03-26-2023, 08:13 AM
Someone had to take the plunge and watch this Best Foreign Film Oscar winner. I think it won a couple of other Academy awards, not to mention the BAFTA for best picture.
And it was pretty good. The opening ten minutes or so is crushing. The film is a bit long. It could do with a bit of trimming. There are a lot of beautiful shots that would probably look fabulous on the big screen. The subject matter is pretty grim. I thought it was going to be two and a half hours of battlefield mayhem but they take a bit of a break in the middle as the movie shifts away from the battlefield to the halls of power where the leaders discuss the way out of this war. Baron Zemo is in charge of the German delegation. After that it is back to the war in the closing moments of the conflict. More scenes of people running into enemy gun fire. I kept waiting for Gal Gadot to run through.
I guess I enjoyed being immersed in the horrors of war because I could remove myself a bit and admire the technical mastery of the film making from the sets to the costume/makeup to the cinematography. It is cinema verite in the way they just follow this group of young men as they fight in World War 1 without any great need for complicated story.
I kind of recommend it.
And it was pretty good. The opening ten minutes or so is crushing. The film is a bit long. It could do with a bit of trimming. There are a lot of beautiful shots that would probably look fabulous on the big screen. The subject matter is pretty grim. I thought it was going to be two and a half hours of battlefield mayhem but they take a bit of a break in the middle as the movie shifts away from the battlefield to the halls of power where the leaders discuss the way out of this war. Baron Zemo is in charge of the German delegation. After that it is back to the war in the closing moments of the conflict. More scenes of people running into enemy gun fire. I kept waiting for Gal Gadot to run through.
I guess I enjoyed being immersed in the horrors of war because I could remove myself a bit and admire the technical mastery of the film making from the sets to the costume/makeup to the cinematography. It is cinema verite in the way they just follow this group of young men as they fight in World War 1 without any great need for complicated story.
I kind of recommend it.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm
