THE THIN RED LINE - The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray)

Written by Musgo Del Jefe

There's something to be said about be prolific. Take Alfred Hitchcock's work for example - there are runs of three-four films over a two- to three-year span that are so brilliant that you are willing to forgive the clunkers like Torn Curtain. But there's also something rare and amazing about the director that picks his pieces carefully. Terence Malick hit the ground running in 1973 with Badlands. The well-received film set in South Dakota and middle America in the 1950s starring Martin Sheen and Sissy Spacek has gained in respect since its release. His second film came five years later in 1978, Days Of Heaven - it was another period piece (set in 1916) in the Texas panhandle starring Richard Gere and Brooke Adams. In those five years, Malick found it easier to tell the story he imagined with less dialog and let the cinematography tell a rich story - pulling inspiration from the paintings of Edward Hopper. Malick took a mere twenty-year break before releasing his next film, The Thin Red Line in 1998 - a World War Two film based on a book by James Jones. Musgo has the pleasure of sitting down with the new Criterion Collection release of the movie on Blu-ray and taking another look at a rare work from one of his cinematic heroes.

Twenty years is a long time between films. There was plenty of time for Malick to think about life and death and moviemaking. The war film of this period in cinema was approaching the end of a arc started by Apocalypse Now to start the 1980s, peaking with Platoon in the mid-'80s and seemingly ending with the triumph of Saving Private Ryan earlier in 1998. These movies increasingly were getting away from telling the stories of the soldiers and were leaning more towards letting the war itself be the story. Malick would use the techniques he had in his previous two films to tell a story that was much more about human beings and life than about soldiers and war.

In a literal sense, the movie tells the story of Company C during the battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific during World War II. Like other movies of the genre, war films require a rather large ensemble cast and this film is no different. There are so many actors that lined up to work with Malick that he couldn't even fit all of them into the final cut. Ones that made the cut include Sean Penn, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Adrien Brody and John Travolta. Those left on the cutting room floor include Gary Oldman, Mickey Rourke, Martin Sheen and Billy Bob Thornton. But this film isn't about military tactics or finding lost soldiers - this movie is set to shed light on higher philosophical ideals of nature and humanity.

The film starts with a shot of an alligator slipping into a swamp - blending into its surroundings like a perfect predator. It's the same way that the jungle and later the long grass of the mountains will swallow the soldiers. Nature will be a main focus of the film. This film looks wonderful on Blu-ray - the idyllic shots of long green grass against improbably blue skies jump off the screen. Nature is dangerous - there are snakes and bats and predators throughout the film, but they don't interact with the soldiers. This illustrates Malick's philosophical style. He raises questions without really delivering any answers. For some it's frustrating - for others this makes perfect sense. Is Nature evil? Is Man more evil? Or are we powerless against the force of Nature? These are all valid questions to Malick.

The other important element of The Thin Red Line is in its unique use of narration. The film is more narration than actual dialog, I believe. The narration isn't a plot device to summarize the battle, fill in story details or even to explain what we are seeing onscreen. The narration is more a combination of internal monologue as if we are watching a Shakespeare play. Or it's akin to journal entries being read while we see scenes that inspired the words.

"What is this great evil? How did it steal into the world? From what seed, what root did it spring? Who's doing this? Who's killing us? Robbing us of light and life? Mocking us with the sight of what we might have known?"

Almost all of the actors have narration. And there are many points where the voices blur together and it's almost impossible to keep track of who's words we are hearing. That creates the feeling of an "everyman" narrating the film - that what is being observed is more of a universal experience. As the Company overwhelms a Japanese encampment, the narration raises questions. But allows the viewer to ponder the answer. "What is this great evil?" That's not directed specifically at the enemy. As soldiers shoot each other, the lines are blurred. Have we become evil? And how did it happen? Most other war films have not found a way to ask these questions.

