The Damned (2024) review

Italian Minervini (who did live and study in New York City) offers his take on one of the darkest times in American history, the Civil War: scouts from the Union Army are sent out on patrol, test their weapons, play poker and baseball and shoot at barely-visible Confederates in their way.  I'm typically a fan of outsiders offering their interpretation of my country's goings-on (this includes Tocqueville and Jean Baudrillard) but despite the crisp cinematography (by Carlos Alfonso Corral) it's more of visual exploration of the situation and not so much a valid examination of the psyches of the soldiers: they have some rather pointed "discussions" about God and destiny in the last third, but those feel shoehorned in.  What can be gleaned from this is that it was a cold, miserable and incredibly violent conflict (the opening shot is of wolves devouring a carcass), but anyone with even the vaguest familiarity of the Barely United States should already be aware of that.  (For an actual in-depth glance into his political viewpoints, read Roberto's article in Cinemascope, "From the Other Side: Exiled in T████land.")