Wednesday, July 30, 2014
The War
I lived through World War II and have vivid memories of it.
But they are all personal. I was four when it started for the United States and eight when it ended. Almost all movies about the war have not really touched me. I guess I am averse to bluster and big booms.
But there are a few quiet films that tell me a lot about what the war was like and, oddly, these end up being European films. The American ones tended to John Wayne and such propaganda that in retrospect they are hard to take.
Today's movie is especially dear to me. It is Danish and tells about a hero of the War there. Distance makes it more real somehow.
Manus was an underground leader during the German occupation and the film quietly depicts his contributions but also his personality in a compelling way.
This film is a 5 out of Netflix5 and I have bought it for my collection.
Its appeal is hard to describe but I think that the performances are key. The quiet progress of the simple lives of its resistance leaders toward what came to be hero status at the end of the War.
Real heroes.
