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Reviews
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
An Under Rated War Film
Roger Ebert trashed this film when it came out for being too violent and containing too many stereotypes. He obviously was asleep during the film as he completely missed what Director Attenborough achieved in this excellent item of WW II history. Attenborough didn't simply tell the story of why this Allied operation failed, he explained the reasons as well. This was difficult to do on film because the root explanation concerned a state of mind that existed in the high command a that point in the war. It was state of 'insouciance'; a smug, self confidence in their own infallibility. This lead to a serious under-estimating of the enemy and an unwarranted over confidence in the plan. Attenborough portrayed this partly through the brilliant acting of Dirk Bogarde who played General Browning, one of the instruments of the failure. People, even legends like Ebert need to pay attention when they plan to review a film.
The Blue and the Gray (1982)
great quasi historical movie
Eminently watchable and very much a film that delivers the 'feeling of the times'. This gets at what professional historians say that any historical works needs - i.e. a sense of 'what it was like'. As to the accuracy of historical details that some of your commentators complain about, I cannot say as I am not a military expert. Good cast and good acting all of which adds up to a very presentable dramatic view of the Civil War. The only (pleasant) distraction for me was John Hammond who is so good looking that one wonders if anyone alive in those days could have been such a beautiful, clean cut 'All American' male. When you see old Civil War photos, most of the males, even the young ones, seem 'scruffy' and worn out before their time.
The Conspirator (2010)
A magnificent work of art and historical research
This film tells the story of how the U.S. Federal government tried to deal with the horror and panic that beset the nation following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
The problem with historical fiction is that it is always less interesting than real history. The problem with real history is that filmmakers generally avoid it, perhaps for fear of getting it wrong. The genius of a guy like Robert Redford is that he can make a movie that is historically accurate and has more drama, suspense and excitement than any work of historical fiction.
Then you have his unfailing genius for picking a topic that often 'slips under' the historian's radar but is an important fact of history nonetheless. He, and the other makers of this film are also artistically brilliant so the net result is a masterpiece of cinema in terms of all the things that count in that genre.
Many modern historians consider real history to be close to literature and that requires getting everything right to make it engrossing for the reader. Anybody with any brains and taste will be thrilled by this work of art and historical scholarship.
As if the rewards from watching it aren't enough, the punchlines which are delivered in script at the end of the film will make your day, I promise.