Anybody watch " The Pianist? "

[dennis thompson]

Anybody else watch " The Pianist? " Makes it seem like what we're going through is a walk in the park..

[Doug Dawson]

Anybody else watch " The Pianist? " Makes it seem like what we're going through is a walk in the park..

The late stages of WWII in Europe are of a different character than what we're going through now.

[Mark Bolton]

Phenomenal movie. Schindlers list is one of my all time favorites and most hated (loved)... saving plPrivate Ryan,... and the end all be all is Band of Brothers...

People today have no clue as to how hard it could be and it was harder before that.

But I grew up in a.generation where the movie The Holocaust was on every year right along with all the standard Christian fare.

[Brian Holcombe]

I enjoy movies which really help to understand what people of the time truly suffered and truly witnessed. My grandfather fought from D-Day +3 until the end of the war in the west then was sent to the Philippines to prepare for an invasion of mainland Japan, which luckily did not need to happen. My grandfather was a mortar-man. He fought also with the 86th infantry (Blackhawks) and participated in the liberation of Attendorn labor camp.

Such an excellent movie, made more real in that the director suffered the experience in his childhood and such effort is put in to making it very accurate.

WRT WWII movies, I found ‘Downfall’ among the best, Bruno Ganz plays the role very well. It’s in German so if you may need to read subtitles but it is quite worth it. It doesn’t depict much of the fighting, it’s not the focus of the movie. Rather it depicts the political leadership, off the rails and suffering its demise. I like that it does not appear to put a spin on things but works to simply show them as the unfolded. The reality of the situation is so extreme I’ve never quite understood why efforts are made to further sensationalize it, so I’m glad that this movie does not do so.

Ive yet to see anything that depicts the Eastern Front very well, most of the movies that give it a shot seem to do it a disservice. I’ve watched Russian, German and American productions of it and no one seems capable of doing a decent job of it.

[Mark Daily]

Is anybody aware of any serious films about life in America during WWII showing what folks “back home” went through? I can’t think of any.

[Doug Dawson]

Is anybody aware of any serious films about life in America during WWII showing what folks “back home” went through? I can’t think of any.

American film _during_ the war was dedicated to patriotic support of the cause, and the negative aspects of it were informally "strongly discouraged". The most moving picture of the _immediate_ aftermath of it, when people could talk more freely, was "The Best Years of our Lives" (1946, also won Best Picture.) The mood was still _very_ fresh. And still a classic.

[Mel Fulks]

Most of the post WW2 films are a little too real. Man and wife in kitchen, he sees her picking up a large knife. He tackles
her and throws the knife. She says "It's me! it's ME! " He says " Sorry Baby, It's gonna take me some time to adjust ".
Director yells : BIGGER !!

[Mark Bolton]

Most of the post WW2 films are a little too real. Man and wife in kitchen, he sees her picking up a large knife. He tackles
her and throws the knife. She says "It's me! it's ME! " He says " Sorry Baby, It's gonna take me some time to adjust ".
Director yells : BIGGER !!


You ok Mel? Thats an odd one? lol...

[Mel Fulks]

Yeah. Thanks Mark. Hey,that's what some of the films were like. Wish I could think of the name of one ,but it really was
a standard type scene for that " John - Ruh". Really not so strange when you look up the the holding and confining of
some of the guerilla type fighters to get them readjusted to "society" before sending them back.

[Mel Fulks]

Mark, I started to do new thread but the whole thing is on films. Will trust the shuffling judgements to the Mods.
Many years ago when I saw "The Searchers" ,I didn't get it. For anyone who hasn't seen it , it's a western. Young girl is
captured by Indians. John Wayne is ,I think, her uncle . He sets out with a couple other "good men" to find her. Along the
way there is a lot of "kil'n an di-en " but they find her safe and bring her home. There is ,of course ,a big celebration.
but John Wayne is not circulating and accepting back slaps . Finally he just rides off without saying good bye to any one.
Didnt seem to make sense. Some critics describe his leaving as a man who has done and seen so much killing that he is
so changed he knows he never going to adjust to "polite society". So the film makers used that stuff for a long time.The
Searchers was 1957 when the film people thought WW2 was running out of steam they just moved some of the
themes to different costumes.

[Malcolm McLeod]

...just framed in the doorway; not part of society anymore. A truly classic scene.

[Brian Holcombe]

In a general ‘war movies’ sense, I’ve enjoyed; Das Boot, Paths of Glory, When Trumpets Fade and Thin Red Line. Looking forward to seeing 1917,

For the history buffs; Dan Carlin’s ‘Ghosts of the Osfront’ about the Eastern Front WWII and ‘Blueprint for Armageddon‘ are just superb. Dan Carlin’s podcasts are incredible.

[Doug Dawson]

In a general ‘war movies’ sense, I’ve enjoyed; Das Boot, Paths of Glory, When Trumpets Fade and Thin Red Line. Looking forward to seeing 1917,

For the history buffs; Dan Carlin’s ‘Ghosts of the Osfront’ about the Eastern Front WWII and ‘Blueprint for Armageddon‘ are just superb. Dan Carlin’s podcasts are incredible.

For anyone interested in the Deep Human Element of what happened on the ground in WWII, I would recommend any book by Max Hastings on the subject, particularly Inferno, and Armageddon (for the ETO).

[Brian Holcombe]

I’ll have a look, Doug. Thank you! Just finished 1917, incredibly shot.

[John Goodin]

Had a distant conversation with the parents of an 18 year old young man. While dad was concerned about whether his son was going be be able to go to college football games at Texas A&M (their alma mater) in the fall when the usually self-absorbed mother chimed in... “There will be disappointments but I am thankful we don’t have to worry about him getting drafted and going off to war.” Made me think that some of the most vulnerable right now, those in their 70s, 80s and 90s, have seen some pretty tough times.

I remember when “Platoon” was released and how it garnered a lot of press for how it dealt with the common soldier in Vietnam. My wife and I have talked about it recently and we plan on watching it again.

[Doug Dawson]

I’ll have a look, Doug. Thank you! Just finished 1917, incredibly shot.

I thought that movie was amazing. I went to an early test screening of it last year. Did they still have the extended sequence with the small child? The way it was presented then, the movie almost died for a while. I loved it, my wife hated it.

The cinematography was quite extraordinary, (Roger Deakins also does the Coen Brothers' films, BTW.)

Another film to watch, in the same vein, was "They Shall Not Grow Old", out last year, a magnificent reconstruction of actual film footage from the time, _with_sound_ (they must have been up half the year lip-syncing it.)

[Brian Holcombe]

I enjoyed it, they depicted the scenes very well. One reviewer describes it as a Dante style epic and I think that hits the nail on the head.

I liked that they detailed things like how well the German trenches were built and how thoroughly demolished that town was.

The story was not super interesting but I thought that was to provoke thought on the pointlessness of WWI.