When I was a school boy there were a series of classic British WW2 non-fiction books in the library; "Carve Her Name With Pride" was one example, as was "The Wooden Horse". However the most engaging writer of these types of books was Paul Brickhill (who was actually Australian) and one of his best books was "Reach for the Sky", the story of legless ace fighter pilot Douglas Bader. The compelling story of how Bader went from being a somewhat wayward pilot in the pre-war RAF, through an accident which resulted in the amputation of both legs, then his efforts to surpass his disability leading to shooting down over 20 German aircraft followed by his capture and subsequent escape attempts lent itself perfectly to film. And in the Lewis Gilbert directed film of the book Kenneth More gave one of his best performances, which when combined with the surprisingly good special effects and solid story development makes this movie one of my all time favourites. The black and white cinematography isn't a disadvantage nor is the undoubtedly simplistic and perhaps jingoistic (by today's standards) characterisations of the war and its combatants. There is an earthy, believable uprightness that marks "Reach for the Sky" as a movie and as a war film it doesn't take any significant political or artistic stance. Paul Brickhill's interpretation of Douglas Bader is given life in the film of "Reach for the Sky", and even if it doesn't accurately reflect the real man, as depicting a man strong in character fighting the good fight it is easily one of the most enjoyable war films I've ever seen.
9. Glory (1989)
When it comes to American Civil War films it can be hard for an Australian, or indeed anyone without at least a mild interest in American history to come to grips with what is depicted. "Gettysburg" (which has been referred to in an earlier blog) is an example of this approach to the Civil War film, consisting of Confederates and Federals fighting each other across great swathes of cinematic territory. Then there's the likes of "Red Badge of Courage" which is highly personal and in some ways doesn't have to be a film about the Civil War. However with "Glory", the movie which shows black Americans neither as slaves or as victims but as soldiers fighting for their own honour, their own destiny, anyone can feel the power or indulge in a little historical examination on the big screen. The major battle scenes that bookend the bulk of the movie are wonderfully shot (and with no doubt a debt to the re-enactors who love simulating Civil War combat), giving the viewer visceral yet disconnecting visions (which is how I suspect real battle must feel at times). There isn't just rifles being fired or artillery shells exploding however, there is also some vivid character exposition. Matthew Broderick is wonderful as the white Colonel in commanding the 54th Massachusetts, with able acting support from Cary Elwes and John Finn. Morgan Freeman is magisterial as the steadfast Sgt Major Rawlins, with Denzel Washington adding a distinctive combativeness to his role as Trip. In "Glory" there is the physical battle between the soldiers of the two warring sides, but there also other just as important conflicts. Some are intensely personal (such as Shaw trying to fight his own fear of command and of battle), others political or racial. There are some conventional moments (e.g. the training sequences where the black recruits are bonded to their white commanders) and some mythologising that many a war film engages in when telling stories about historical figures. yet when all is said and done watching "Glory" is a powerful experience with few equals in the modern war film genre.
8. Breaker Morant (1980)
The courtroom drama and the war film meet in powerful elegance thanks to the work of Bruce Beresford and the cast of the Australian film "Breaker Morant", which is possibly the only film to really tackle the Boer War with any degree of financial as well as critical success. Filmed in South Australia as the renaissance of Australian cinema was rising beyond its early 70s roots, "Breaker Morant" has all the importance of later more expansive films (e.g. "Gallipoli", "Blood Oath") in developing the theme of Australians being sacrificed for Imperial a.k.a. British needs). The cast reads of like a who's who of Aussie film stars of the 70s and 80s, with Edward Woodward's cynical portrayal of the Breaker the sole stand out of a Pom playing against the British command. Bryan Brown is quintessentially Australian as Peter Hancock, whilst Jack Thompson gives a sterling performance as the doomed-to-fail defence officer Major Thomas. There's very little combat and this actually gives a degree of historical verisimilitude to how "Breaker Morant" depicts the final years of the Boer War. And as the trailer below shows this could be seen as a metaphor for the Vietnam War. No matter the deeper meanings (nor the actual guilt which lay at the heart of Morant and Handcock's executions); this is a compelling war drama which uses a trial as a focal story point whilst giving us an Australian classic.
