Glory Fight For Freedom

Glory is the name of a film released on 1989. The plot of the film is based on the history of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment during American Civil War. In this film the struggle of the regiment against Col. Robert Gould Shaw and other abolitionists is depicted. The regiment had to survive against racial prejudice in many forms because it was the first formal unit of U S army made of African American men. In this film it has been showed how Col. Shaw had to face problem to get supplies for his troops and how his regiment had to prove themselves as worthy for fighting among the whites

As a historical drama, Glory takes out some living characters from the pages of history. Matthew Broderick played the role of Col Shaw, the determined leader who was hard on his troops. Though hard trainer to his men, he will go to a great length for them. One of the scenes in the movie shows Col. Shaw ransacking the office for not getting 600 pairs of shoes and shocks. As the movie is based on the activity of this 54th regiment that took the most important role in the Battle of Fort Wagner, some more important characters has been depicted. The characters include Major Cabot Forbes who led the attack on Fort Wagner after Shaw was shot dead.

Another important character that joined Glory straight from the pages of history was an ex slave Private Trip. He bears an important role as he ran up and raised the regiment colors almost immediately after Shaw was shot dead. But he was also shot and it was his death that raised the whole regiment to slope into the fort. The film introduced another character Thomas, a strong symbol of educated colored people in the 1800s. He symbolizes the quest of the colored people for equality. Stabbed at Fort Wagner, he was a very good childhood friend of Shaw.

However, there have been some differences in Glory that makes it a movie and not a chronology. According to the film, all the black soldiers were escaped slaves while the fact says that most of them were born free. But the fact like the way in which Col.Shaw was shot several times on his chest was real. Not only that, the final scene of Shaws body being thrown into the burial pit alongside his fallen soldiers is also historically accurate. The movie won Academy Awards in the category of Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Sound while nominated in the categories Best Art Direction and Best Film Editing. The movie has won much popularity and was rated as the best movie on Civil War. Wikipedia