A Soldier's Story
| A Soldier's Story | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Norman Jewison |
| Produced by |
|
| Screenplay by | Charles Fuller |
| Based on |
A Soldier's Play by Charles Fuller |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Herbie Hancock |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Edited by |
|
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $6 million |
| Box office | $21,821,347 |
A Soldier's Story is a 1984 American drama film directed by Norman Jewison, based on Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize-winning Off Broadway production A Soldier's Play. A black officer is sent to investigate the murder of a black sergeant in Louisiana near the end of World War II. It is a story about racism in a segregated regiment of the U.S Army commanded by white officers and training in the Jim Crow South, in a time and place where a black officer is unprecedented and bitterly resented by nearly everyone.
The film was first shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. It won the New York Drama Critics Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Theater Club Award, and three Village Voice Obie Awards. It won the Golden Prize at the 14th Moscow International Film Festival. It was also nominated for three Academy Awards: for Best Picture, Supporting Actor (Adolph Caesar), and Screenplay Adaptation (Fuller).
The time is 1944 during World War II. Vernon Waters (Adolph Caesar), a master sergeant in a company of black soldiers, is very drunk and staggering along a road along Fort Neal, a segregated Army base in Louisiana. Waters' last words amidst his raucous laughter were "They still hate you! They still hate you!" before he is shot to death with a .45 caliber pistol.
When Waters' body is found the next day, Captain Richard Davenport (Howard E. Rollins, Jr.), a black officer from the Judge Advocate General is sent to investigate, against the wishes of commanding officer Colonel Nivins (Trey Wilson). While the general consensus is that he was killed by local members of the Ku Klux Klan, others are doubtful, having heard that Waters' stripes and insignia were still on his uniform and aware that the Klan's typical M.O. is to remove them before lynching their victims.
...
Wikipedia