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| daffy |
 Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:08 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Wall Street
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| And I've also heard that the guy who plays Hitler is tremendous. Finally! I liked Alec Guiness, and Derek Jadobi gave it a good try, but aside from them the only representation of Hitler I've ever really liked (that I can think of off-hand) was Chaplin's in The Great Dictator. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:10 am |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
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Location: SF Bay Area
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daffy wrote: I've been dyng to see Downfall and am glad to hear it's out on DVD. I'm a WWII "fan", and am especially interested in Speer. This is a must-rent. |
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| daffy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:48 am |
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That's great to hear, yambu.
Any other recommendations for WWII, either fiction or documentaries? I love it all, but aside from the usual European stories, I'm especially interested in the Pacific because a) it is criminally neglected here in the USA and b) (more importantly) my dad was on a diesel sub out there. He was only eighteen at the time. I remember him mentioning it exactly twice. The more I learn about these amazing men, the more I agree with Brokaw that they were the greatest. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 7:33 am |
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Site Admin
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Location: Montreal
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Oh damn! I just finished blathering on about the amazing perfs by Heath Ledger and Eric Bana, and completely forgot about the early films of 2005 and just how...how...scary Bruno Ganz was.
Kinda' like Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuarnos, I think we need an entirely new category to do justice to Ganz's portrayal of Hitler.
Wade's right - Downfall is awesome, and Ganz is the focal point.
Immediately afterwards I rented the real life interview with Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, whose name is included in Downfall's writing credits. Her own story is fascinating, but it lacks the riveting sense of docu-drama that Downfall has. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:45 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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lshap wrote:
Immediately afterwards I rented the real life interview with Hitler's secretary, Traudl Junge, whose name is included in Downfall's writing credits. Her own story is fascinating, but it lacks the riveting sense of docu-drama that Downfall has.
What I find so interesting about the documentary with Trudl Junge is seeing how an essentially innocent, naive young person could idolize Hitler. The full impact of her participation in the Reich didn't hit her until the war had been over for many years (she saw the statue of the martyred girl her own age in a German city square). I don't think she ever recovered from this revelation despite devoting the rest of her life to volunteer work.
"BLIND SPOT: Hitler's Secretary" shows how any one of us can facilitate evil-doing. I think that's an important lesson - especially today. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:51 am |
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An interesting footnote to "Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary" is the short film made in Santa Fe called "Rumsfeld's Mechanic."
This is a hilarious and very clever spoof of BLIND SPOT in which the mechanic (female) during Rumsfeld's last days (before the nuclear holocaust) tells what life was like in his Taos bunker.
The director is someone who works at the Center for Contemporary Art in Sta. Fe. She's made a couple of other films. One was a bio. about growing up in a very strict Turkish-American family. Very interesting. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:57 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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daffy wrote: That's great to hear, yambu.
Any other recommendations for WWII, either fiction or documentaries? I love it all, but aside from the usual European stories, I'm especially interested in the Pacific because a) it is criminally neglected here in the USA and b) (more importantly) my dad was on a diesel sub out there. He was only eighteen at the time. I remember him mentioning it exactly twice. The more I learn about these amazing men, the more I agree with Brokaw that they were the greatest.
If the Pacific's your bag, you might want to check out WINDTALKERS. It's supposed to be about the Navajo code talkers _but_ turned into a Nicolas Cage vehicle. Still an interesting movie. The talented Adam Beach (a Native Canadian) plays the codetalker.
Also, try to find anything on the Bataan Death March. I saw a great documentary about the New Mexico National Guard Batallion who served in Bataan, were captured, and sent to prisons in Japan. I don't know if it's generally available or not. I saw it at a film festival. (I've never seen the John Wayne film about Bataan, so can't comment there.) |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Norman, OK
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| We may still have a few of the WWII codetalkers alive here in Oklahoma -- I know there were some a few years ago. The ones here are mostly Kiowas and Comanches, as I recall. They tend to be honored at powwows and other gatherings. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4607
Location: Norman, OK
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| Well, I'm snowed in today, so I'm heading for the couch (or rather, armchair) to catch up on watching movies. See y'all later. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:35 am |
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Nancy wrote: We may still have a few of the WWII codetalkers alive here in Oklahoma -- I know there were some a few years ago. The ones here are mostly Kiowas and Comanches, as I recall. They tend to be honored at powwows and other gatherings.
Some of the Bataan Death March vets. attended the film fest. screening several years ago in Taos. There weren't many there. They scheduled it at 8 p.m. - just too late for them. I'm sure all were over age 80 at that point. Tony Reyna, past Governor of the Taos Pueblo, was there. He is a striking figure - probably 6'4" and still movie-star handsome even at his advanced age. I wished they'd had a Q & A but it was just too late for the old soldiers.
R.C. Gorman's (who just passed away) father was a code talker.
NPR did some interesting interviews with the codetalkers when WINDTALKERS came out. They were too diplomatic to say they didn't like it, but you could tell they were disappointed in the movie. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 11:56 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Windtalkers was awful. The Navaho were busted to the ranks in their own story as Sgt. Nic Cage of the Hollywood Acting Corps, A Company, bore the brunt of the action. Mr Woo of the Overseas Irregulars, was diagnosed as suffering from cultural shock and has since surpressed all memory of his traumatic, first command. |
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| daffy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 5:38 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1939
Location: Wall Street
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mo_flixx wrote: If the Pacific's your bag, you might want to check out WINDTALKERS. It's supposed to be about the Navajo code talkers _but_ turned into a Nicolas Cage vehicle. Still an interesting movie. The talented Adam Beach (a Native Canadian) plays the codetalker.
I ran to see Windtalkers when it came out. What a disappointment. Why on earth would you take a great subject like the Code talkers and turn it into a movie about Cage's character? The original guys must feel jobbed. At least the Tuskegee airmen got their own film, belated though it was; they didn't have to play supporting roles in their own story.
Adam Beach is pretty good. He even made Smoke Signals bearable. That ain't easy. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 6:06 pm |
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| I just saw Downfall, which Syd had rented and let me watch before he has to return it. I was fascinated. It's very, very good. It never got to Norman, and only played for a couple of screenings at a museum in Oklahoma City, on a date when I couldn't go see it. Thank goodness for DVD's! Anyway, I recommend it. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 9:32 pm |
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| Nancy - Now tell me honestly, how can you NOT consider Bruno Ganz as Best Actor after seeing Downfall? |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:36 pm |
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lshap wrote: Nancy - Now tell me honestly, how can you NOT consider Bruno Ganz as Best Actor after seeing Downfall?
I thought he was awfully good, but I think Hoffman and Strathairn are better. |
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