Category Archives: War

2002, Biographical, Conspiracy, Crime, Documentary, Military, Violent, War

The Trials of Henry Kissinger (2002)

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From NetFlix:

This riveting documentary depicts former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as a warmonger responsible for military cover-ups in Vietnam, Cambodia and East Timor, as well as the assassination of a Chilean leader in 1970. Based on a book by journalist Christopher Hitchens, the film includes interviews with historians, political analysts and such journalists as New York Times writer William Safire, a former Nixon speechwriter.

What did Lincoln say? “You can fool some of the people some of the time …”.

So many details appear in this well-crafted documentary that I fear to cite any facts for fear of being inaccurate. Please therefore view the film critically. Granted the makers hated our clever war monger, but judge for yourself whether or not the accusations are well founded.

Kissinger is accused of at least the following:

  • He hijacked a Paris peace accord that could have ended the Vietnam war so that by prolonging the war he could get Tricky Dick Nixon re-elected.
  • He promoted the bombing of Cambodia.
  • As a result of this bombing, the almost total destruction of Cambodia paved the way for the Khmer Rouge.
  • He is responsible for the overthrow of Allende in Chile and the installation of Pinochet.

Ironically our Henry was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for ending the Vietnam war. But he received this award two years before the war ended. Vietnamese officials boycotted the award because the members of the Nobel committee were such fools.

One facet of history that has always bothered me is that evil men often go to their graves convinced that they “did the right thing”. For example consider: Pinochet (Chile) or Emilio Massara (Argentina’s “dirty war”) both of whom claimed to their dying day that they had acted for the good of their country. Several Nazi war criminals never understood what all the fuss was about. (Note that the documentary calls Kissinger a war criminal.) What will be the deathbed experience of such notables as Cardinal Law (“The Church of the Holy Pedophile”) or Henry the Swinger ?

Not a pretty picture!

2004, Docudrama, German, Military, Nudity, True Story, Violent, War

Downfall (2004)

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From NetFlix:

After introducing audiences to Adolf Hitler’s stenographer, Traudl Junge, in the gripping documentary Blind Spot: Hitler’s Secretary, director Oliver Hirschbiegel brings Junge to life in this Oscar-nominated drama. With painstaking realism, Hirschbiegel’s Best Foreign Language Film contender adopts Junge’s (Alexandra Maria Lara) point of view to recreate Hitler’s (Bruno Ganz) final 12 days in his Berlin bunker.

Before watching this entrancing recreation of Hitler’s last days, you will benefit greatly by reading the Wikipedia article. What is important to appreciate is that after reading this Wikipedia article you can believe that what you see is very close to what actually happened. The film begins and ends with a filmed interview with the real and elderly Traudl Junge whose accounts as a witness form the basis of much of what we know. Above all else, praise is heaped upon Bruno Ganz’s painstaking and near perfect imitation of Hitler’s voice with its Austrian accent. Ganz worked for months with recordings of Hitler’s voice.

Ignore the politics and the complete horror of what happened. Instead see if you can comprehend (and I find it difficult) the extent to which those involved were blindly loyal to the end to “Der Fürher”. He was revered as a god even while he was obviously unbalanced and out of touch with reality. It is chilling to watch Frau Goebbels poison her six beautiful children after which Joseph and Magda Goebbels shoot each other.

Stay to the end to see captions telling us what happened to many of the main personalities (for example, when and how they died). For me it was difficult attaching a name to each of the many many characters. This last recap fortunately provides photos of the actors as a reference.

Two hours and 36 minutes make a long film, but I couldn’t tear my eyes from the screen.

2001, Could be boring, Cynical, Drama, Love Story, Mediocre, Military, Religious Theme, War

Sword of Honor (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Daniel Craig stars as Guy Crouchback, a soldier whose desire to prove his worth to his ex-wife leads him into a life of unrealized military ambitions in this miniseries based on the darkly comic novels of Evelyn Waugh. While Guy’s timorous and largely undeserving cohorts climb through the ranks, he continuously falls short of his goals despite his earnest intentions, doomed to suffer the humiliation and discouragement of his misfortunes.

