Memorial Day just passed. This is an American holiday celebrated on the last Monday of May, and it honors the men and women of our armed forces who have died in the course of duty. Veterans’ Day, on the other hand, honors all of our veterans, living and dead, and is marked on November 11, the date of the Armistice of WWI. I have lots of relatives who served in the military, but I’m not aware of any who have died in any wars. For all I know I may have a relative who died in the 100 Years War (probably on the English side) or died fighting for Poland or Russia. Who knows. But in any case, it’s fitting that we review the topic of war once again, by way of appropriate movie reviews. I can’t review every movie, but I will pick my favorites and discuss the more well known films.
Civil War (1861-65). The US Civil War, that is; for the Spanish Civil War, there’s “For Whom The Bell Tolls” (with Gary Cooper), and for the Russian Civil War, there’s the interminable “Dr. Zhivago”. The US version is a popular setting for many films: “Birth of a Nation” and “Gone With The Wind” are probably the most famous, but my favorite is “Gettysburg”. It has an impressive cast of Jeff Daniels as Joshua Chamberlain, Tom Berenger as Longstreet (see above), and Martin Sheen as Robert E. Lee, and it’s only about what was arguably the most important battle of the war. So instead of the dull tedium of Stonewall Jackson rambling on about God and Jesus, or Lincoln stressed out about slavery and unruly Copperheads, or even brother against brother or slaves and the Underground Railroad, the war is truncated down to 3 days in July, 1863 in Pennsylvania.
Boer War (1899-1903). “Breaker Morant”. Enough said.
World War I (1914-18). Trenches, poison gas, biplanes, puttees, and lots of mud. “Private York” (another one with Gary Cooper) was dull as hell – only the last 25% was in France. “Wings” was an excellent 1927 silent film about the air war, followed up more recently (2006) with “Flyboys”. “Joyeux Noel” covers the Christmas Truce of 1914, and “A Very Long Engagement” is 1/3 mystery, 1/3 chick flick, and 1/3 WWI drama. “Gallipoli” has a young Mel Gibson as an Australian soldier fighting the Turks, “Lawrence of Arabia” has Peter O’Toole as the title character, and “Blue Max” has George Peppard as an ambitious German pilot.
But the best has to be “All Quiet On the Western Front”, the original 1931 version in black & white with Lew Ayres as Paul Baumer. Not only because it’s from the point of view of the Germans, but also it gives us a sense both of the heroism of the soldiers on both sides and the slaughter and pointlessness of it all. The B&W really adds to the idea that “this war happened a long time ago”.
“The Lost Battalion” is a close 2nd. Ricky Shroeder plays a US officer in a unit of New York misfits surrounded by Germans. A German lieutenant complains about the Americans, “They don’t retreat when they’re supposed to!” His superior cooly replies, “how inconsiderate of them.”
World War II (1939-1945). I’ll divide this into Europe (enemy: Nazi Germany) and the Pacific (enemy: Imperial Japan). While there is no lack of WWII films set in Europe – “The Longest Day”, “Kelly’s Heroes”, “Where Eagles Dare”, “The Dirty Dozen”, “The Big Red One”, “The Eagle Has Landed”, “Downfall”, etc., I like “Saving Private Ryan” the most. Spielberg definitely kicked it up a notch. The problem with most WWII films is that, as history buffs, we already know the Allies won and the Germans lost, so there is little drama amidst the so-called action. The Germans may kill off a few Americans or British, but we know they’ll lose. Here, however, Tom Hanks, Matt Damon (no Ben Affleck), and the rest of the gang are clearly in danger of being overrun by crack Waffen SS units. I like how Spielberg puts the good guys at a temporary tactical disadvantage to dial the drama and excitement up to 11. My heart was pounding when I saw this in the movie theater, even when I watch it at home and know what’s going to happen. Nothing like that occurs in “The Longest Day”, which had previously been the top D-Day movie.
An honorable mention should go to “To Hell And Back”, which was the story of Audie Murphy, the most highly decorated US soldier of WWII. He actually played himself in the film, which is why it seems far more realistic than most other films. And we have to give “The Guns of Navarone” credit as a classic as well.
