Patton(1970)

                 Patton(1970)

Director                                             Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers                                              Francis Ford Coppola/Edmund J North  

Genre                                                Drama/History/War

Language                                                          English

Runtime                                            2 hr  52 min

IMDB Rating                                      8.1 ( 38,008 votes , Top 250 : 227)

Personal Rating                                                5/10

Major Actor(s) 

George G Scott ( General George S Patton)

Historical Relevance              George S Patton, born on Nov 11, 1885 in California, is regarded as one of the most successful US field commanders. He is remembered for his fierce determination and ability to lead soldiers, apart from his controversial outspokenness.

                                                Patton was commissioned in the U.S. Army upon his graduation from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1909. He represented US in Stockholm Olympics of 1912, securing an overall fifth position in a multisport participation, despite a disappointing development in the shooting portion. In 1916-17, he participated in the unsuccessful Pancho Villa Expedition, a US operation which attempted to capture the Mexican revolutionary. In World War I, he was the first officer assigned to the new United States Tank Corps and saw victory in France. During intermittent years between the two world wars, Patton graduated from the Command and General Staff School in 1924, and completed his military schooling as a distinguished graduate of the Army War College in 1932.

                                                                Patton was commanding the Western Task Force, the only all-American force landing for Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa. After succeeding there, Patton commanded the Seventh Army during the invasion of Sicily in July 1943, and in conjunction with the British Eighth Army restored Sicily to its citizens. However, the “slapping incident” of 1943 where Patton slapped and labeled a battle fatigued soldier a ‘coward’ jeopardized his military career. General D Eisenhower relegated Patton to act as a decoy in Operation Quicksilver rather than letting him participate in D-Day landings. However, in 1944, he was given the command of the third army in France where he dashed over Europe covering  600 miles across France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia and along the way, liberated the Buchenworld concentration camp.    

Review                                    The performance of George Patton by George Scott stands out  in such a manner that the movie, although a genuine attempt, does not stand at par with the performance. However, George’s performance overshadows any whatsoever slip up that the movie possessed. It's not the battle that stand out but it's Scott's virtuoso performance that carries the film.

General George S Patton is commissioned to Kasserine, North Africa after previous force fared poorly in an encounter with Germans. He tries to instill discipline through little things and names Bradley as his number two man. Soon, he gets engaged in a battle with Erwin Rommel, the ‘Desert Fox’ who attacks him before getting attacked by Patton. He defeats German forces, only to realize later that Rommel was not a part of the troops.

                                                North Africa now has two prima donnas – Field Marshall Montgomery and an egoistic Patton. Both of them dislike each other intensely, and their egos clash when both of them propose a separate plan to capture Sicely. Patton’s plan is rejected and he is asked to land in the west to cover up Montgomery’s flank. However, Patton has other ideas and takes a long way around Montgomery to beat him to the finishing line at Messina creating a dissent among his commanders.

                                                                This controversial flavor takes a serious turn when Patton, during one of a routine hospital videos smacks a young soldier fatigued by realities of war. The command makes him apologize for his actions and despite, he is stripped off his command and not allowed to command any army during the D-Day.

General Patton helps Patton by him under probation and a chance to redeem his lost ground. In his final campaign, he is given charge of the third army to march into France, where, once again he displays his flamboyancy by dashing over Europe in quick time.       

In the end, the movie presents a mixture of entertainment and history, being provided by the character of the man ‘Patton’, that pervades all and the workmen like direction by Franklin Schaffner.         

Memorable quotes                 Patton  : “ Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”

Patton: “Thirty years from now, when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee and he asks you, "What did you do in the great World War II," you won't have to say, "Well... I shoveled shit in Louisiana." 

Patton: “There's only one proper way for a professional soldier to die: the last bullet of the last battle of the last war.”

General Omar N. Bradley: “There's one big difference between you and me, George. I do this job because I've been trained to do it. You do it because you LOVE it. “

Watching Guide                     Miniscule levels of bloodshed when compared to typical war movies. No adult content whatsoever.     

Letters from Iwo Jima(2006)

Letters from Iwo Jima(2006)

Director                                            Clint Eastwood 

Genre                                               Drama/History/War

Language                                 Japanese

US Box Office                                   $ 13.7 M

Runtime                                            2 hr  21 min

IMDB Rating                                     8.1 ( 55,742 votes , Top 250 : 211)

Personal Rating                         7/10

Academy Awards                      Won : Best achievement in sound editing (Alan Robert Murray                and Bub Asman)

Trailer                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEawk_8SEIM

Kazunari Ninomiya (Saigo)

Ken Watanabe (General Kuribayashi)

Historical Relevance       The battle of Iwo Jima was fought between United States of America and the Empire of Japan from 19th Feb 1945 – 26th Mar 1945. United States emerged victorious in one of the fiercest Pacific battles of WW-II and acquired tactically important airfields of Iwo Jima from Japan.