Daniel Craig is more reflective and less a man of action in this two-disk British series. Evelyn Waugh must have intended to write a satire because instead of seeing some stark war film my impression was that of seeing British tongue-in-cheek military personnel often doing their best to avoid action. Do not expect up-to-date digital effects.

Throughout the two disks one constant theme is Guy Crouchback’s Catholic religion which causes him to regard forever his divorced wife as his one and only wife despite her other marriages.

Give this production a B, there are better British war films to watch.

2009, Could Be Hard To Watch, Occasional gore, Psychological Drama, War

Triage (2009)

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From NetFlix:

Colin Farrell stars in this psychological drama about a photojournalist who returns home from a harrowing news assignment without the colleague who’d accompanied him. Now, his girlfriend (Paz Vega) will not rest until she finds out what took place. Bosnian helmer Danis Tanovic, whose No Man’s Land won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language Film, directed this taut, dark drama shot on location in Ireland

Colin Farrell does an acceptable job portraying a grief-striken man in a state of denial. The war scenes in Kurdistan are grim. The title is perfect and refers in part to the beginning of the film in which a Kurdish battlefield doctor with almost no equipment routinely shoots all wounded men in horrible pain for whom he can do nothing. You must wait until the end of the film to learn why Colin Farrell is in such psychological pain.

Important topic but a somewhat mediocre film.

2005, Drama, Explicit sex, Historical Fiction, Made For TV, Military, Nudity, Revenge, Violent, War

Rome HBO BBC (2005)

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From NetFlix:

Follow the saga of two ordinary Roman soldiers — Lucius Vorenus and Titus Pullo (Kevin McKidd and Ray Stevenson) — and their families amid the rise and fall of the Roman republic and the creation of an empire. The fates of Pullo and Vorenus become entwined with those of Caesar, Mark Antony, Cleopatra and the young Octavian, a strange and awkward child who, by political guile and force, is destined to become the first emperor of Rome

There is a pay-TV series “Spartacus: Sand and Blood” which is mostly sex and violence pornography. However, the HBO and BBC production of “Rome”, in addition to sex and violence pornography, offers an engrossing history lesson. You will find in the Wikipedia article a good summary (at the very end of the article) of the historical inaccuracies and omissions in the series. It did not take long before I was hooked. The writing is good and the “conceit” that we can view a sweep of history through the eyes of Pullo and Vorenus actually works.

2010, Chick Flick, Could Be Sad, Drama, Feel Good Not For Children, Love Story, Military, Sex Scenes, War

Dear John (2010)

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From NetFlix:

While on leave, U.S. soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) falls for Southern college student Savannah (Amanda Seyfried), whose ideals and heartfelt principles are at once attractive and unfamiliar. But their love is put on hold when terrorist attacks prompt John to reenlist. Now, handwritten letters hold the lovers together. Lasse Hallstrom directs this modern romance based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.

As the film started I thought “Why on earth am I watching a PG-13 ?” (the one sex scene is so discreet as to be non-existent). Indeed the beginning of the film seemed like an ordinary chick flick. But there are enough worthwhile themes here to make the story interesting.

Richard Jenkins plays John Tyree’s autistic father. Just yesterday I reviewed The Confession (1999) in which Richard Jenkins plays a crooked politician. He plays the part of a father who loves his son but whose autism prevents him from expressing that love openly. There is one very touching scene between the two.

Channing Tatum has appeared in Stop-Loss (2008) which is another war film.

Amanda Seyfried is Chloe (2009) in the film of the same name.

This could be a tear-jerker.

Forgive my scepticism. I do not know enough about autism. But is it at all believable that an autistic man marries, has a normal son, and when the wife abandons the family while that boy is pre-school the father raises the boy to maturity ? And could that son do such selfless deeds ?

2009, Could Be Hard To Watch, Drama, Military, Plot Twist, Quentin Tarantino, Revenge, Suspense, Violent, War

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

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From NetFlix:

A Jewish cinema owner (Mélanie Laurent) in occupied Paris is forced to host a Nazi movie premiere, where a radical group of American Jewish soldiers called the Basterds, led by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), plans to roll out a score-settling scheme. The face-off is about to go down — that’s if Col. Hans Landa aka “The Jew Hunter” (Christoph Waltz, in an Oscar-winning role) doesn’t get in the way. Quentin Tarantino directs this World War II-set spaghetti Western.