7. The Odd Angry Shot (1979)
Another Australian war film from the first decade or so of our local industry's revival, "The Odd Angry Shot" is unique in that it has been the only movie to look at the Australian soldier's experience of Vietnam. Focusing on a small unit of SAS troops (partly because of the original book's story, partly due to budget limitations) "The Odd Angry Shot" has in some ways more to say about disillusionment felt by those who were sent to Vietnam, whilst using some broad jokes to raise a smile while you watch. The big surprise is Graham Kennedy; for a TV tonight show presenter the expectation would be that of a wooden and unnatural performance. Instead his character of Harry is quite realistic, insofar as showing how the older Aussie NCO mixes experience, mateship and humour to join with his men in enduring hardship. The supporting cast (John Jarrett, Bryan Brown, John Hargreaves, Graeme Blundell) are all solid and as part of Australian cinema's leading acting community of the 70s and 80s this film was important for their development. The combat sequences are small unit based, and with minimal support in the props and special effects departments they actually resemble what I would consider realistic interpretations of infantry fighting for a section or squad in Vietnam. There's some moments which have a more serious and political undertone, but ultimately this is a film about Australian diggers in a war no one really wanted to be in.
6. The Dirty Dozen (1967)
This example of the star-studded Hollywood action film from the 1960s still ranks as one of the best war films ever, even though its historical accuracy is negligible and the actual combat sequences are restricted to what could be called a massacre in the final quarter of the movie. However "The Dirty Dozen" has all the hallmarks of defining how we watch a war film. There are the training scenes invariably involving conflict between the men and their superiors. There is the squad made up of individuals all representative of a type (the black American, the psychotic, the unit clown, the rebel etc etc). There's the central plot device of a specially picked squad being sent on what could be considered a suicide mission. And finally when the dust settles only some of the film's heroes survive. Lee Marvin is the obvious stand out as Major Reisman but in all honesty the whole ensemble of actors present are worthy of praise. John Cassavetes was a much under-rated performer and it is in this film he really shines. Charles Bronson, Richard Jaeckl, Donald Sutherland, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas, Jim Brown, Clint Walker, George Kennedy, Ernest Borgnine...it's a fantastic cast making one hell of a full-on war film come alive. War may indeed be hell, but with "The Dirty Dozen" it is shown by the movie's producers to also be intensely exciting. A staple of all my years watching war films "The Dirty Dozen" takes a lot to be surpassed (more on that point later).
5. Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
This is a movie that almost defies belief. How could the same actor who performed in films such as "Where Eagles Dare", "Heartbreak Ridge" and "Kelly's Heroes" be the same man who directed this Japanese language film within the Hollywood movie industry? How can anyone from a country who's soldiers fought and were brutalised by the Japanese find sympathy for the characters Clint Eastwood shows us in "Letters from Iwo Jima"? And yet on both counts this amazing film achieves these seemingly impossible goals. For someone like me brought up on the stories and histories of Aussie servicemen and women tortured or murdered in too many places in the Pacific theatre during WW2, becoming empathic to the Japanese soldiers who resisted the Marines who landed on Iwo Jima is an incredible leap and I honestly couldn't do it with anything but a superlative film such as this. "Letters from Iwo Jima" is arguably the most important war film to come out of the US in at least 10 years; this isn't an apology for what the Japanese did nor a paean to the amazing efforts the Americans made to defeat their opponents. "Letters..." is a moving exploration of how war destroys good and bad, reduces all its antagonists to pawns without any control over their destiny, leaving nothing but survivors, victims and memories. A truly magnificent film.
4. Patton (1970)
If ever a war movie can be reduced to one role, one actor and one story then this is it. "Patton" is a modern film parallel to ancient heroic epics like the Aeneid. George C Scott's simply overwhelming performance of the super-egotistical General George S Patton III is responsible for myth-creation above and beyond what the man himself did as he led American troops against German and Italian armies in World War Two. No other American soldier has even been celebrated on the big screen as vividly or as powerfully as Patton is in this eponymous film, and in fact I would argue he is the only 'superstar' General to emerge in cinema history. Scott's incredible acting leaves the viewer both in awe at what may have been the real man's talents whilst at the same time aware of the tragic flaw that was also Patton's strength (i.e. his overweening self-belief). Now it may be we aren't watching a film with historical verisimilitude as its focal point and that'd be a fair critique if you want to watch "Patton" for that quality. The real Patton was not the booming giant but instead a smaller man with a shrill voice. The battle sequences are marred by the stand-in tanks of the Spanish army and as referred to elsewhere the famous opening monologue delivered by Scott as Patton never happened. No matter; this is the war film as national epic and as personal tragedy and without a doubt one of my all time favourites.