“Enemy At The Gates” is a rare treat: Eastern Front action, in Stalingrad. Jude Law plays a Russian sniper, Rachel Weisz his beloved (Red Army babe), and Ed Harris plays the German sniper who is his nemesis amidst the carnage and rubble of the city. We even have Bob Hoskins as Krushchev. The book, however, was much better.
For the Pacific, there are options: “Tora! Tora! Tora!” views Pearl Harbor half from the Japanese perspective. “Guadalcanal Diary”, “The Sands of Iwo Jima”, “Flying Tigers” (John Wayne film about the American Volunteer Group, better known as the “Flying Tigers”), and “The Thin Red Line”, which I really hated. While Spielberg did make “The Pacific” miniseries to mirror “Band of Brothers”, he made no Pacific equivalent of “Saving Private Ryan”. Clint Eastwood did “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima”, a pair of films which complement each other, dovetailing the two stories. The first takes the perspective of the Americans, with particular emphasis on the bond-selling tour of the flag-raisers; the second takes the view of the Japanese – and Eastwood manages to be sympathetic without dividing his loyalties equally.
“Fires on the Plain” is an excellent Japanese film. I see that most Japanese movies about WWII tend to focus on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, i.e. “woe is us, those damn Americans wiped out two whole innocent cities!” This movie is somewhat less apologetic. The story is about Japanese soldiers isolated in the Philippines, starving and outmatched by Americans. The soldiers are young and not particularly interested in blowing themselves up or committing seppuku; they’d rather surrender to the apparently invincible and well-fed Americans and at least finally get something to eat.
Korea (1950-53). Actually, the war is still going on, as what stopped the war in 1953 was a cease-fire. “M*A*S*H” was funny, but had no combat in it. “Tae Guk Gi” is my favorite. This movie (in Korean with English subtitles) is about two South Korean brothers; the older joined the ROK army to look after his younger brother, who had been drafted – but when he gets home and finds his fiance has been executed by South Korean forces for allegedly “collaborating” with the Reds while their village was occupied by the North Koreans, he goes nuts and switches sides, becoming a maniacal leader of an elite North Korean unit (above lower left). The movie is filmed with the same direction technique as “Saving Private Ryan” – that intense, confused, style which made “SPR” so remarkable and exciting.
Vietnam. “Dead Presidents”, “Casualties of War”, “Forrest Gump”, and “Good Morning Vietnam”, are a few of them. “Go Tell The Spartans” takes place earlier, before the US sent ground troops. ‘We Were Soldiers” comes right on its tail, 1965. “Deer Hunter” has to be the worst Vietnam War movie I’ve seen: too much “wedding and hunting in Pennsylvania” and not enough “combat in Vietnam”, and no – Christopher Walken playing Russian Roulette doesn’t count as combat. My favorite is “Platoon”. What I don’t like about “Apocalypse Now” was that it wasn’t a typical combat film. It was more of a clever adaptation of Heart of Darkness to Vietnam than an attempt to show us what the war was like, or about. “Captain Willard” from “A-Now”, Martin Sheen’s son Charlie (“winning!”) was excellent in “Platoon”, as were Willem Dafoe as Sgt. Elias and Tom Berenger as Sgt Barnes. Even John C. McGinley (“are you a fan of Michael Bolton? I worship the man!”) is in here. “Hamburger Hill” I thought was too much...(A) racial tension? CHECK!, (B) Vietnamese prostitutes? CHECK!, (C) unpopular officers? CHECK!
“Full Metal Jacket” gets my #2 vote. The dialogue alone is fantastic.
“Me so horny, love you long time!”
“Too beaucoup! Too beaucoup!”
“WHAT IS YOUR MAJOR MALFUNCTION??” and
“It’s a huge shit sandwich, and we’re all going to have to take a bite.” “Does this mean Ann-Margret’s NOT coming?”
And I’ll wrap up with three: Grenada (“Heartbreak Ridge”), Desert Storm (“Three Kings”) and Iraq War (“Hurt Locker”).
No comments:
Post a Comment