“Quentin Tarantino” tells you immediately that this will be a violent film. In fact,
the first two acts (Nazi atrocity, Jewish retribution) suggest that this film could just be a litany of vindictive anti-Nazi butchery. But each act brings something fresh, suspenseful, clever, and of course violent. There are many plot twists, almost all in the form of something that goes wrong with an assassination plan. In that sense the fun never stops.

However, I was at first offended by the fact that the entire climax is a hoax perpetrated on the viewers. Such a thing never happened. So is this film someone’s rage fantasy against the horrors of the Nazi regime ? Sad to say I got a lot of pleasure watching the good guys bash the bad guys. I should be ashamed. Violence begets violence and it has to stop somewhere. In this regard please read the section of the Wikipedia article entitled “Critical Reception” which reinforces my objections.

If you understand French, German, and Italian you will have another source of pleasure from this romp.

2001, Drama, Love Story, Suspense, Violent, War

Enemy At The Gates (2001)

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From NetFlix:

Set during the infamous World War II siege of Stalingrad, this potent thriller follows a battle of wits and wills between renowned Russian sharpshooter Vassili Zaitsev (Jude Law) and top German sniper Maj. König (Ed Harris). When propaganda from a Red Army apparatchik (Joseph Fiennes) turns Zaitsev into a living legend, it draws the attention of König, who comes gunning for his enemy counterpart. Rachel Weisz and Bob Hoskins also star

Based on a true story (the final credits discuss the existing memorial to Vassili Zaitsev in Russia), you are constantly immersed in the ugliness of a besieged Stalingrad. Possibly the story is a bit predictable (how else could it end ?), but the story is also interesting and its suspense and character interactions work. All the acting is good but Ed Harris as a very self-assured German sharpshooter stands out in my mind.

Comrade Stalin’s spirit seems to hang over the film. I found it difficult to accept him as the motivating leader of the Russian soldiers. But that’s how it was in those times. Moreover, the failure of the Germans to take Stalingrad was an important part of their eventual defeat.

And wasn’t it striking to see Bob Hoskins as a somewhat young Nikita Krushchev ?

1996, Could Be Hard To Watch, Could Be Sad, Drama, Not Feel Good, Violent, War

The War At Home (1996)

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From NetFlix:

Starring Emilio Estevez (who also directed), Kathy Bates and Martin Sheen, this gripping war drama follows the battles encountered at home as a result of those on fought the battlefield. Vietnam impacted the everyday life of average American families in unimaginable ways: soldiers didn’t always return home alive, and when they did, they were often met with anger, not gratitude – even from their own families

There are several excellent films that deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Besides this film see also two versions of the same story: Brothers (2005) and Brothers (2009).

This particular film is in some sense the most difficult of the three because of the lack of support the returning veteran gets in this case. Martin Sheen is exasperating as the father. Brace yourself.

2009, Could Be Hard To Watch, Could Be Sad, Drama, Not Feel Good, Redemption, Violent, War

Brothers (2009)

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From NetFlix:

When severely traumatized Capt. Sam Cahill (Golden Globe nominee Tobey Maguire) returns home alive from a military mission in Afghanistan after he was presumed dead, he learns that his brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal), has gotten dangerously close to his grieving wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), and his kids. Mare Winningham and Sam Shepard also star in this wartime drama about human frailty and battles fought on the home front. Jim Sheridan directs.

“Brothers” from 2009 is an almost exact but Americanized version of the equally well-done Danish film Brothers (2005).

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is never easy to see (let alone experience). The two version of “Brothers” deal with Afghanistan. Don’t miss as well the sad film directed and acted by Emilio Estevez The War At Home (1996) which left me stunned. I would like to know if any of our soldiers actually had to endure what happens to Capt. Sam Cahill while a prisoner in Afghanistan.

All three of these films are well-written, well-acted, and difficult to watch.