neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Windtalkers
	John Woo Nicolas Cage, Christian Slater, Adam Beach, Roger Willie 2002		It's a cut above the usual grunts-at-war movie because of a fresh context and director John Woo's mastery of cinematic action. Inspired by the Navajo code-talkers who helped the Allies communicate and vanquish the Japanese during World War II, "Windtalkers" follows the members of a U.S. Marine division into the Battle of Saipan. Each Native American, enlisted to carry and utilize a secret military code based on the Navajo language, is teamed with a soldier, whose orders are to keep the flow of information going and, by any means necessary, keep code and talker from getting into the hands of the enemy. Marine Joe Enders, played by Nicolas Cage with an emphasis on inner turmoil, is recovering from shellshock incurred during a bloody skirmish that left him partially deaf. But he insists on returning to the front after being assigned to protect code-talker Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach). Their relationship under fire and the brutal battle scenes orchestrated by Woo give "Windtalkers" merit.