Wednesday, January 30, 2008
GRUELING BUT IN A GOOD WAY
Today's film was Werner Herzog's
with Christian Bale and Steve Zahn.
At one level this is a standard prisoner of war escape film as many of the conventions are observed.
But in another way, since it is a true story, the conventions turn out to be actual fact. I guess that is redundant isn't it. Actual fact. How about factual as far as can know?
The story of Dieter Dengler was shown in a documentary the other day (Saturday): Little Dieter Needs to Fly.
That experience made watching this a lot more emotional and valid.
Dengler was a fascinating guy and just made to do this kind of exploit.
His energy is relentless. He has been trained as a machinist before coming to this country to get naturalized after WWII and join the USNavy.
Bale is wonderful as is Zahn. The relationship between the two unfolds as they plot and escape together.
I was worried about seeing all the 'suffering' but it turns out that the film is more about ingenuity and perseverance than anything else.
The ending is a great reward for all the trials and tribulations.
I will give this a 4 out of Netflix5.