The sound design is amazing. In the essay that accompanies the disc, it is mentioned that Malick suggests you watch the film at a loud volume (it also appears in subtitles at the beginning of the disc!). I wholeheartedly agree. There is way too much going on that you would miss at normal volume levels. The island is alive with sound - natural and man made. Malick manipulates sound to establish themes and tones. Unlike a movie like Saving Private Ryan - the battles aren't a cacophony of sound. While there are some traditionally filmed battle scenes - they aren't presented in ways that you have seen them. Malick uses isolated sounds and Hans Zimmer's soaring score to emphasize emotions over action. The battles to take a machine-gun nest on the hill don't become about taking the hill - they are about loss and futility - underscored by the swelling music and the sporadic narration.

The movie is summed up for me in a pivotal scene about halfway through the almost three hours between Lt. Tall (Nick Nolte) and Captain Staros (Elias Koteas). Lt. Tall has been passed over for many promotions and he's looking to make a name for himself in this battle. Lt. Tall is not "tall" in any way - he is the shallowest man on the island - oblivious to anything but his own needs. At one point, Tall orders Staros to take the hill with a frontal assault. The orders are being relayed to him over a battlefield phone. Staros and his men are pinned down by enemy fire. Staros refuses to obey the order. The argument between the two that ensues is brilliant. As we cut back and forth - Nolte is a raging volcano - shaking with anger as he orders Staros to attack. Staros responds in a calm, reasoning manner. There are tense moments of silence as the viewer takes in the scene waiting for the next response. Lt. Tall allows Staros a reprieve as he comes up to the frontline. By the time he arrives - the situation has calmed down and there appears to be no reason that Staros couldn't have attacked. Ultimately, I see the futility of the war in this argument. Neither man wins - Tall doesn't get his shining moment and Staros eventually gets relieved of his command. Emotion and reason both lose.

In the years since the movie's release, there seems to be a renewed interest in the War in the Pacific. Ken Burn's The War focused equally on the war in both theaters - including extended attention to Guadalcanal. And the HBO series The Pacific did a great job of capturing a bit of the thematic threads of the Malick film. It was certainly informed by some of the filming decisions he made here. But this movie could easily be about any war - it aims much deeper.

While Malick is influenced by many sources - in the twenty years between films, you get the feeling he was absorbing all kinds of art that would add depth to his cinematic voice - there is a big nod to The Heart Of Darkness. It's not the Apocalypse Now take on the piece though. The title itself refers to the thin line between sanity and madness. It is truly an ensemble cast but our journey begins and ends with Private Witt played by Jim Caviezal (oddly as a very Christ-like character). We start the film in the bright idyllic Eden-like world with him among the natives. He travels through the film into the jungle and darkness. We end the film with Pvt. Witt peacefully learning to accept death as he sacrifices himself for his men. Sean Penn's character, Sgt. Welsh wonders what difference one man can make. That question lingers as the troops pull away from the island.

"Where is it that we were together? Who were you that I lived with? The brother. The friend. Darkness, light. Strife and love. Are they the workings of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh, my soul. Let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made. All things shining."

The video is presented with a 1080p/MPEG-4 AVC encoded transfer at an aspect ratio of 2.34:1 and a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 audio track. The disc is loaded with extras including commentary from cinematographer John Toll and others from the crew. There's some great audition footage included. Plus, I'm a big fan of the newsreels of the battle of Guadalcanal. It puts the film in perspective that Malick probably didn't think would be important. An impressive movie that will prompt you on a philosophical level.

Among the Righteous: Lost Stories form the Holocaust in Arab Lands

Written by Fumo Verde

Once again PBS features a story with true soul and a deeper view into life. Robert Satloff is an American Jew who watched from his office building, not to far away, the attack on September 11th. In his mind it brought back a vivid memory of family members who suffered in the death camps throughout Europe during the reign of terror brought by the Nazis. This brought up the question which he thinks may be a key in Arab-Israeli conflict going on now and it goes back to the Holocaust.

Satloff sees three types of attitudes when it comes to the Arab people and the Holocaust: either they completely deny it, they say that Hitler didn't go far enough, or they feel that it is history and one can't change it so let's move on. But what if, during those dark years, some Arabs helped some Jews. This is Satloff's quest, to find at least one Arab who helped a Jew, for he feels if it were known, maybe it might start to change the minds of others who are less informed and only know what propaganda is pushed down their throats.

