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Buffalo Soldiers"1989 was the number," blasts Public Enemy's Chuck D, as 'Don't Believe The Hype' is played over the top of one of Buffalo Soldiers' energetic scenes. It's a song that conveys the angry political mood of the time, and is ideally suited to help score Gregor Jordan's sophomore feature, a black-as-night comedy that, in its tone and its targets, allies Dr Strangelove with the work of Joseph Heller.
Premiered at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival, just prior to the terrorist attacks of 11 September, the release of Buffalo Soldiers was delayed - distributors believing its anti-American slant somewhat inappropriate given recent world events. But if the portrait of the morally-bankrupt grunts of Buffalo Soldiers is to be believed, the sooner US Army officials see this, the better.
The central anti-hero is Special Fourth Class Ray Elwood (Phoenix), more black marketeer than soldier, with as much guile as Sgt Bilko and M*A*S*H's Hawkeye put together. Elwood operates a tidy scamming scheme on a US army base in Germany (the action takes place weeks before the Berlin Wall toppled). With the base's colonel, Wallace Berman (Harris), wrapped around his finger, Elwood trades in whatever he can get his hands on - from smack to Mop'n'Glo floor cleaner. He and his men hit the jackpot when they encounter two abandoned trucks of sophisticated weaponry; all they have to do is off-load it quietly, without arousing the suspicions of the ball-busting Vietnam vet, Sgt Robert Lee (Glenn). Lee soon finds himself embroiled in a psychological war with Elwood; the base chancer sets out to play mind-games by dating the sergeant's teenage daughter, Robyn (Paquin).
Visually innovative (Elwood is seen, at the beginning, in his own nightmare tumbling through the sky) and bitterly funny (a tank, driven by a stoned GI, crushes much of a nearby town), Buffalo Soldiers benefits from the Australian Jordan's leftfield viewpoint, already shown in his twisted debut with Heath Ledger, Two Hands. The cheeky Phoenix is a credible choice as Elwood, both as the film's rebel and romeo. The film boasts a well-rounded support cast: fine work comes from Harris, against type as the weak-willed colonel desperate for promotion, and a fiery Elizabeth McGovern, who plays his ambitious, unforgiving wife. The finest performance, however, comes from Glenn, who relishes his role as a military bully-boy. Despite its troubled journey to cinemas, Buffalo Soldiers stands as one of the strongest releases of the year, with its delay ironically ensuring its satire arrives at a telling moment when such dissent is being supressed.
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