Iwo Jima was Japanese home soil, part of Japan, only 650 miles from Tokyo. It was administered by the Tokyo metropolitan government. No foreign army in Japan's 5000 year history had successfully trod on  Japanese soil. To the US, Iwo Jima's importance lay in its location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Marianas.

General Kuribayashi,, Commander of Iwo Jima was an  aristocrat, who was educated in Canada and had toured the US before. His preparations, fortifications and strategy were marvels in the history of warfare. Although Japanese defeat was assured from the start, the soldiers defended their positions tenaciously. They didn't fight above but from beneath the ground digging up 1,500 rooms into the rock and the network of rooms was  connected with 16 miles of tunnels.  Japanese strategy called for "no Japanese survivors", of more than 18000 Japanese soldiers , only 216 were taken as prisoners. Further,  Japanese strategy required them to kill at least 10 American soldiers before dying for their country.

Iwo Jima remains the only U.S. Marine battle where the American                                casualties exceeded the Japanese although Japanese combat deaths numbered three times that of Americans.

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Review                       Clint Eastwood has emerged as one of the foremost American directors to pick up the war of ‘Iwo Jima’ for his cinematic thirst. His artistic ordeal began with ‘The Flags of Our Fathers’ which represents the American point of view of the battle and terminates at ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ which describes different facets of human emotions through the eyes of a diverse group of Japanese men. Eastwood’s humanity roars through the film in the silhouette of Saigo, be it as an innocent in battle or in flashbacks in which he hovers over his wife’s belly and whispers love to his unborn child inside.

Classic Eastwood tries to reproduce a pie of humanity within a  bundle of inhumanities existing in an armed conflict. Eastwood movies depict a shade of shattering violence with a tandem also exploring human behavior during such legalized carnage. Yamashita’s technical expertise together with screenplay derived from picture letters of Commander in Chief unearthed from the site present not an anti war tract or glorification but a considerable estimate of how different persons with different set of objectives confront a war. 

 Sixty one years later after a fierce battle ensued between US and Japan, several letters were unearthed from island’s soil which provided faces and voices to the brave Japanese souls who fought the historical battle of Iwo Jima.

The Japanese soldiers were sent to Japan although they knew that probability of them returning was stark. Among them are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker who only wanted to return home to see his newborn baby girl; Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), an Olympic equestrian champion ; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), a young former military policeman whose idealism has not yet been tested by war; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), a strict military man who would rather accept suicide than surrender. 

Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. Kuribayashi’s travel to America before gives him a strategic insights as to how to take on the vast American armada streaming from the Pacific. His follows a pretty unique strategy different from conventional Japanese War strategies despite resentment from the lower subordinates.  Kuribayashi’s unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 35 days of heroic combat.  Almost 7,000 American soldiers were killed on Iwo Jima; more than 20,000 Japanese troops perished.

Eastwood, as classic as ever, Eastwood displays one of the most amazing visual experiences showcasing the scenes beautifully, reminding viewers of  magnificent glimpses of black and white, desaturated  and bleached of all its color once the war begins. The camera refuses to leave the side of Japanese. Eastwood displays both human and physical geographies in  a non confusing manner unlike other war epics and it is easy to recognize who the soldiers are, where they are and what is going through their minds. Eastwood doesn’t take any political polls but goes ahead where his heart -- and especially his mind -- took him. And It's a good place.

Memorable quotes        Saigo(In a letter to his wife) – “We soldiers dig. We dig all day. This is the hole that we will fight and die in. Am I digging my own grave”?

General Kuribayashi – “If our children can live safely for one more day it would be worth the one more day that we defend this island”. 

Saigo- “We can die here, or we can continue fighting. Which would better serve the emperor”?

Watching Guide                        Brief moments of violent encounters associated with a typical war.        

