Corazón cautivo

This is a deeply human and almost documentary account of the life of prisoners after Dunkirk who are not released until towards the end of the war, Michael Redgrave as the leading actor being far from alone among suffering fellow soldiers, as there is a number of tales told of dire destiny in this concentration camp of arduous fates. Redgrave is of course the most interesting case, a Czech escaped from the Germans and sought by Gestapo, hiding as an Englishman with a fake identity with suspiciously good knowledge of German, as his father was a diplomat in both London and Berlin. There is also Gordon Jackson with the loss of his sight and his despair about having to give up his betrothed, there is the family man whose wife is having a baby in his absence with that whole family story, there is the major (Basil Radford) struggling with the challenges of his responsibility, there are the sore trials used by the Germans make the camp existence more difficult than necessary for the prisoners, who nevertheless manage to break loose into comedy when an occasion arrives. It's heartrendingly human all the way, and the great love story developing in the ruins with inevitably critical consequences makes this film a definite and almost obligatory classic.

The movie is a broad photo montage of several stories--from one setting--of British soldiers who were captured early in WWII (1941) and placed in a German POW camp. Is depicts what happens to them and their loved ones, back home, as they are separated by time and space.

How do the relationships change?

How do they remain the same?

What holds them together or drives them apart?

Four years can be like a lifetime to those it affects.

This is no Stalag 17 or Hogan's Heroes-type movie. I found the movie to be very engaging and enjoyable, even as half of a long-range relationship undergoes very big changes. Changes can range anywhere from physical disability, to "Dear John" letters, to birth and/or death. The relationship often—usually—depend on letters and photos back and forth.

In Stalag 17 there's a famous scene and line where the audience who now knows that Peter Graves is an agent is pitching horseshoes and trying to obtain information, as he lands one, an off screen voice says 'that's a ringer.'

The British prisoners, mostly from Dunkirk, who because of capture sat out the war have a ringer among them in The Captive Heart. It's Michael Redgrave, but his is not an espionage mission. He's a Czech who's escaped from a concentration camp and found himself on the battlefield where the defenseless British have surrendered. He takes the identity and uniform of a dead officer and is then 'caught' by the Germans.

To keep up the deception Redgrave writes letters back to his 'wife' in the United Kingdom, played by his real life wife Rachel Kempson. She and her real husband have not gotten along and truth be told his call up for war was greeted with some relief. But Redgrave wrote such poetical stuff she falls for him by correspondence.

Although Redgrave's story is the main plot line, there are others that are nicely acted. Young Gordon Jackson goes blind because of lack of proper care for his wounds and he gives a touching performance. And chief officer of the prisoners, Basil Radford is an inspiring leader among them, trying to keep up morale as best he can.

The Captive Heart is a tandem pulling of the strings on the auricle and ventricle of the viewer. It's a fine wartime romantic drama with equal accent on the war and the romance. It was done just as Michael Redgrave was reaching his heights as one of the United Kingdom's premier players. Try not to miss it if it is broadcast.

The prison camp is, in many ways, a metaphor for wartime Britain and its postwar hopes and aspirations. 'All sorts and conditions of men' are herded together in the camp, and despite the underlying tension, the boredom, and the self doubts, they must try and get along with each other. Indeed, it goes far deeper than that - they must try and look out for each other and protect each other.

And so they encourage the blind lad in his efforts to learn brail and come to terms with his blindness. A young 'tearaway' (a pre-war thief)comes to realise that even he has something to contribute. As the others try and think up a way of protecting the identity of a Czech hiding amongst them, he confesses that he knows how to open a safe, and can break into the orderly office and destroy the incriminating evidence.

There are little touches of humanity in terrible situations. The order is issued to manacle the prisoners as a reprisal for some Allied slight (this actually happened), and the elderly German reservist guard tries to indicate to the blind prisoner that he is only 'obeying orders' and doesn't want to do it. The invalid wife of a prisoner is told, back in England, that it is too risky to have her husbands baby, but she sacrifices herself in the hope that he will have a child to come home too. The blind lad tries to put off his girlfriend because he doesn't want to be a burden to her.

Some people find the main plot line a little contrived, but it is fascinating to see two strangers fall in love through a pretence.

And so wartime Britain entered the postwar world with all its hopes and fears. Sadly, with no visible common enemy to unite them, many of these hopes of a common caring humanity were not to be realised.

Great plot, excellently under-stated performances, writing and direction. The fact that this film was made in 1946, so close to the events its depicts, seems to add an almost documentary-like quality to this film. Indeed, in the opening credits, the line 'Filmed in the British Zone of Western Germany' suggest that the realistic prison-camp scenes were probably shot in genuine locations. The cast is almost a repertory company of British 1940s actors - but no-one is taking an easy ride. There are fresh and challenging performances, even though the faces are familiar. What struck me is how the film is free of the gung-ho 'smart prisoners, dumb Krauts' type of prison camp film that dominated the genre later on. This film is the product of a people tired of war. At the same time, it retains some of the stiff upper lip feel of many British wartime films, but with the confidence of victory, it does not need to indulge in the 'beastly Hun' elements. Moving without being sentimental. A very 'human' film, only a few steps short of a masterpiece.