This one-hour DVD follows Satloff as he searches three continents to try to find those among the righteous--fellow humans who helped hide and keep safe other humans, of Jewish faith, from the brutal death camps.

Did any Arabs help their Jewish neighbors? Researching leads and following second-hand stories, Satloff comes to find out that though some Arabs assisted the Axis armies, others did not. Some Imams preached to their followers not to assist the Germans when they came to collect their Jewish countrymen.

One story told by Holocaust survivor Joesph Naccache, a Jew living in Tunis, is about how his neighbor, an Arab named Abdul Jalil, told Joe that if the Nazis came for them, that he should come to his house and hide. Satloff followed Joe's story and he came to the bathhouse owned by Si Abdul Jalil. Entering into the bathhouse, Satloff came into contact with the son of Mr. Jalil, who proudly boasted, "My father did not see Jews or Muslims or Christians, he only saw humans. Before the war, Jews and Muslims lived in peace and my father could not stand by as his neighbors taken away."

For over a thousands years Jews had lived and practiced their faith better in Muslim countries than in Christian, and Satloff is trying to find out why. He feels if he can show that Muslims helped Jews, than the denial of what happened during those dark days may lead to more open talks which may lead to some type of peace. What I've found out here is that people are people, and if one cares about their neighbors, then no matter what race or religion, humans will help other humans.

Article first published as DVD Review: Among the Righteous: Lost Stories form the Holocaust in Arab Lands on Blogcritics.

The Best of Battle (Vol. 1) by John Wagner, John Cooper, et al.

Written by Pirata Hermosa

A compilation of a number of the most popular British War Comics from 1975-1988 that were first published in Battle Picture Weekly and continued through its many incarnations. This collection contains stories from eighteen different comic strips set during WWII dealing with many issues and perspectives on the war from both sides of the conflict.

Some of the stories are about indestructible leaders such as “D-Day Dawson,” who has a bullet near his heart and no fear of dying; “Major Eazy,” who is the ultimate example of cool under pressure and fights battles from the seat of his own car; “Darkie’s Mob,” a mysterious officer who is so badass that the Japanese flee at the utterance of his name.

A few of the stories are also shown from the German perspective, but with these soldiers they are trying to bring back honor to their name and prove themselves over false accusations. “Fighter from the Sky” is about a German paratrooper who has been stripped of his identity because his father tried to warn the people that Poland was about to be invaded. “Panzer G-Man” was falsely accused of being a coward when he tried to stop a deserter and was the only survivor in his battalion. Now he must fight as a grenadier who runs along beside the tanks as they fight the Russians.

While there are more than enough different comics to match many different tastes readers may have when they pick up this book, the sheer volume of them is ultimately what leads to its downfall.

With so many selections, each one only gets about four strips. This format is okay for some of the strips like “The Bootneck Boy,” where a young man tries to prove that he’s big enough and old enough to make it as a Royal Marine. His adventures are self-contained and can be enjoyed no matter what the length. You see his evolution from being turned down because of his size, to saving a ship from mines, and then he saves his men while taking over an airstrip.

In “Day of the Eagle,” the story is extremely compressed. Not only is Mike Nelson (The Eagle) given a mission to assassinate Hitler but only a few pages later he has made it all the way into Munich and has put a well-placed bullet between the Fuhrer’s eyes. Before you can really get into the story, it’s over.

But the worst example of how small snippets don’t work is “Hold Hill 19”. A group of 13 soldiers have to hold the hill against an onslaught of Germans. Each comic is one day of the fight. The story gets more and more intense as they fend off different enemy waves and end up losing several of their own men. And then, on Day 3 it stops, leaving you hanging. By far that was the most frustrating of them all. It was like watching a DVD and the disc stops playing right when you get to the end.

The two best comics are “Rat Pack and “Johnny Red.” “Rat Pack” is much like the film The Dirty Dozen where you have a group of convicts that escape from prison and are sent on various suicide missions. “Johnny Red” is about an undisciplined fighter pilot for the R.A.F. who gets demoted to the merchant marines. But when their fleet comes under attack he steals a Hurricane and shoots down the attackers. Afraid that he will get in trouble for stealing the plane, he flies into Russia and teams up with a ragtag group of Russian pilots.

