Walking 5,800 miles around the United States, Veteran Jonathan Hancock uses the solitude of the road and the company of his fellow Marine brothers and the families of their fallen to successfully manage his wounds from war.
Folks resort to all sorts of extremes to exorcise their demons. Take veteran Marine Jonathan Hancock. The young man embarked on a 5,800-mile journey around the United States to overcome PTSD. In the process, he encountered fellow 2/4 Marines, Gold Star families of deceased soldiers, as well as the deafening — and ultimately healing — solitude of the road. Director Brad Morrison documents Jonathan’s journey in “Bastards’ Road,” an undoubtedly important documentary that may help other veterans see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The 2/4 Marines, also known as “The Magnificent Bastards,” were deployed in one of Iraq’s most dangerous zones in 2004. “1 out of 4 were wounded or killed,” the doc reveals. Still amped up from the 9/11 attack — which happened four days after he graduated boot camp — Jon was one of the boys thrust into that nightmarish one-on-one battle, not just witnessing but actively participating in (perpetuating?) the horrors of war. Jon tried college for a while, but all everyone wanted to know was how many people he killed. After a failed suicide attempt (“over 60,000 veterans committed suicide from 2008 to 2017”, the doc informs us), Jon kept finding it difficult to control the emotional flood.
On September 11, 2015, he started to walk across the country with nothing but a backpack and a flag draped over it. “I was so excited to go,” he remembers. “I just left in the middle of the night.” He doubted himself at first – as would any married father embarking on a somewhat-vague journey of self-discovery. Yet his confidence grew as he visited other soldiers who had gone through similar ordeals. Morrison captures some genuinely touching moments: a woman who lost her brother and husband in battle consecutively within a few days; Jon shedding tears over the grave of a friend; and fellow Marines joking around with palpable sadness in their eyes, all united by the same trauma that will forever haunt them.
At one point, Jon sadly confesses that he wishes it were him instead of them. He struggles to enjoy his surroundings, even for a moment, haunted by death. How could someone go on enjoying the beauty of nature, the splendor of a well-prepared meal, the effervescent spark in a child’s eye, after shooting human beings, point-blank, tearing them limb-from-limb with grenades and missile launchers? When the government’s response to the veterans’ plea for help is to numb them with pills, one starts questioning what they were traumatized/fighting for in the first place.
Morrison never delves too deep into political implications, nor does “Bastards’ Road” function as a savage indictment of the U.S. government. It’s almost like the filmmaker carefully avoids radicalism; the doc never quite becomes antimilitarist, sticking to being an impassioned portrait of soldiers suffering from PTSD. There are moments, however, when the filmmaker could have made it a bit more controversial.
Take the archival combat footage: absolutely mesmerizing stuff, soldiers waving to a stranded toddler on the street before throwing a grenade through a window, to woos and cheers. “In the heat of the moment, it feels fine, because you’ve dehumanized the human,” Jon says. During moments like this, “Bastards’ Road” almost morphs into a Black Mirror-like study of our capacity for violence, amplified by false causes and misguided patriotism. Toxic masculinity in high-stress, violent surroundings seems like another ripe subject to explore. But what we get are the Marines laughing about “showing each other penises,” and another young man intoning, as he weeps: “Let me wipe this weakness out of my face.”
At least it’s not all dour, Morrison providing some curious detours. Jon narrowly avoids getting “doused” by a family of skunks. Later, he finds an abandoned gun by the side of a highway. The glory of the Great Land is wonderfully visualized, with stretches of open plains, mountainous terrains, vast deserts, and a foggy Golden Gate Bridge all depicted in their full splendor. Morrison certainly knows his way around a camera.
I do wish the filmmaker traced Jon’s journey a bit more intuitively (where he is at any given point is nearly impossible to tell). I wish he trusted someone else with the film’s score (pseudo-Christian rock music, anyone?). I wish the film were more biting. That said, “Bastards’ Road” studies the effect of War on Man, and it shows that there may be a way out, be it through friendship, or walking, or both. In that sense, there’s no denying its significance.
“Bastard’s Road” will premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival on Sunday, January 26th and Thursday, January 30th
