The War I Knew

I know a little about The Normandy Invasion (Summer 1944) and was saddened to see how very badly this story was portrayed. The landscape looked nothing like Normandy; was it The Brecon Beacons? The behaviour of the four allied soldiers was very unlike any military unit I have worked with and there were few signs or sounds of airborne activity. Lastly the film claims that Jonny Barrows was awarded The VC. I cannot find any record of such an award being made. I would welcome any comments from the producer so I could explain why he did not make a better job of an interesting story.

Wars are not just big battles and intense military challenges. The majority of the daily life during a war is composed of micro-stories, of ordinary people with their trivialities, fears, and aspirations. In Hollywood films, soldiers magically transform into bloodthirsty heroes, killing machines. However, in reality, those poor young men, taken out of their daily context, find themselves having to confront situations in which, despite their training, they don't lose their human essence.

This is an intimate film, devoid of the grand special effects of war productions, and probably not appreciated by genre purists. The very low budget perfectly aligns with the story being told; there are no frills, just pure and simple everyday life for a small improvised platoon. The music also avoids the bombastic clichés of grand fanfares and frenetic rhythms, relying mainly on significant compositions of classical music, which is likely the music that these young men have in their imagination when lost in the bucolic countryside. The American paratrooper from the 101st Airborne Division might have had different rhythms in his head-jazz, rhythm & blues-but the poor soul, shocked by some bombardment, perhaps only has a profound and immense silence in his mind.

The low budget also forgives a few equipment errors; the German officer clearly has an outdated and mismatched insignia from the time the film is set. The merit of this production is not falling into a simple reenactment of World War II; the gap is truly narrow.

I would have given it an 8 if only a little more had been invested in post-production special effects, which are ultimately the most economical (explosions, gunfire sounds), and a bit more realism in the makeup. I've seen too many clean-shaven and neatly groomed faces, and well-combed hair even after several nights out in the open.

The British paratroopers are shown firing M-1s and Thompson machine guns. They would have been carrying the Enfield rifle and Sten machine gun.

I love a good war movie but unfortunately this isn't one.

From the opening sequence's where the British "Para's" are about to make a suicidal attack I could tell this was a poorly researched piece of film. The whole production is full of glaring historical mistakes that set the film up to be a massive failure.

British Paratroopers wearing R.E.M.E blouses, brodie helmets and using American issued rifles.... 5 minutes on Wikipedia could have saved this productions team some embarrassment and myself 15 minutes of my life I can never get back.

1/10

I was hoping for so much more. The opening scene, at night, was so grainy and purple I felt sure it was shot on a cheap smartphone. There is a huge "leap from nowhere" after a completely inadequate "action" scene, in which the protagonist mysteriously teleports from behind a tree into a barn. Rather like the "with one bound, he was free" writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Most of the rest seemed to have been borrowed from a tourist promotion for walks in rural France, with the exception of some dreadfully acted scenes which frankly were annoying because I felt that they were on the edge of belittling those who actually were in the war. My overwhelming impression is that it had a budget of about a hundred quid.