Most of the stories are good, but overall it ends up feeling like a big tease. There’s an advertisement in the back for the Titan Books website where you can purchase some of the full collections. Unfortunately, after checking the website I was unable to locate any of them currently for sale, but some of them are scheduled for release later in the year.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

Written by Hombre Divertido

Quentin Tarantino once again displays his penchant for writing dialog. Unfortunately he also displays his inability to make edits.

In the generally slow-paced 153 minutes of Inglourious Basterds we are introduced, all too briefly, to Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt) who has put together a crack squad of Jewish American soldiers known as “the Basterds,” whose mission it is to terrorize the Third Reich in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. The Basterds are extremely efficient at what they do, though we only experience their skills in a few gore-filled scenes. Pitt’s character yields appreciative laughs in virtually every scene he is in, but we get little insight into the characteristics and personalities of the Basterds.

Instead of focusing on the truly intriguing Basterds, the film tends to bog down in the story of Shoshanna Dreyfus (Melanie Laurent), a young Jewish girl who escapes the capture of Col. Hans Landa (Christoph Waltz) and ends up running a theatre in France. Due to the affections of German war hero Fredrick Zoller for Dreyfus, said theatre is scheduled for the screening of a film about Zoller attended by every major Nazi officer. Dreyfus plans her revenge for the death of her family at the hands of the Nazis, while the Basterds also plan an assault on the theatre.

For the most part Tarantino’s dialog is entertaining, but the subtitles in many scenes slow down conversations already losing steam. The efforts to pull stories together as done in past outings seems extremely forced here, and there is simply too much focus on the story taking place at the theatre, which only leaves the audience longing for Raine and his Basterds.

Though Pitt’s character is entertaining, the best performance in the film is that of Christof Waltz as Landa, the German security officer who manages to create tension and comedy from one scene to the next as his character runs the gambit of levels. Performances by such comedic talents as Mike Myers and B. J. Novak tend to be wasted due to lack of use.

The project does manage to look and sound great as Tarantino creates a film that displays an authentic sense of the era, while adding music that energizes.

Recommendation: The unnecessary gore will turn many off as will the extremely long, subtitled, dialog-driven scenes. A simple action film focused on the Basterds a la The Dirty Dozen would have made for better summer fare.

DEFIANCE (2008)

Written by Pirata Hermosa

The first thing that jumped to mind after seeing Defiance was that it was not at all what I expected. Instead of an action-packed film about a man who ran an underground railroad during World War II, it ended up being more of a wilderness survival movie.

Four brothers find themselves on the run from the war when Germany invades their country and begins slaughtering the Jews. Tuvia Bielski (Daniel Craig) and his brother Zus (Live Schrieber) return to the family home to check on their parents and siblings. When they arrive, they find that everyone has been slaughtered with the exception of their two younger brothers Asael (Jamie Bell), and Aron (George MacKay).

Having nowhere else to go, the four head into the nearby forest where they have spent many hours over the years. But they aren’t the only ones who seek refuge in the forest. As more and more Jews flee persecution, they come to the Bielskis for safety. Slowly their group, or Otriad as it is called, begins to grow.

Tuvia finds that he cannot turn anyone away, while Zus wants to turn them all away. Not only is there not enough food for everyone, but Zus is more interested in taking out his revenge on the Germans and the Russians who sold out their family.

There are a few really good action scenes in the film, like when Tuvia goes to the home of the officer who killed his parents and returns the favor, and the ending battle with a tank.

Unfortunately, the action is few and far between. The rest of the film is mostly about building shelters, rationing food, and surviving illnesses. There are a few entertaining discussions between intellectual types as the Ortriad struggles to become a community. A few romances begin to develop, but they are based more on the need for survival than they are love. It is interesting to see how these people managed to survive several years and cope with adversity, but it plays out pretty dry. Even the lead character, Tuvia, is a little dull.

The one character that brings life and some measure of excitement to the film is Zus. He is bold, full of bravado, and steals every scene he is in. This same brashness causes some conflict between the two brothers and results in Zus leaving to join the Russian army. The Russian army is a ragtag group of fighters themselves, who will take anyone with a gun. They welcome Zus and the handful of men he brought with him, but end up treating them like second-class citizens because they are Jewish.

The overall feel and look of the film is excellent. Everything appears authentic, and the special effects are not overdone as they are in a lot of films. It has a gritty earthiness and is worth seeing because of its historical significance and the simple fact that the Bielskis manage to save 1,200 people. While this might make for a good television program on the History Channel, it just doesn’t quite have enough energy to make for a successful motion picture.

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

1. Directory Commentary by Edward Zwick.
2. "Return to the Forest: The Making of Defiance" features behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew.
3. "Children of the Otriad" -Tuvia and Zus’ children and grandchildren speak about the stories they heard and talk about what kind of men the Bielski brothers truly were. It’s nice to see what the real Bielskis looked like and what became of them after the war. The stories that the children tell are a nice addition to the DVD, and make their adventures seem even more important knowing that the 1,200 people they helped to survive now have 19,000 descendants.
4. "Bielski Partisan Survivors" - a short black-and-white montage of recent photographs of the surviving members of the Bielski Otriad, taken in November of 2008

THE REICH UNDERGROUND

Written by Fumo Verde

As heavy bombing from the allies started to hit the towns and cities of the Fatherland, German leaders came up with the idea of going underground with not only their ammunitions and supplies, but with entire factories. Director Michael Kloft gives us never-before-seen film footage of these tunnels and caves during their wartime-production heyday along with footage of what these facilities look like today. In these dark labyrinths where V-rockets were manufactured along with some of the world’s first jet planes, the audience gets to explore some of the deepest secrets the Nazis held.

Hitler and the German High Command were at first reluctant to put their production plants underground, but after the heavy and strategic air-bombing campaign carried on by the Allies, which really reeked havoc in the summer of ’43, Albert Speer was able to convince Nazi leaders into doing just that. Starting first by expanding mines that were already in use and utilizing the slave labor force they had gathered from their occupied territories, the Nazis were able to move entire war production plants deep under the earth. The Allies knew of about 300 by 1943, but German files bring the number to somewhere around 800 underground emplacements, which made bombs, planes, ball bearings, and other goods that fed the Nazi war machine. Some of the tunnels ran for miles, such as the one by the banks of the river Neckar in Baden-Wurttemberg. This place was used to also house NATO forces during the Cold War and is still in use today by the German government.

To see the massive size of some of these manmade caves really blew my mind. The labor that had to go into it was incredible and the poor souls who had to do it were there to work until they were dead. Even though these places were factories, making tools of war, they were also death camps of which a prisoner’s only way out was that final big sleep. All of these underground places were sealed up by the Americans and British but today the German government has opened some of the tunnels up to make sure they will not collapse in on themselves and destroy whatever may be above. This is how Kloft was able to go inside and give us a real picture of how big and how extensive the tunnels of the Nazis were. Even now, parts of these places are falling apart and it is up to the German government to decide on how to fix them or to destroy them altogether.

This is an interesting subject for those who are very involved in the history of WWII, but it never seemed to get up and go. It was like I was waiting with Geraldo and watching them open Capone’s vault all over again. Sure, some of the tunnels are in use, but we don’t get to see the inner workings of those places. This doc was one of those that is very interesting and has a lot of unknown facts, but it never really caught my attention. Admittedly, there was footage never seen before, but even this seemed to look the same as all the other Nazi atrocities I have watched over the years.

If The Reich Underground comes on the History Channel, then yes, I would watch it, but as for adding it to my already extensive WWII collection, I wouldn’t have bought it.

HITLER: A CAREER

Written by Fumo Verde

Hitler: A Career isn’t like any of the other documentaries I have seen about Hitler. There isn’t talk of megalomania or his fatalistic charm. They don’t call him a mad genius who came close to conquering the world. No, the narrator in this documentary calls him what he was, a rabble-rouser who knew how to use fear, brutality, lies, and propaganda to get what he wanted. He played to the people’s wants and desires by tapping into their feelings of self worth that had seemed all but lost after the German defeat in World War I.

