World War II historian John McManus is impressed by the portrayal of one particular element in Nicolas Cage’sWindtalkers. Cage’s character, Sergeant Joe Enders, is responsible for protecting Private Ben Yahzee (Adam Beach), who is a Navajo code talker in theWorld War II film. The Navajo code talkers were a group of Navajo men who used their native language to send coded messages, which proved invaluable to the Allies during the war.
In anInsidervideo,McManus breaks down the historical accuracy of how the Navajo code talkers are depicted inWindtalkers. He explains that in addition to helping the Allies with their military operations in the Pacific, the code talkers were relied on to sow confusion among the Japanese, whichWindtalkersdoes an effective job of illustrating. McManus is primarily impressed by howWindtalkersportrays the code talkers while acknowledging some of the film’s historical inaccuracies and limitations. Read his comments below:
Adam Beach is playing a Navajo code talker. They’re using specific words from their language to represent military concepts or words, and that would’ve been relayed via the radio, like you see there. They might’ve called in some fire that way. That was one of the many, many valuable aspects of the code talkers. They’re portrayed here as being sort of like forward observers in some respects. That wasn’t always the role these guys were playing. A lot of times it was just mundane communications, back-and-forth among headquarters, in order to confuse the Japanese.
I like that part of the clip where you have the Japanese interception experts really confounded by this. By this point in the war, Saipan, 1944, they were likely to have known, if they were savvy, that there were Native Americans in this kind of role speaking in their own languages that were not English. It didn’t mean he could understand what they were saying.
And they’re designed to kill other ships, other battleships, other surface ships in an enemy navy. That’s really what they’re there to do. But they have the capability of providing those of us on the ground with a lot of really intense fire support, too. In this case, Nicolas Cage and the other Marines are portrayed as being way too far forward. It’s called danger close, is that area in between. In other words, if you’re too close to where the shells are supposed to be coming down, you’re probably going to take some friendly-fire casualties.
I’ll give it a 7 out of 10. I like that the clip shows the incredible contributions and what a force multiplier that the code talkers were. I think it’s a hard thing to convey in film, and I think they’ve done reasonably well with it.
What This Means For Windtalkers
Historical & Critical Perspectives Of Windtalkers Are Varied
Despite McManus largely praisingWindtalkers, the film was not well-received, receiving a 33% critical score and 50% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the staging of the action sequences but were less impressed by how the story of the actual code talkers was handled and felt it was a shallow exploration of the topic. In terms of the clips McManus viewed, he had the opposite assessment, emphasizing that the code talkers and their importance were mostly depicted well, while the action sequencesfeaturing Cage’s characterand the other Marines demonstrated needless risk for the sake of drama.
These varying perspectives are what can make a film likeWindtalkersworth rewatching and discussing decades after its release
The juxtaposition between the critical and historical perspectives ofWindtalkersis an important reminder of how a film can be enjoyed and analyzed on multiple levelsthat do not always align with each other. A film can communicate the historical importance of a certain element while struggling to make the overall story cohesive. An action sequence can be well-staged and thrilling to watch while also being too realistically far-fetched. These varying perspectives are what can make a film likeWindtalkersworth rewatching and discussing decades after its release.
Our Take On Windtalkers
The 2002 Movie Was An Important Step Forward
Windtalkerswas released before the stories of Indigenous Americans were being told as frequently in mainstream films. It deserves credit for helping to educate audiences about the Navajo code talkers and the essential role they played inWorld War II. IfWindtalkerswere made today, Beach’s character would ideally be the protagonist instead of Cage’s character to make it more about the Navajo code talkers than the action. What is most important, though, is howWindtalkersmade the Navajo code talkers' story more well-known and communicated the nature of their priceless contributions.
Windtalkers
Cast
Windtalkers is a war film directed by John Woo, featuring Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach. Set during World War II, the film explores the use of Navajo code talkers by the US military to transmit secure messages. Cage plays a battle-weary Marine assigned to protect Beach’s character, a Navajo code talker, highlighting themes of bravery, loyalty, and cultural identity amidst the chaos of war.
