Best war film ever? "Band of Brothers"

OK, it's not a war film as such, rather a ten-episode miniseries. It was shown for the first time late on Friday nights here, so I saw very little of it. Then the DVDs arrived in the hire shop near Zürich railway station, and I borrowed one a week. I came away very impressed.

War is one of mankind's less savoury pursuits, and it has become less so, since the rise of industrialised society allowed huge armies to be kept in the field indefinitely. Unfortunately, it is also part and parcel of the human condition. Clausewitz said something that is paraphrased in English as “War is politics continued by other meansâ€Â. In other words, if we don't get what we want by talking, we'll get it by fighting. Wars are also useful for diverting the population's attention, such as the USA in Iraq – the inability to hit the real target can be covered by hitting a straw man. The Second World War is often seen as the last “good†war, in that there was a nasty little man in Europe, who simply had to go. The penultimate episode is called “Why we fightâ€Â. The answer is given by the liberation of a Nazi labour camp, shown in graphic realism (where did they find all those skinny people?). The liberating US paratroopers, who had thought themselves prepared for everything, found themselves totally unprepared for this.

When it comes to depicting war in all its horrid reality and (I have to admit) fascination, and the comradeship of the men who fight it, this miniseries comes closer than anything I've seen. Based on a book by US historian Stephen Ambrose, it follows one company, E (“Easyâ€Â) Company of the 101st Airborne Division, starting with their training, the night jump on D-Day, the battle for Carentan, the jump in “Market Gardenâ€Â, holding the line at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge (in which the German commander surrounding Bastogne demanding surrender received the reply, “Nuts!â€Â) and finally drinking Hermann Goering's wine in Berchtesgarten.

This series is obviously a child of “Saving Private Ryan†(Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg are involved). There is the same loving attention to detail, the same dull colours (almost like old sepia photos brought to life, as per the marvellous title sequence), the same frenetic hand-held camera work taking you into the thick of things, the very real-looking wounds, the agonised howling of the wounded and the struggles of the medics to cope with them while under fire. As it's a true story, it avoids the basically absurd plot of “Ryanâ€Â. It also avoids the sentimentality that spoiled “Ryanâ€Â, the only sentimentality coming from the original members of “Easy†who appear in brief soundbite interviews at the beginning and/or end of the episodes. Some of these old soldiers still cannot restrain their tears at the thought of comrades lost so long ago. In addition, it shows that these were ordinary guys who did extraordinary things, that it was these guys, not the Churchills and Eisenhowers who defeated the foulest tyranny the world has ever seen. And yet, as the members of Easy came to realise, the Germans weren't some monolithic evil mass. As the interviews show, they came to realise the ultimate obscenity of war, that the Germans, whom they were desperately trying to kill and who were just as desperate to kill them, were, like themselves, just doing a job, and that in other circumstances they could have been friends. Close to the end of the final episode, a surrendering German general requests permission to address his men. His speech strikes home uncomfortably with Easy, because he extols all the things that they themselves have felt, loyalty, comradeship, sadness at loss, solidarity through shared triumphs and sufferings, and ending with “I am proud to have served with youâ€Â.

The cast is a bunch of complete unknowns (with the lead role of Lt./Capt./Maj. Dick Winters being played by an English actor!) and they are generally very good. Indeed, the only weak link is “Major Wintersâ€Â, who seems just too robotic and unemotional (especially compared with the real Maj. Winters (one of the interviewees)). You get a sense of what it was really like, the comradeship, the fear, the devastation of losses, the adrenalin pumping. The ten episodes allow for development of the individual characters and the relations within Easy. There are none of the fancy, schmaltzy speeches of the kind that Americans love (or appear to find necessary) to tug at their heart-strings (like the rubbishy ending of “Ryanâ€Â), no moralising, just a gritty determination to get a job done and go home. At the end of Episode 2, after destroying a German battery firing on Utah Beach in a brilliant assault that is still taught at West Point as an example of how it should be done and for which he would win the US's second highest award for valour, Winters quietly reflects that, if he survives all this, he'll go home, buy a bit of land and live in peace for the rest of his days. Which is what he did and continues to do, which is amazing as he always led Easy from the front. Some of the other interviewees are amazed that he's still around.

Gosh, I have gone on, haven't I? But I confess to having enjoyed this series thoroughly. It's neither pro- or anti-war, but shows very effectively what it's like at the sharp end and what our politicians ask “our†young men to do to “their†young men. As William Tecumseh Sherman put it, “War is hell.†The case for putting the politicians, who so cavalierly squander young lives, themselves in the front line has never been made more strongly.

 

I enjoyed it very much too, but still found a fair bit of sentimentalisation going on.... other things jarred too like the low swear word count (which I am sure is just not true of soldiers) and the fact that they were always generally being nice to each other much of the time - I think there would have been a fair amount of tension, pettiness and pissed-offness going on between young men who were forced together in terrible conditions for a long time.

The best thing about Private Ryan is the opening ten minutes that really is gut turning, and an eye-opener. I could not have got out of one of these boats if I had been there.

A useful antidote to Spielbergian war movies is "The Thin Red Line" directed by Terence Malik, with superb performances from Nick Nolte, John Calvaziel and many others. Its set during the American invasion of Guadalcanal. I found it a much better film by far than Private Ryan.

 

Funny, Alan, I thought they did quite a lot of swearing! And I'd imagine that an elite unit such as this one would have more camaraderie than a normal army unit. From what I've read, there was an enormous camaraderie. I think this shows in the way that replacements were treated - even the guy who'd jumped in Normandy and Market Garden, but who'd missed Bastogne.

Having said that, I'm now interested to get the Ambrose book and see how the two compare.

I agree entirely with you about the first half-hour of "Ryan". This, surely, is the best individual bit of anti-war film ever made. It feels odd to walk along that beach (the beautiful American cemetery that is shown in the opening and closing scenes of "Ryan" is just above Omaha Beach) and think that the kids with their buckets and spades are playing in what was once a major slaughterhouse.

 

I agree that Speilberg overdoses on the sentimentality. "The Thin Red Line" is my all-time favourite. It certainly divides opinion though. Many people just don't 'get' it. You need some poetry in your soul to appreciate it, I think.

 

Hmmm, best war film? Probably one of the following:

Apocalypse Now
Das Boot
Taegukgi
The first 45 minutes of Full Metal Jacket
Saving Ryan's Privates
The Longest Day

Personal fave is Das Boot. Submarines rule, man!

DT

 

"Paths of Glory" and "All quiet on the Western Front" should also be in there somewhere, although both are, I guess, specifically anti-war films.

 

Another vote for Das Boot and at the risk of being unfashionable Zulu.

 

Not a bad film, if a bit Boy's Ownish in places. A kid in my class in school was the great-great-nephew of one of the VC winners, which added to the interest when it first came out.

 

in the 'horrors of war camp'
apocalypse now.
fmj
das boot.

in the 'war glorious war camp'
the great escape
633 squadron
the dam busters
the battle of britain
reach for the sky
carry on up the khyber.

sorry.

 

Quite agree, when film was released in 1964 I think it reflected the nostalgic undercurrent of feelings that existed at the time towards the loss of the empire and the plucky British Solider who held an empire on which the sun never set.

 

What about "Cross of Iron"? One of my favourites.

 

The Train, Burt Lancaster, deserves a mention. Also that one with Jack Pallance's best ever role.

 

The best war film ever is Elem Klimov's Come and See. Depressing as hell, mind you.

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/cteq/02/20/come.html

-- Ian

 

Err hardly unknowns :-

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0185906/fullcredits

How about Dexter Fletcher from "Press Gang"

The best parts are "Bastogne" & "Why We Fight"

I have quite a few HBO DVD box sets and this is one of the best.

 

Whilst Apocalypse Now isnt the most "realistic" portrayal of war, I think the way it describes the development of insanity and shifting morals typical of wartime is utterly valuable and very pertinent for current times - "during wartime things become confused".

The Insurgency in Iraq has clearly brought out the most brutal response from US, UK and Iraqi forces in their attempts to glean intelligence. If they were asked they would probably argue they are working towards a greater good, yet the damage they cause to the innocent as they try and track down the guilty is immeasurably severe.

Scenes like the bridge on the frontline which seemed circus-like to the surfer on acid. The depth's of darkness as it becomes clear there are no commanding officers and noone really nows what they are doing.

On a more traditional footing - I think The Pianist does an incredible job of describing the bleakness of WW2 from the perspective of the Jews in Germany and Poland.

Then surely for utter realism beyond the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan....








gotta be "Kelly's Heroes"?

 

Ice Cold In Alex.

 

I'll be renting that baby from Blockbuster for family viewing this saturday night!

(Great site btw Ian).

 

Is it just me, or is the main actress in that film, Sylvia Syms an absolute stunner or what?

Most women from days gone simply wouldn't appeal or be considered "beautiful" in 2005, but she is a notable exception. Along with Rita Hayworth and Grace Kelly, of course

http://www.saintvespaluus.com/01.jpeg

Excellent, excellent film.

DT

 

Now that's going back a bit! It reminds me (don't know why) of "The Cruel Sea", with Jack Hawkins getting his men to sing to keep them awake, because if they fell asleep, they wouldn't wake again. Perhaps it's the gritty realism of both.

 

Its my fav war film without doubt, Grandad was in the western desert campaign so i guess that is partly why.

I think some of the old B&W war films are great, the atmosphere created can really draw you into it.