rogerhboon

This is a low budget made for TV movie that portrays the impact of the Italian armistice with the allies in 1944 on the Acqui Division garrisoned on the island of Cefalonia. The German troops on the island do not trust the Italians who are looking forward to returning home to Italy and give them an ultimatum: fight on the German side, surrender their weapons and become prisoners of war or fight against them. After a democratic referendum of all ranks they choose to fight and the film deals with the aftermath. We follow events primarily through the eyes of Sergeant Saverio,who is not only central to the war story but has a strong romantic subplot with the central female character,Feria,an Italian, who had settled on the island but whose husband, Mikis, had disappeared ten years ago.The first half of the film is driven by an underlying tension about what might happen in this unusual war situation and the second half by the conflict felt by Saverio between what he feels for Feria and his identification with his comrades in the the awful events that occur. The subplot with Feria's daughter, Elena, and her father, Mikis, was well integrated with the central story line and did not disturb the flow of this well acted movie.Although a war film,its central theme is the importance of relationship and individuality in spite of the extreme events and this drives many of the anti war statements that emerge through both the dialogue and the action. It is also the source of the deep human emotions that the film taps into. I have probably never been moved so much by a war film! With this focus and its relatively slower pace it is not primarily an action movie, although its depiction of violence is realistic. For this reason I think it will particularly appeal to women. Despite its length(2 hours 16 minutes) and the subtitles my attention was held throughout. I much preferred it to Captain Corelli's Mandolin and it is much harder hitting. As a film, it isn't perfectly crafted by any means, but its emotional journey is so powerful, I had to award it five stars. In some ways it was an old fashioned film::- no gratuitous sex and violence, so if this is what you are looking for, avoid! However,I warmly recommend it to you.

This is a movie which is sure to divide people. It is based on the early life of Thomas Kinkade, "the painter of light". It is a story of the sources of his inspiration: his mentor,and how the difficulties faced by his mother provided a motivation through which he began to find himself.Its weakness is that it isn't sure of its own purpose.It is certainly not a biography or a Christmas movie in the ordinary sense and its comedic moments often miss the mark.In many ways it is like a Kinkade picture: a little sugary and sentimental yet with a warmth and humanity that can touch our hopes for a world where we all have a place and where everything comes out alright in the end However,it it isn't grounded in the reality of the world as we know it. The script is very uneven,occasionally very hammy,yet produces some fine moments. Peter o' Toole's performance as Tom's mentor, rapidly approaching dotage and a loss of his powers is a fine one and justifies a viewing.I also enjoyed the background music.Not for anyone who shrinks from sentimentality.

This is a serious film about morality and social injustice and perhaps not surprisingly it flopped at the American box office in the 1960's. Set in the Pennsylvanian coalfields of the 1870's it revolves around two characters:Jack Kehoe, the leader of the Molly Maguires,a secret society dedicated to violently fighting the enormous exploitation that was the lot of the miners working in the coalfield; and James McParlan,who as the undercover agent for the Pinkerton Detective agency is prepared to shed all common notions of human feeling and loyalty in pursuit of a "higher" justice and more obviously his own American Dream There is a strong cast including Frank Finlay and Samantha Eggar giving support to the two leading performances of Sean Connery and Richard Harris who is particularly successful at conveying some of the inner conflicts within his character's situation. However the real quality of the film lies in other directions.It deserves its Oscar nomination for art direction and the authenticity of the set placed in the almost abandoned Pennsylvania town of Ecksly is amazing.The pace of the film is more European than Hollywood and this is particularly evident in the strangely beautiful opening which with its well crafted choice of shots and sequences establishes the background of the drama. You may choose to side with the underdog refusing to be buried by the industrial machine or you may ultimately judge the Molly Maguires to to be violent thugs and murderers.However, the final shot of the film with the gallows rehearsal as McParlan finally turns his back on all that he has done leaves little doubt that the inner life of this man will have to pay a cost for the deaths he has brought about. I too enjoyed Henry Mancini's unobtrusive but effective score. This is an undervalued film that is at last like that other great flop, "Heaven's Gate",getting some of the attention it deserves.Indeed the beautifully filmed rugby match between the Welsh and Irish miners performs a similar function to the skating in "Heaven's Gate", reflecting something of the spirit and ethos of an immigrant community.Well worth a viewing. There is much to enjoy.