The Pianist(2002)

The Pianist(2002)

Director                             Roman Polanski

Writers                               Ronald Harwood ( Screenplay), Wladyslaw Szpilman   

Genre                                Biography/Drama/War

Language                                   German/English

Runtime                            2 hr  30 mins

IMDB Rating                       8.5 ( 1,32,408 votes , Top 250 : 53)

Personal Rating                        9/10

Academy Awards                      Best Actor in a leading role ( Adrein Brody)

                                         Best Director ( Roman Polanski)

                                         Best Writer, Adapted screenplay ( Ronald Harwood)   

Major Actors                          

          Adrien Brody (Wladyslaw Szpilman)      

Historical Relevance            September 1939 saw Germany occupy Poland in a blitzkrieg that lasted three weeks. The first decree intended to denigrate the Jewish people was introduced in November,1939 wherein Jewish people had to wear a star of David on their sleeve. Several impediments were imposed on Jewish people that reduced them to a state of slaves and chattel. They  were not allowed to work in key government institutions, to make bread, to earn more than 500 zloty a month, to travel via bus or train, to possess gold or jewellery. Moreover, they were humiliated or severely beaten by German soldiers in public for little or no reason.  

                                                In October, 1940 1.13 lac Poles were evacuated from the centre of the city to make way for 4 lac Jews. This Warsaw ‘ghetto’ so formed contained 30% of the population in 2.4% of the city area. This area was enclosed by formidable wall  and any Jew leaving this enclosed area was shot. 

                                                The life at Ghetto quickly got inhumane as the amount of food rationed to Jews at the Ghetto was a mere 10% of what Germans got .Richer people smuggled goods into the Ghetto whilst poorer people sent their children into the ‘Aryan side’ to steel food. Soon, more and more number of Jews flooded this ghetto and money quickly dried up, leading to a high mortality rate of six thousand people per month whose corpses were dumped naked in the street everyday.

                                                Hitler wished to speed up extermination of Jews, for which he sent 3 lac Jews to the Treblinka Extermination camp between July and September, 1942. When the Germans prepared to extradite the remaining sixty thousand Jews to the camp, the “Warsaw ghetto Uprising” began.     

    

Review                                   Director Roman Polanski manages to paint an incomparable portrait of human condition and  innumerable sufferings, hope within the tyrannous apathetic rule of the Germans in an elegant manner. This is one of the most brutal and unforgiving film dealing with a holocaust of the Warsaw ghetto. Numerous incidents depicting cruel tortures inflicted upon Jews by the Nazis have been depicted in this movie, none cruel than the one where a crippled man is thrown off the balcony and lands on his head as others watch and wait for their fate. In another incident, German people crossing the street are forced to dance with one another while Nazi soldiers feel entertained  are amused by their sufferings to stay alive.

                                                Underneath this horrid portrait, lies a true story of hope characterized by Wladyslaw, the best pianist in Poland, who despite odds, manages to keep Nazis at bay by constantly changing his locations through help received by his friends. Adrien Brody received a well deserved Oscar for the same,  learnt to lay the Piano and lost thirty pounds just to synchronize himself with the character, apart from imparting his brilliant acting skills to the movie.     

    

 Wladyslaw Szpilman is portrayed as a wealthy Jewish Pianist living in an apartment in Poland with his parents, two sisters and a brother. At the outbreak of the second world war, condition of Jews quickly deteriorated and they were moved to a Jewish ghetto by the Germans. The family, is reduced to subsistence level , although still better than many of their fellow starving Jews in inhumane conditions of the ghetto.

                                                Wladyslaw takes up the job of playing piano at a restaurant in the ghetto. Soon, the day comes when their family is selected to be exterminated at Treblinka extermination camp. Wladyslaw is saved from doom by a Jewish policeman while he sees the rest of his family board the train to Treblinka. He blends with the sixty thousand Jews working as slave laborers. He helps some of the Jews who are planning an uprising by smuggling weapons but escapes when he Is almost caught by a German officer. He finds Dorota, who is now married. For subsequent months, he keeps himself away by living in various hideouts with the help of his friends and Dorota. He finally lands up at ghetto, which has now transformed in desolated wasteland of bricks. He is caught by a Nazi officer(Hosenfeld) at the ghetto, who surprisingly helps him survive at the ghetto. Soon, Russians overpower Germans,  and Hosenfeld is one of the German war prisoner.

                                                Closing title cards tell us that Hosenfeld died in a Soviet prison in 1952. Wladyslaw lived to be an old man, dying in Poland at the age of 88.               

The movie is an old fashioned movie, not at all glamorous, but definitely an uplifting film that shows how a person can survive in a world gone mad.

Watching Guide                     Violent and extremely depressing scenes of inhumane cruelty. The  movie does not contain graphical scenes of violence.

