Greatest WW2 Film?

[The Octagon]

Ahem, the story of the Heroes Of Telemark isn't actually fictional.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_heavy_water_sabotage

I knew someone would do that^^^^

I meant 'fictional', as in portrayed by actors, but I can see where the confusion lies

 

[butchersapron]

I think Ive seen this - the kid gets taken in as a nazi?

Nah, no Nazis in this one. I think i know the film you're on about though.

 

[butchersapron]

Fo docs, The Sorrow and the Pity - Marcel Ophüls's utter destuction of the myth of the French Resistance, also banned in France.

 

[butchersapron]

How could i forget!! The best WW2 film is, of course, Army of Shadows

 

[ska invita]

In terms of the sheer horror of concentration camps, Alain Resnais' 'Nuit et brouillard' (Night & Fog), from 1955, is the most harrowing documentary I've ever seen. Watched it as part of a media class and 2 girls threw up, while several others couldn't stay to the end.

Sounds incredible - and at 30mins long i'll definitely check this. There's an interesting article in the current issue of (hawk*spit) Vice magazine - wouldnt normally give it the time of day but its a film special - which talks about the current crop of documentaries, and the lack of art that goes into them. (article is here: http://www.viceland.com/int/v16n9/htdocs/documentary-crisis-125.php ). I think there's some truth in that - im guessing docs like this one help make the case

 

[Idris2002]

Fo docs, The Sorrow and the Pity - Marcel Ophüls's utter destuction of the myth of the French Resistance, also banned in France.

Excuse me!

 

[butchersapron]

Sorry Idris, posts were coming too quick then.

 

[Idris2002]

I forgive you my son. Three hail marys and four cold baths.

There's a gap in the market for a new 'Battle of Britain' movie using modern effects.

So long as Shane Ritchie doesn't direct it, it could be good.

 

[QueenOfGoths]

I saw a thing about holocaust documentaries and it mentioned what I think may have been a US serialised production - I think 70s - the bit that stood out was where they got 100+ emaciated extras to stand naked by mass open graves, getting shot and piling on top of one another. Anyone know what that's called? Looked gritty as...

That may have been from a TV series called 'Holocaust', which was supposed to be a breakthrough in the depiction of the Shoah.

I can't rate Schindler's List at all I'm afraid. Stanley Kubrick got it right: 'The Holocaust is about Six Million people who were murdered, Schindler's List is about a hundred people who escaped'.

The human mind can't take too much reality, I suppose.

Oh, and I'd say the Third Man counts as a WW2 film, it's set in a city under Allied occupation.

Yes - Holocaust. I remember watching it and it made quite an impression. Very harrowing in parts.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust_(TV_miniseries)

A Bridge Too Far would be my choice. Also "Empire of the Sun" because I think in that Spielberg captures a child's view of war

 

[Bakunin]

Another vote for the legendary 'Cross Of Iron' here.

Although the scene where a German soldier gets his cock bitten off is a little hard to stomach, I must admit.

 

[Fedayn]

How could i forget!! The best WW2 film is, of course, Army of Shadows

I was waiting for you to say that....

 

[El Jefe]

ashamed to say I've never seen Army of Shadows, so I'm downloading it now

 

[Chester Copperpot]

For pure Tiger Tank action it's gotta be 'Battle of the Bulge'.

 

[Drone Module]

Sorrow and the Pity and The Thin Red Line
and i forgot about Cross of Iron

 

[El Jefe]

shit, I forgot The Thin Red Line... astonishing movie

 

[Idris2002]

shit, I forgot The Thin Red Line... astonishing movie

I disagree entirely - an astonishing trailer, but a massive disappointment of a film where nothing happens, several times over.

 

[El Jefe]

I disagree entirely - an astonishing trailer, but a massive disappointment of a film where nothing happens, several times over.

which is surely part of the point? Most war movies have a build-up, a battle, some sort of conclusion / redemption. War wasn't like that. It was slog after slog after slog. I think TTRL captures that perfectly...

 

[The Octagon]

I disagree entirely - an astonishing trailer, but a massive disappointment of a film where nothing happens, several times over.

I have to agree with the above, I was massively disappointed by The Thin Red Line.

