Der Marsch

Though the crew of The March vehemently denied it at the time, they clearly took a lot of inspiration from The Camp Of Saints, a 1973 novel of French writer Jean Raspail. While the movie has arguably some cinematic value, it wouldn't have been memorable from a purely cinematic point of view if it weren't for its subject matter. And in that regard, Raspail's book vastly outshines the The March.

We watched this in Geography class today. It is a dramatization of what might happen if poor people from a Third World country were to march towards Europe. Not based on an actual event, this feels quite authentic and credible. And frankly, other than the portion of the ending which is dumb, out of place and barely has an impact on the whole(to be fair, the very conclusion of the film is ambiguous and well-done), this is smart, nuanced and contains food for thought. It pits idealism against realism, and if one keeps in mind that the stern, lifted-index-finger-warning that this is at times comes from people who surely have the right intentions, it is worth 100 minutes of your time. The acting is great for all concerned, and this distinguishes itself from other large movies with production values by having people speak the language that they ought to('cept of course for the Frenchman who has a German accent). Dialog and script are fairly well-written, even funny and ironic every so often. There is some disturbing content and brief bloody violence in this. I recommend this to anyone who wants an exploration of the subject matter. 6/10