Memorable Qouotes             Yehuda: [regarding the underground newspapers] These will start the uprising. Majorek hides them in his underpants, and leaves them in toilets.
Majorek: As many toilets as I can find. Germans never use Jewish toilets. They're too clean for them. 
Wladyslaw Szpilman ( to his sister just before being deported to the extermination camp): I wish I knew you better.

Inglorious Basterds(2009)

Inglorious Basterds(2009)

Director                                   Quentin Tarantino

Writer                                       Quentin Tarantino          

Genre                                      Drama/Thriller/War

Language                          English

Runtime                                    2 hr  33 mins

IMDB Rating                              8.4 ( 179243 votes , Top 250 : 78)

Personal Rating                   6/10
Youtube trailer link               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sQhTVz5IjQ

Academy Awards                Best Actor in a Supporting Role : Christopher Waltz 

Major Actors

             Brad Pitt ( Lt. Aldo Raine )  

 Christopher Waltz (Col. Hans Landa) 

   

  Melanie Laurent (Shosanna Dreyfus)

Historical Relevance       Although United States military segregated African American and Japanese American soldiers in combat units, no records of an all Jewish American combat unit has been found. Jewish American units were fully integrated with the US military during the World War, not as a separate combat unit. This film is fictional, made against the backdrop of World War II.

Review                       Not entirely an art epic, the war acts as a catalyst to depict what viewers had wished to happen- A revenge fantasized against the mighty Nazis. The disconnect from the usual rigors of real life is Tarantino’s greatest strength as an entertainer, offering enough skillful homage to cinematic geeks. But, at the same time, his disconnect insulates his movie from the historical realities of World War II.

The movie presents a blend of Tarantino’s artistic fragrance (Previous works include Pulp Fiction and Death Proof), Brad Pitt’s uncanny accent and Christopher Waltz’ ruthless villainy. Brad Pitt chews all the scenery with his humorous accent while many eyes catch up with Christopher Waltz, offering his tyrannous outrage as a ‘Jew Hunter’.  

The opening scenes are chilling, and for the first thirty minutes, the film crawls towards the finest work of Tarantino. However, the magic leeches out pretty soon from masterpiece levels .The film opens up with an Colonel Hans Landa-SS officer (Christopher Waltz) interrogating a French farmer about a family of missing Jews. Young Jewish refugee Shosanna Dreyfus() witnesses the slaughter of her family by the Colonel . Several years later, she is presented with an opportunity to seize revenge when a German War hero (Fredrick Zoller) takes a liking towards her and arranges his movie premiere at the theatre now run by her. The event catches attention of the Basterds-American Jewish soldiers commissioned to kill Nazis in the most inhumane ways possible. Basterds, headed by ruthless Aldo Raine, plan to establish their bloody reputation by playing spoilsport at the German premiere, attended by the Fuhrer himself.   

If you have a desire to upgrade your factual understanding of the World War II,  stay miles away from this movie. But, if you are a Tarantino fan, or a cinematic artisan, you won’t regret sparing a few hours for this one.  

Memorable quotes        Lt. Aldo Raine: You probably heard we ain't in the prisoner-takin' business; we in the killin' Nazi business. And cousin, business is a-boomin'. 

                                                Col. Hans Landa: What a tremendously hostile world that a rat must endure. Yet not only does he survive, he thrives. Because our little foe has an instinct for survival and preservation second to none... And that Monsieur is what a Jew shares with a rat.

                                                Lt. Aldo Raine: Well I speak the most Italian, so I'll be your escort. Donowitz speaks the second most so he'll be your Italian cameraman. Ans Hirschberg third most, so he'll be Donny's assistant.
PFC Gerold Hirschberg: But I don't speak Italian.
Lt. Aldo Raine: Like I said, third best. Just keep your fuckin' mouth shut. In fact why don't you start practising, right now.  

Watching Guide            Bloodshed is low but whatever it is, its gruesome. The movie contains no adult scenes.

                                                               

                                                  

       

                         

Why Hitler killed Jews?

Anti Semitist feelings were not just restricted to Adolf Hitler but the entire Europe. Hitler took it one step further by applying a German thoroughness to it by trying to eliminate the entire Jewish race. Various reasons have been cited to explain roots of Hitler’s hatred against the Jews:

·         Personal

§  In 1939 Hitler personally permitted Dr. Bloch, a Jewish physician to emigrate from Austria. Dr. Bloc was the gentle physician who provided intensive care for of his ailing mother. However, her mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47 under his care. But this does not seem to be a valid reason since, on several occasions Hitler expressed his humble gratitude to Dr. Bloch. Not only did Hitler thank the Jewish doctor who treated his mother, apparently he allowed the doctor to escape Nazi Germany without repercussions.