Very well put together with some rare “early party” footage. The story gives Hitler’s basic background up to his battle experiences on the Western Front, but it mainly sticks to how he became leader of the German people. What I thought was done skillfully was the way this film dismantled one of his speeches, showing step by step how he would work the crowd. Timing with Hitler was everything and during his speeches he would use this to his advantage, along with body gestures and a specific pattern during the speech that would feed upon the energy and emotion of the frenzied crowd. The film follows him all the way to his demise showing everyone that this man wasn’t so smart and truly had no plans to save his people.

This films digs real deep into what Nazism is, showing the complexities and contradictions of not only the movement but the leader himself. It explores the man and reveals his inequities and lonesomeness that plagued him wherever he went. There is amazing archival footage of Hitler’s early days before he became Chancellor of Germany, when the Party was only a few thousand strong, to those final days in the bunker just before he committed suicide. Why and how the National Socialists rose so quickly can be attributed to Hitler as well as its fall. For we learn that as more and more Germans started to believe in him, the man himself started to believe the propaganda he created. After a few battle victories he helped organize, Hitler thought he had become a great warrior general, those who he dreamed of while listing to the symphonies of Wagner.

Great orators say powerful things. They don’t need to work the crowd so they can get the best response. This DVD brings to light why all those people seemed so in a trance when Hitler spoke and how he used timing and body language to seduce those around him and how he played upon their worst fears to make him look like the only savior on the horizon. Hitler: A Career is one of the best films I have seen that explains how and why so many followed a man who rallied around hate and terror.

THE WAR

Written by Fumo Verde

I have been a student of the Second World War for over twenty years. I have a mini-library with well over 200 books on the subject from top authors and military experts from around the world. When it comes to war movies and documentaries, I have seen them all—twice. The War beats them all. It sits above Hollywood’s idea of what war is, reaching beyond the Military Channel’s tactical strategies. This film by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick brings the courage, the pain, and the reality of what the Second World War was to those who lived through it on the home front and the battle line.

I won’t get into the complexities of why we fought, or what type of country we were before this great conflict began, and neither does Burns. He gives you the basic background, though his main focus is on the war itself and those who were in the thick of it. The stories come from the heart because the folks that were interviewed lived it. The war ran their lives morning, noon, and night. No matter young or old, the whole country took part, and that’s what this film shows.

This was total war, which meant that even the folks at home had to sacrifice too. Every American citizen participated in many different ways, whether it was buying war bonds or helping on a scrape metal drive or a rubber collection party. The American people rolled up their sleeves and pitched in. Women filled the workplaces making tanks, bullets, grenades, and bombers. Kids collected metal and rubber, which they brought in by the wagonload. Everyone was taking part; everyone felt that they were in the fight.

From the towns of Waterbury Connecticut; Sacramento, California; Luverne, Minnesota; and Mobile, Alabama the men and women of the Greatest Generation tell us their stories. At the time these four cities were unique, yet they still had that small-town American feel to them. Burns is quoted on the inside cover of this four-disc box set, “The Second World War was fought in thousands of places, too many for any one accounting. This is the story of four American towns and how their citizens experienced that War.” To try and cover the whole country would have been impossible, but by narrowing down the locations and people from these cites, Burns pieced together a story that spanned the entire reach of the war.

Keith David is the narrator while Josh Lucas, Samuel L. Jackson, Eli Wallach, and a host of others add voices to the letter writers who didn’t make it back home. Tom Hanks provides the voice for Al McIntosh, owner and editor of Luverne's Rock County Star Herald, whose inspiring editorials and down-to-earth common sense seem to ease the fears of his fellow citizens. All these fine actors did an outstanding job in relaying the feelings that were in these correspondences and newspapers; they brought to life the emotions of these fallen heroes.

Starting with the attack on Pearl Harbor, the film follows the progression of the war, but it’s not all battles with big guns going off. Between each fighting step of the campaign, Burns intercedes with a scene from home. Images give the viewer a break from the savage fury that is war. You will see many dead bodies and even many more wounded ones, but you cannot understand this story without visualizing the real cost of what war is.

