer and no airyfairy idealist. He has a small farm, similar to the one he is looting, just over the Ohio River in Southern Ohio. He soon finds himself plowing a field so that the family will have corn during the Summer. You get the impression that the Captain would rather stay [his wife died two years previously] rather than continuing to 'Save the Union.' It isn't to be and the story devolves into bloodshed and hatred.
One of the best things about the film is that it deeply explores the underlying issues of Civil War. There is a young Union soldier, recently from Germany. "Why did you join?" he is asked. "Because I was tired of making sausage." His motives go no deeper than that but, unlike many others he has thought about it. " There's not one Union soldier who would give up his precious life to free a bunch of...blacks," he says. Here is the truth. Anti-slavery/pro-slavery rhetoric was for the elites--those who didn't have to fight and die. The soldiers, north and south, were fighting for Union/Secession, because they were drafted or because they couldn't stand the moral pressure at home. "A rich man's War; A poor man's fight", was the bitter cry.
Watch the movie, you'll be glad you did. It may be especially pertinent at this particular time when again the whiff of disunion is in the air.
Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--'Skull Rack' and 'Hummingbird God'--abouth the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
PHAROAH'S ARMY
2008-06-09 - Pharoah's Army tells of the tragic true events which were caused by Mr. Lincoln's decision to hold "the union" together no matter what the cost. It shows the beginning of the hubris which today has brought us the likes of Bush and Cheney. And it tragically shows how good people always bear the burden of war. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone who is a history buff.
good Civil War era movie 
2008-02-08 - Pharaoh's Army covers one important but often overlooked slice out of life during the Civil War involving one Confederate family. Hint; Hide the food! Highly recommended. Moviemaniac
