Monday, 30 September 2013

Fallen

(2004)

RATING:80%
FORMAT:DVD



An even-handed, subtle and low key movie that manages to convey the boredom, the conflicts of duty and the sheer life affirming terror of combat – from the points of view of American, German and Italian troops in Italy in 1944.

The mundanities of soldiering are well presented, as are the necessary sacrifices; particularly poignant in the case of the Axis forces since, for them, they were so much in vain. The movie does not spare us the pain of seeing our favorite characters killed as we are never watching a typical Hollywood film where we are pretty certain – because of the star pecking order - which will survive by the end. This fits in well with the basic theme of the fallen being more important than those that survive.

A film that suggests the true horror of war lies in the sheer banality of the whole enterprise.


Copyright © 2013 Frank TALKER. Permission granted to reproduce and distribute it in any format; provided that mention of the author’s Weblog (http://franktalker5.blogspot.com/) is included: E-mail notification requested. All other rights reserved.
Posted by Frank TALKER™ at 17:29
Labels:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Contact Form:

Name

Email *

Message *

Science:



No science is immune to the infection of politics and the corruption of power.



Jacob Bronowski… (1908 - 74), British scientist, author. Encounter (London, July 1971).


Sleep of Reason:



The dream of reason produces monsters. Imagination deserted by reason creates impossible, useless thoughts. United with reason, imagination is the mother of all art and the source of all its beauty.



Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes… (1746-1828), Spanish painter. Caption to Caprichos, number 43, a series of eighty etchings completed in 1798, satirical and grotesque in form.


Humans & Aliens:



I am human and let nothing human be alien to me.



Terence… (circa 190-159 BC), Roman dramatist. Chremes, in The Self-Tormentor [Heauton Timorumenos], act 1, scene 1.


Führerprinzip:



One leader, one people, signifies one master and millions of slaves… There is no organ of conciliation or mediation interposed between the leader and the people, nothing in fact but the apparatus - in other words, the party - which is the emanation of the leader and the tool of his will to oppress. In this way the first and sole principle of this degraded form of mysticism is born, the Führerprinzip, which restores idolatry and a debased deity to the world of nihilism.



Albert Camus… (1913-60), French-Algerian writer & philosopher. The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt: New York: Vintage Books, (1984; page 182.)