Another movie long considered 'lost', and now mercifully restored,
Anthony Mann's "Men in War" is a war film worthy to take its place
beside Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line", (you can see its influence
on Malick's masterpiece); in other words, this is a near-masterpiece
and certainly one of Mann's greatest films. The war in question is the
Korean and another American patrol find themselves caught out in the
open, like so many before them in so many other war films, as they try
to survive and like Robert Aldrich's brilliant "Attack" is as much about
the conflict between an officer and a sergeant as it is about the
external conflict with the enemy. The principle protagonists are Robert
Ryan and Aldo Ray whose contempt for each other is only matched by their
contempt for the enemy. Both actors are outstanding and others in the
exceptional cast include Robert Keith, Vic Morrow, Nehemiah Persoff,
James Edwards and L Q Jones.
You might call it an anti-war film
since few films about men in conflict have painted such a dark picture
of the costs of war and what it can do to men in the field. Indeed, this
has even been called an 'art-house' war film which is probably just
another way of saying that it's different and very intelligent. It's
also stunningly well photographed in black and white by Ernest Haller
and boasts another very score by Elmer Bernstein. How it ever came to be
'lost' in the first place is something of a mystery, (did audiences
simply find it too bleak?). Let's just be thankful, then, that it's been
'found' again
The films reviewed here represent those I have liked or loved over the years. It is not a list of my favourite films but all the films reviewed here are worth seeing and worth seeking out. I know many of you won't agree with me on a lot of these but hopefully you will grant me, and the films that appear here, our place in the sun. Thanks for reading.
Monday, 2 July 2018
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
JUROR #2
If "Juror #2" turns out to be the last film Clint Eastwood makes, (quite possible since the man is 94 now), at least he will have...
-
Having made two films on the essence of cinema or at least on the filmmaker's craft, (her own), Joanna Hogg has now turned her attentio...
-
You know that a Lars von Trier serial killer movie is unlikely to be like anyone else's serial killer movie; that it is most likely t...
No comments:
Post a Comment