One of the most stunning moments in this whole epic was the Time Magazine photo, the first of its kind mind you, of three dead Marines whose bodies were still stuck in the sand. These pictures showed the American people what was really at stake, what the “true” cost of freedom is. This image did not break the American spirit like some thought it would. Instead, it strengthened it, creating a fortitude to work harder and faster. If you really want to see what a nation looks like when it is united, this film will show you. This war defined our nation and the stories told here help to break down those definitions, by bringing a face to the words that are telling this history.

These faces have expressions such as Olga Ciarlo when speaking of her brother Babe. His letters home to his family, especially his widowed mother never reflected the life he was living on the front lines in places like Anzio. In one letter he tells his family he’s doing fine, and there is not much for him to do except eat and sleep. The savage and fierce fighting up the Italian peninsula conveys what is really happening as it becomes the backdrop for the letter being read aloud. To measure the degree of what Babe Ciarlo kept from his family, narrator David recants the numbers of dead and wounded at Anzio: 7,000 killed, 36,000 wounded or missing, and another 44,000 non-battle casualties from frost bite or shell shock. The dead bodies are disturbing, almost as disturbing as the wounded, and this is just a small glimpse of the big picture. The stories from both the home front and the battlefront weave a tale of fear, angst, anxiety, will, and determination that has been unrivaled since. Before the Second World War, we were still a developing country; after the war, we were a superpower.

From Wake Island, to the liberation of Dachau, to the dropping of the atom bomb, The War puts into prospective an era that changed the history of our people, our nation, and the world. The words from Churchill’s speech after the Battle of Britain holds as much truth now as it did then, and for the generation who fought and died in this war we owe at least a bit of thanks for what we have today for “…Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.”

If you love history or even want to understand what the big brouhaha is all about, see Ken Burns' The War. It will enlighten your mind about how our country used to be. Thanks to all veterans of foreign wars and those who serve our country now.

DAYS OF GLORY (INDIGENES)

Written by Fantasma el Rey & Fumo Verde

Days Of Glory adds a new chapter for many of us to the tale of World War II. It is centered on Arabs and French soldiers fighting for different reasons.

The basic plot of Days Of Glory is one we have seen before during many Sunday afternoons. Volunteers of an occupied territory (in this case North Africa) join the army to liberate their mother country (France) and fight against a greater evil (Nazi Germany). Our core group of heroes goes through the trials of being the new recruits and low men on the totem pole. They get their first taste of combat and face some sort of major battle or tragic loss (losing all but four men in a mine field) before the grand finale where they fight to the death to hold the position, down to the last man. All the while, the sergeant is a jerk who shows moments of feelings and heart for his troops.

What sets this film apart is its twist to this tale. Our heroes are Arabs, one of whom only has one hand, from Algeria and they fight with other “African Troops.” The prejudices they face are greater than merely being new recruits. They are seen as cannon fodder, for the most part, in the eyes of the regular French military leaders and soldiers. We are shown this in the first battle scene and can sense it throughout the film. The Arabs have to fight for respect and personnel liberties, proving that they can perform and lead just like anyone else. Fumo points out that its much like the American Civil War film Glory with its story of African-Americans former slaves and freemen seen as lesser soldiers because of who they are and the color of their skin.

At times the story of Days Of Glory comes across as too layered. Multiple layers are fine in most cases when there is three hours to fully explore certain elements, but here some elements are shown in a single scene and appear simply thrown in. We understand them, but agree that they add more questions. One example is a church scene with two of our main characters. Why they stumble into the church is unknown; perhaps to secure it? They resist looting the collection box while gazing at a mural of the crusades; they even make the comment of how much the Christian god has suffered. The point being that our boys have respect for other people’s myths like every other descent person of the world.

Example two: after the first battle, there is a scene where a German soldier is attaching our one-armed wonder. We see the sergeant save him but have no idea why or how he was there in the first place. The scene shows why the one-armed fellow loves the sergeant so much and becomes his lackey.

Bringing us to another question, why in the hell is a one-armed man in the army to begin with? He joined that way and it’s not like the army would overlook such a thing. He doesn’t get much crap for being a might handicapped, either. I think his fellow soldiers would have given him hell for it since it’s not like it adds to his ability as a warrior.

Then there are the unexplored origins of the sergeant. His past is reveled as his lackey finds a photo with “Mother” written on the back. Sarge’s mom is an Arab, making him a half-breed. He hides his past to gain rank in the French army, shades of Hitler himself, and when called on his past, Sarge gets violent and abusive towards his lackey.

No war film is complete without a story of lovers torn apart. One of the boys is with a French woman for one, yes one, night. They fall madly in love yet are kept apart by the war. The terrible army even goes as far as refusing to allow letters to pass between the two lamenting lovers, revealing that they are and capable of love.

Strong points of the film include the fine shots of the countryside. The director has a beautiful and creative way of opening some sequences by moving from black and white to color. As the Germans are beaten back and as the army advances the cloud of doom is being lifted from the land. The tale itself is a strong point and the acting is fine, but it’s the over all plot that could have been done better. The message is a simple one: in the end these soldiers fought and died for the greater good of mankind and wound up with nothing. The African soldiers even had their pensions stalled, and to most of the world they were forgotten as fighters in that war.

Included on the DVD is a short film titled “The Colonial Friend,” whose plot would have made a more memorable full-length film while telling the story of these unsung heroes. The way it stands now we have a good story rolled into an average WWII plot.

AMERICAN PASTIME

Written by Fantasma el Rey

American Pastime is set during World War II and is the story of a Japanese American family’s relocation to an internment camp. Revolving around baseball, jazz, and family, it is a good-hearted movie that tells a wonderful tale but at times takes the all-too-beaten path in doing so. An enjoyable film and in some respect one could call some of the themes timeless.

Spanning the years 1941 to 1946 we see how the Namuro family copes with life in Camp Topaz, Utah. Attempting to make the place more than merely livable, they begin to fix the camp by giving it a feel of home. Youngest son Lyle (Aaron Yoo) loves jazz and baseball and aided by the latter was to be the first Namuro to attend college. Then along came Pearl Harbor, bringing Lyle’s dreams to an abrupt end. Lyle grows to hate baseball rejecting his father’s offer to play on a camp team. Instead Lyle starts a swingin’ jazz band and, to help ease his misery, sells booze and gambles.

He also takes interest in Katie (Sarah Drew), the daughter of the camp’s military supervisor (Gary Cole). This of course causes greater tension in the nearby town of Abraham. Lyle finds himself at ends with his father and now with Katie’s pop as well. As if that weren’t enough, rebellious Lyle and his respectful, older brother Lane begin to feud over right and wrong. To ease the tension between town folk and “prisoners,” a climactic baseball game is arranged that pits the local pro team, including Katie’s father, a long time Yankees prospect, against Camp Topaz’s best. Of course, Lyle makes a return to the diamond in this ultimate showdown.

The Romeo and Juliet love story and the effect it has on the two different families is a story we’ve seen before as are the clashes that go on within the two lovers’ families. The squabbling brothers and the squabbling father and son, while the understanding mother tries to hold it together and play peacemaker, are very familiar plotlines as well. Not surprisingly, the game’s final outcome is decided between Lyle and Katie’s father. We’ve seen these formulas enough and I would rather watch a documentary on baseball and the interment camps. Although I can see how it must be told this way in order to reach a wider audience, which allows for some fine performances from Aaron Yoo, Sarah Drew, and Gary Cole.

To his credit Director Desmond Nakano does well in mixing actual vintage footage throughout the film. I do admire the fact that he also includes a scene where camp dissidents try to rally other internees to ask questions. Like why other Americans weren’t put into camps. The Germans and Italians were also enemies of The U.S.. Were they not interred because they were harder to spot, making them less of a target for violence? If that’s the case, then I guess it was for their own protection that the Japanese were locked away and forced on their “trail of tears.”

Overal, American Pastime has accomplished its goal in telling a story about a little know fact of our history and how baseball, that all-American game, played its part by presenting the story in an entertaining way everyone can relate. When I’m in the mood or if it’s on television I will probably watch again, which is the mark of a good movie.