§  Hitler lived in Vienna from 1907 to 1913 and those were the most difficult years of his life. Hitler was trying to become an artist or to make himself a name in field of arts. He was twice rejected from the Vienna Academy of Fine Art dominated by Jews. He claimed that the professors that rejected him were Jewish.

·         Conspiracy theory

§  Hitler saw the Jews as the 'biological root' of Bolshevism. In many hard-line right wing circles there was talk about a supposed 'Judeo-Bolshevist conspiracy'. Germany, according to this theory had not lost the 1st world war on the battlefield but had been brought down by liberal, socialist and Communist subversives on the home front. Jews in prewar Germany were very much overrepresented in the top echelons of German society. In other words it was claimed that the Jews had caused Germany's defeat in World War 1. He later went on to compare Jews with homosexuals allegedly undermining their manliness.

·         Jealousy

§  Some Jews were successful and held "visible" positions in Austria and Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. In the Great Depression. Germany was hit the hardest by the worldwide economic depression, and successful Jews were envied. Some Germans believed that "Jewish bankers" were responsible for the Treaty of Versailles and had plunged the world into a war and the Depression for their business profits. Jews became a scapegoat for Germany's economic problems.

·         Social Darwinism

§  Hitler was also introduced to the Social Darwinism subscribing to the idea that nations, people, cultures and individuals are subject to the same laws of natural selection as plants and animals. Life is a perpetual struggle, between individuals and nations for existence, with the survival of the stronger and more brutal and the elimination of the weaker and less fit.

·         Power game

§  Another key element of a dictatorship is fear, and a visible scapegoat experiencing the wrath of the state is a good way to keep people from stepping out of line. Inciting hatred of the Jews was the means to an end. Hitler used hatred of the Jews to unify the German people and create a new German empire. Nothing unites a people more than when they believe they are constantly under attack and fighting a common enemy. The Jews were convenient enemies .

·         Literary Influence

§   Hitler and many Nazis were influenced by the notorious anti-Semitic book called "Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion."

Why Everyone hates Jews?

“Oh the Protestants hate the Catholics,
and the Catholics hate the Protestants,
and the Hindus hate the Muslims
and everybody hates the Jews.”

-       Tom Lehrer

Despite only 13 million Jews in the world – less than one fourth of one percent of the earth’s population, this tiny group inspire bitter, widespread and often violent animosity. The common reasons for Anti Semitism( A term coined for hatred of Jews) frequently offered are :

" Jews control all the wealth and power."

"Jews are arrogant and claim to be the 'chosen people"

"Jews are a specific and convenient group to single out and blame for the world's troubles"

" Jews killed Jesus. "

"Jews are different. (The dislike of the unlike.) Jews separate themselves from us" 

“We are racist- and Jews are an inferior race." 

The number two result on Google custom search engine on typing “Why everyone hates” returns the following (see pic). This is itself a reflection of the number of users trying to figure out the reasons for hatred of Jews. Anti Semitism is unique in this respect that there is surprisingly little agreement on why people hate the Jews. Yet, everyone across the world over a large period of time have expressed it in a particularly virulent manner. This actually says that this is not an idea or a theory, but rather a belief held by many people and propagated by the same bunch across the world.

Details about whether these are mere excuses or are genuine causes have been widely debated over the internet. Arguments have been provided that cite these reasons as mere excuses. The actual original reason too has been widely debated over the internet.

One of the primary claim is that Judaism is superior to other religions in the fact that it gave learning that were widely accepted and literally civilized the world. Human Psychology states that hating someone makes them  more powerful. And this hatred is heightened when you truly believe in your heart that the other party is superior. A great many people simply can’t cope with the burden of being good. However, when they act in ways that are bad, they can’t cope with the resultant feelings of guilt. Try as they may, they can never cut themselves loose from the standards of absolute morality dictated by the Jewish religion. Stuck in this "Catch-22" situation, people turn with their mounting frustrations against the Jews, who they perceive as personifying humanity’s collective conscience.

People who express hatred, resentment or fear regarding the Jews almost always focus on charges of Jewish arrogance, elitism, aggressiveness and lust for power. Emphasis on “Chosen people”, and prosperity of Jews in most nations in which they’ve established significant communities might be attributed to this unjust hatred.

But whatever the actual originating reason, the same is not prevalent in today’s era because everyone seems so confused about the reasons. Or Maybe, the reasons cited for hatred are dynamic and vary as one development succeeds another, the latest one being Israel’s inhumane acts against Palestine.