3. Das Boot (1981)
I'll admit to having a fascination for the German perspective of World War Two and this isn't limited to historical analysis or watching TV documentaries. German film during the war was a servant of the Nazi state and as the defeated Germans have had to come to terms since 1945 with their collective war guilt they have also had to interpret the experience in film. Therefore it was not easy for the Germans to make a film about their war experience which could actually look at their soldiers, sailors or airmen with at least a partially positive eye. In "Das Boot", possibly the greatest German film since 1945 and definitely the best submarine movie ever made Wolfgang Petersen achieves a remarkable goal. You don't hate these Germans, you can't call them all Nazis with blood on their hands. These are men just like their opponents in RN destroyers, tasked with an unforgiving job under the most trying of conditions, relying on themselves, their submarine and their comradeship to endure. Visually claustrophobic with all the tension of a thriller the actual combat scenes are limited in "Das Boot". You get plenty of character exposition (and would obviously have more if seeing the original Bavarian mini series) and when I've watched "Das Boot" both in the cinema and on TV it always feels like you are just as cramped and just as grimy as the crew. I wouldn't say you could find all the characters 'good' or likeable, but they are well-rounded and not reduced to the same kinds of caricature that some films reduce German combatants to. The staccato rhythm of intense action, boredom, silent stress and voluble terror makes "Das Boot" a war film one endures, not enjoys.
2. Platoon (1986)
Without threat of contradiction "Platoon" will always be the supreme Vietnam War film. Unlike its more grandiose predecessor "Apocalypse Now" which takes a highly literate, almost surreal approach to the quagmire that was Vietnam for the US, "Platoon" looks at the men who fought the war filtered through the very individualistic eyes of Vietnam vet Oliver Stone. There are elements in this movie which at the time made it unique, whether it be the depiction of class and race war within the soldier's own ranks, cowardice and brutality, heroism and stupidity, or even the powerfully appropriate soundtrack. Nowadays any war film looking at Vietnam has to include these and other aspects from "Platoon" to give it credibility. But Stone's masterpiece set the agenda and established a remarkable precedent for all war films since 1986. The metaphors at the heart of the movie (including the dual father figures for young Chris of Sergeants Barnes and Elias) are affecting without being over-intellectual, whilst at the same time the combat scenes are presented with all the visceral energy and power that is to be expected with M-16s, claymores, napalm strikes and booby traps erupting left right and centre. When I saw "Platoon" for the first time it left me speechless, and whilst I have recovered my wits a long time ago since then I still rate this movie as an amazingly great war film.
1. The Dam Busters (1955)
After considering the preceding 29 films (plus literally dozens more which didn't make the cut) I've even surprised myself that when all is said and done a black and white British film from 1955 is still my favourite war film. "The Dam Busters" is (like the aforementioned "Reach for the Sky") a movie adapted from a Paul Brickhill book detailing the exploits of a WW2 British hero (in this case more a pair of heroes in the characters of Barnes Wallis and Guy Gibson). There is minimal flash or excitement offered by the film (it could be said that "The Dam Busters" is less of a war film and more a tale of engineering punctuated by a bombing raid). But this dilutes the dramatic strength of the movie. The whole structure of "The Dam Busters" is predicated by the concept that an amazing weapon designed by an amazing man and then used by amazing airmen will help defeat a foe who cannot be destroyed by ordinary means, thus making almost every aspect of the film and its story and characters heroic. Unlike "Patton" which used full colour Hollywood glamour to idolise one man "The Dam Busters" relied on plot, a true story and actors who were believable to make their subject worthy of respect and honour. Admittedly the morality of bombing dams to flood factories and the attendant civilian workers is murky at best, but that's not where our attention should be in this film. Watching this movie you feel enthralled by the exploits of 617 squadron, flying at 60 ft carrying their bouncing bombs, delivering them in their sometimes real, sometimes model Avro Lancasters. I film of its era which I love now perhaps partly against what is acceptable or common place now in war films, "The Dam Busters" receives pride of place because it is a simple compelling war story told with force, economy, intelligence and respect for heroic values...things sometimes cheapened or indeed lost nowadays.PS: An Extremely Honourable Mention - Inglourious Basterds (2009)
I won't go into chapter and verse on how much I love Quentin Tarantino's spaghetti western fable about occupied France and a group of Jewish American guerillas killing Nazis...let's just say if this blog and list had started after I saw "Inglourious Basterds" it would have eaisly gone into my top 10 and maybe even top 3. However for now let me state that with this war film Tarantino has both used and exploded almost every cliche and element of a great war film, turning in one of the most idiosyncratic, most enjoyable war films I have ever seen. A masterstroke!
0 comments:
Post a Comment