Talking to the wind

In the battle for the Solomon Islands, Corporal Joe Enders (Nicolas Cage) commands a platoon holding positions in the jungle. One by one, all his soldiers die in battle with the Japanese. Having been seriously wounded and shell-shocked by a grenade, he goes to the hospital for a long time. There he manages to recover almost completely, only serious problems remain with his inner ear . He seeks to return to the army, and a sympathetic young nurse helps Joe pass a hearing test. Having discharged from the hospital, Enders receives the rank of sergeant and an important task is to protect the cryptographer, Navajo Indian Ben Yazi (Adam Beach) in battle. At the same time, Sergeant Oaks Anderson (Christian Slater), appointed bodyguard of another Indian - Charlie Whitehorz (Roger Willie), receives a similar task. The encryption code based on the Navajo language remains unsolved by the Japanese and should not be accessed by them under any circumstances, therefore Anders and Anderson have a secret order to kill their wards if there is a threat of their capture by the enemy.

Marines during the Marian operation landed on the island of Saipan under heavy enemy fire. Yazi and Whitehorse enter the battle for the first time and see death around them, and Yazi, faced with this, is not able to shoot at the enemy. From the captured bridgehead, the marines advance into the island. Their column falls under the " friendly fire " of their batteries, who believe that they are firing at Japanese positions. The radio of Yazi is broken, and he has no way to recall the artillery. Then he comes up with a daring plan - disguised in Japanese uniforms, to penetrate the Japanese trenches, grab their radio and send a message to their gunners. Together with him under the guise of a prisoner goes Anders, and their venture is completely successful. Yazi at the same time after hesitation kills the Japanese radio operator. He manages to adjust the artillery fire at the enemy’s position. After the battle, Anders is awarded the Silver Star for saving the lives of his soldiers, but he gives the medal to Private Pappas, so that he sends her to the wife of the friend who died in this battle.

Their unit occupies a Japanese village and sets up camp there. The ides are being recalled to headquarters, and at this time the enemy is attacking the village, Herrigan falls under the fire, one of the bullets fell into the flamethrower cylinder, and Herrigan caught fire, Anders shot him. Anderson dies, protecting Whitehorz, Anders, seeing that he is in the hands of the Japanese, throws a grenade and kills him. After repelling the attack, Yazi asks Anders where Whitehorse is, to which he replies that he killed him. Yazi, unaware of the secret order, attacks Anders and nearly kills him.

Shortly before the final capture of the island, their unit was sent to check the mountain range, which was supposed to be processed by artillery. Along the way, they fall into a minefield, they are attacked by the Japanese, and a Japanese battery is found at the prevailing height. Japanese guns hit the road along which the convoy of American troops is moving. The squad leader dies, and the leadership transfers to Anders. Yazy recklessly rushes to the attack, shoots and kills the Japanese. He loses the walkie-talkie, which is necessary to cause air support to destroy the enemy’s battery. Together with Anders, they, being wounded, return the radio and take cover from the fire. They are surrounded by the Japanese, and Yazi requires Enders to finish him off so that the code does not get to the enemy. But Anders refuses to shoot him, and, having shouldered him, still pulls him out to his own. Yazi calls the bombers that destroy the Japanese guns. Then he sees that Anders is dying, and tries to save him. Anders utters his last words that he did not want to kill Whitehorz. The film ends with Yazi returning to the United States carrying out his Navajo sacred ritual with his wife and son on top of the mountain to show respect for Anders.

• Initially, Steve Termas was selected for the role of Private Nelly, but due to the fact that, being a reservist, he was called up for military service for some time and could not act in film, the role was given to Martin Henderson.
• To give the film more authenticity, MGM Studios acquired several rare World War II radio stations from a private collector in Ohio .
• Weapon coordinator Robert Galotti collected more than 500 rare firearms from World War II, adding 700 rubber replicas that were previously used to shoot films. Also involved were real American tanks , Sherman and Stuart, and Japanese HaGo .
• The film was scheduled for release in autumn 2001, but the September 11 attacks forced the film studio to postpone the premiere for the summer of 2002. All posters and other advertising paraphernalia previously sent to cinemas were recalled, later becoming a valuable rarity among collectors.
• Immediately prior to filming, most of the actors involved in the film, along with 62 extras, underwent intensive weekly training at a training camp specially created for them. The producers secured the support of the Department of Defense , which allowed training to use their marine base, located on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands . There, under the guidance of a retired senior sergeant James Dever and instructors assigned to him from among the Marines serving, in addition to physical training, the actors learned the smallest details from the marine corps lifestyle.
• Initially, the character “Dentist” was present in the film, in one of the episodes he approached the body of the murdered man, and with the words “Go to daddy” he pulled out his golden teeth . However, according to the censor of the US armed forces, this behavior did not match the image of the paratrooper. Given that the army was actively helping to create the film, this scene had to be cut.

• Navajo cryptographers

• Talking to the Wind on the Internet Movie Database
• "Windtalkers" - Russian-language film site