Master director and occasional Star Wars villain Werner Herzog filmed the true story of Dieter Dengler in Rescue Dawn torturous captivity during the Vietnam War caused a stir. Extreme actor Christian Bale played the main role in the war film, which was released in 2006.
Christian Bale went through hell for the real story
Rescue Dawn is set in 1965 during the Vietnam War. The German-American pilot Dieter Dengler (Christian Bale) is shot down during a bombing mission over the territory of Laos. First he is taken prisoner by the communist liberation army Pathet Lao. Then he will turn on Vietcong prison camp where he meets other Americans who are being held under the most difficult conditions (including Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies). Hunger, disease and violence are the order of the day. The Americans plan their escape together.
Sony
Rescue Dawn
With Rescue Dawn, Herzog adapted his own 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly as a feature film. To take on the role of Dieter Dengler, Christian Bale had to lose some of the weight he gained for Batman Begins. According to The New Yorker, the actor lost around 25 kilograms in advance to play the emaciated Dengler. Since it is easier to gain weight, The film was then shot in reverse order: At the beginning of the shooting schedule there was Dengler, who was emaciated due to his long captivity, and at the end there was the pilot about to shoot down his plane.
Furthermore, according to his own statements to Collider, Bale ate real maggots and fought with live snakes. Werner Herzog described his impression of Bale to Esquire in 2014 like this (via EOnline):
He’s the hardest working, most professional person you could ever work with. Here’s how to watch Rescue Dawn
Rescue Dawn is coming to Arte today, November 29th from 8:15 p.m, so it is broadcast ad-free. There is no repeat. You can currently stream the film with a subscription to Magenta TV or AXN Black.
Afterwards you can watch the documentary Werner Herzog: Radical Dreams, Herzog’s horror story Nosferatu: Phantom of the Night and the tragicomedy Stroszek on Arte.