Fuga de Colditz

This movie is much like what Pearl Harbour did to Tora, Tora, Tora (the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbour). It's a story with love interwoven among prisoner of wars. If you are looking for a good prison escape war movie, you'd be disappointed as they are loop holes all over. I was attracted by the trailer that said that "an escape from the tightest security prison" And if you are hoping for a full love story, it doesn't make it either. The plot is also shallow. However, the cinematography is excellent. I like the way it was filmed: the scenes in the prison was often in greyish-brownish tones and the military intelligence headquarters in brighter colours. Switching around the locations using this technique kept me interested all the time. The ending could have been better but is rather abrupt. I'd watch it again, if I was someone looking for a love story in war time setting. The trailer shown could be better. And in the opening scenes - a line "an officer and gentleman" was used. It was certainly not what it was meant to be.

I enjoyed watching "Colditz" very much. However I was extremely disappointed in the character of Bunny Warren, played by Timothy West. This character is based on the war activities of Clayton Hutton (always known as Clutty). He was a remarkable man and I commend his book "Official Secret" as a true guide to the man. Clutty was one of those unsung heroes of those days who played a vital role during those dark days. To portray him as some kind of bumbling, irascible "boffin" does great discredit to the man. The writers of "Colditz" should be ashamed of their manner in which they presented him in this drama. He deserves better than that.

Colditz is a castle near Leipzig where during WW II the Nazis held Allied troops who were particularly at risk as escape artists. Many of the men had escaped POW camps prior to their incarceration in the huge castle, and the man in charge of the prison warns every new inmate that the castle is impenetrable: there is no possibility of escaping and those who attempt will be killed.

The film begins in London 1939 as men are preparing to leave for the front. Among them is a slightly naive but warmly human lad, Jack Rose (Tom Hardy) who has fallen in love with Lizzie (Sophia Myles), in a sweet, innocent union that represents the concept of 'the love we leave behind'. Jack leaves for duty with fellow soldiers Nicholas McGrade (Damian Lewis) and Tom Willis (Lawrence Fox) and soon they are captured by the Nazis and placed in a POW camp. Of course, being cunning lads, they soon escape only to be captured again and sent to the ominous Colditz - all except Nick. There they bond with men from home such as artist Sawyer (Guy Henry) and from other countries including France and Canada - among them Rhett Barker (Jason Priestly) who is a manipulator able to buy goods from Nazi guards including drugs to which he is addicted.

Nick is sent back to London where he meets Lizzie to tell her of Jack's safety. In time the two feel an attraction that proves to have fatal consequences because of Nick's obsession to have Lizzie to himself. Meanwhile the men in Colditz attempt multiple escapes only to be caught each time and put into solitary confinement. The drive to escape is aided by all of the inmates and yet their efforts are thwarted by colleagues turned informers for their own selfish needs. Artist Sawyer does escape and is assigned in London with the Intelligence outfit with Nick: he learns that supposedly Jack has been reported as killed in action (a letter forged by Nick to gain access to Lizzie's emotions) and the remainder of the story concerns the end of the war, the release of the prisoners from Colditz, and the fatal schism between the returning Jack and his rival Nick over the love of Lizzie.

Director Stuart Orme manages to keep the pace of this over three hour long film, allowing the viewer to meet and understand and care about a very large cast of characters (writers Richard Cottan and Peter Morgan have created deft personalities). Filmed in London and the Czech Republic the atmosphere is correctly captured and the large cast of characters includes many very fine cameos. If there is a single message to summarize a complex story, it is the old adage 'brothers in arms, rivals in love'. This made for television miniseries is well acted and is another opportunity to see the background stories of World War II. Recommended viewing. Grady Harp

I enjoyed watching the two part television series about the Colditz Castle even though I have known better escape movies such as "Papillon" or "The Shawshank Redemption" and even though the melodramatic love and treachery stories were rather predictable and some historical details had not been taken into consideration. There were also some things that I would have liked to see further developed such as the escape at the beginning of the movie, the death of the electrician and the fate of Sawyer but these things are only details.

I think that this movie got too many severe reviews on this side as the actors do some great efforts and the movie succeeds to keep the pace and attention quite high over more than three hours. I liked the fact that the plot spent some time on developing the different characters and the human conflicts which gave a philosophical and moral twist to the movie and treated topics such as desperation, drug abuse, treachery, bribery, love, dreams and freedom. The characters were authentic and diversified. The escape plans were mostly original and quite entertaining and it was good to see that an equal time was spent on the escape story and on the complex love story itself. That's why this movie was rather diversified and mixed action and drama passages with more romantic passages. I think that this dynamical mixture is one of the main factors that carried this good movie on.

In the end, if you like historical movies about the world wars or complex escape stories, you might pretty much like this film even if it is not a highlight of the genre. You will though get a well done and very entertaining movie that will make you think and learn a lot about history and life.

The Colditz story has continued to exert a fascination over film and television audiences ever since the end of World War II. Guy Hamilton's 1955 film THE COLDITZ STORY had John Mills as Captain P. R. Reid planning an escape from the fortified jail and successfully doing so despite the attentions of over zealous German prison guards. In 1972 I remember the BBC series COLDITZ with a stellar cast including Robert Wagner, Edward Hardwicke, Jack Hedley and the late Anthony Valentine turning in a memorable performance as the sadistic Major Mohn, one of the German prison officers.

Sadly Stuart Orme's 2005 miniseries does not even come close to the standards set by the previous adaptations of the tale. The tale oscillates from Colditz to London, and involves a tangled romance between Nicholas McBride (Damian Lewis with an incomprehensible Scottish accent) and Lizzie Carter (Sophia Myles). There are the usual regimental stereotypes (Tom Hardy, Laurence Fox), plus a benevolent senior officer based in London (James Fox). There is also a boffin improbably portrayed as an homosexual by Timothy West.

Peter Morgan and Richard Cottan's screenplay plods on to an inevitable conclusion, with most sequences taking place in darkened rooms either in the prison or in the offices of a branch of the Secret Service in London. The German officers are predictably sadistic ('ALLO 'ALLO has a lot to answer for in this context) while the United Nations of prisoners in the camp find it difficult to co- exist. The drama is engaging enough, but one wonders why anyone actually bothered to remake the story in the first place.