For starters they recast Rowan Atkinson and you hardly saw the police station at all.

 

[belboid]

well, other than the ones mentioned.....

Life & Death of Colonel Blimp is a masterpiece, albeit only partially about WW2. Small Back Room another classic about the war back home, bomb squad n all that.

Thirty Second Over Tokyo is a cracker, about the first US attack on Japan.

And one has to mention Mrs Miniver, daft propaganda, but dfarned well done.

And, of course, the superlative Went The Day Well - Thora Hird as a machine gun toting anti-nazi, magnificent.

 

[Fedayn]

And, of course, the superlative Went The Day Well - Thora Hird as a machine gun toting anti-nazi, magnificent.

Good call.

 

[Idris2002]

I have to agree with the above, I was massively disappointed by The Thin Red Line.

For starters they recast Rowan Atkinson and you hardly saw the police station at all.

You should be on the stage.


And there's one leaving in five minutes, pardner.

 

[Drone Module]

I have to agree with the above, I was massively disappointed by The Thin Red Line.

For starters they recast Rowan Atkinson and you hardly saw the police station at all.

HAHAHAHA


no, its a great film... yes, not very much happens but as has been said thats the point... its more about the effect of war on 'the soul' and other such gubbins...

and given Terrence Mallick's massive Heideggarianism it isn't a stretch to call it an existential war film... it moves slow and deep for a reason, and wants to force you to pay attention, to have an 'authentic' response to the meaningless non-event of war...rather than bash one off to all the sexy explosions.

insofar as nothing happens, its also a film about everyday life in a world without any Messianic time.

 

[Idris2002]

HAHAHAHA


no, its a great film... yes, not very much happens but as has been said thats the point... its more about the effect of war on 'the soul' and other such gubbins...

and given Terrence Mallick's massive Heideggarianism it isn't a stretch to call it an existential war film... it moves slow and deep for a reason, and wants to force you to pay attention, to have an 'authentic' response to the meaningless non-event of war...rather than bash one off to all the sexy explosions.

insofar as nothing happens, its also a film about everyday life in a world without any Messianic time.

The only Heideggerian film I want to see is one where the Great Man himself is hanged, after which his body is thrown on a rubbish heap.

 

[Andy the Don]

For pure Tiger Tank action it's gotta be 'Battle of the Bulge'.

Apart from the fact that the tanks used in the film were American M-48 Pattons a tank from the 1950's.

 

[El Jefe]

The Big Red One...

 

[Bakunin]

The Big Red One...

Good call.

One of Samuel Fuller's finest, IIRC.

 

[camouflage]

What do you reckon passes as the best film about WW2? There are a lot, I know

I think Im going with Polish director Andrzej Wajda's Kanal (Sewer). Filmed not long after the war (a little over ten years later), it must have been even more shocking to audiences then than it is now. What I love about this film is that it barely shows any violence, yet manages to get across the full impact of the war. And on a small budget I reckon. Its all in the script, direction and performances.

Rosselini's Germany Year Zero, shot in '49 is pretty incredible, and well up there - though perhaps works more as a semi-documentary.
I think Schindlers List, for all its faults, is really important - I find it moving every time I watch it, and I think it has cemented the reality of the holocaust for a certain generation of movie watchers.

There's meant to be a really amazing Russian war film from possibly 1980's - I think butchers has mentioned it before - but I cant remember the name and havnt seen it.

The Bridge Too Far and Saving Private Ryan.

Stalingrad should have been much better but was a missed opportunity in my opinion.

 

[Andy the Don]

Another lesser known British classic from the Pacific theatre..

 

[rekil]

On the say so of amazon, I ordered two films about the resistance in Norway and Denmark, Max Manus and Flame And Citron. Both released last year and based on true events allegedly.

It looks like Die Brucke will be available soon. I've only seen bits of it.

 

[ViolentPanda]

On the say so of amazon, I ordered two films about the resistance in Norway and Denmark, Max Manus and Flame And Citron. Both released last year and based on true events allegedly.

It looks like Die Brucke will be available soon. I've only seen bits of it.

I've seen Flame and Citron. It's quite good, and highlights the tensions in resistance movements in occupied countries a bit better than has been done previously.