The Damned (2024 Melbourne International Film Festival) ★★★

ROBERTO Minervini’s revisionist western The Damned is well made and intentioned but too static in its end result.

The Italian director sets his story in the winter of 1862 in the frontier lands of America.

We follow a company of soldiers tasked with patrolling the western territories.

But, eschewing the usual tropes, we watch the men go about their daily activities such as setting up camp, cleaning their weapons, having meals and trying to stay awake during their lookout periods.

The dialogue, which was apparently unscripted, ranges from the mundane to more thoughtful on subjects such as why they volunteered.

Unfortunately, while the lack of scripted lines and use of many unknown or non-actors does lend authenticity, it doesn’t make for a particularly interesting film.

There is one extended sequence, where they engage with an unseen enemy and several soldiers are killed, which benefits from the Cinema Verite style.

But most of the time it feels you are watching a very well made docu-drama that belongs more in a museum viewing room than a cinema.

Watched at the cinema.