The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands

...said Orson Welles of a film set. Walter Summers had a couple of battleships and several cruisers as bonuses. A restoration of a silent film depicting these two battles. The ships which played the originals are named, the human actors are not, which shows their comparative importance. As far as there is a hero, it is the German Admiral von Spee, who is shown as knowing his fate almost from the start, but the film is remarkably fair in its depiction of people. The only comic aspect- its portrait of the Falklands Defence Force as food for powder who'll fill a pit as well as better- shifts to recognition that like Falstaff's men they show a raggle-taggle courage as admirable as it is absurd. But it is the ships and machinery that dominate the film. There is an extra-ordinary collage sequence depicting the fitting-out of the battle-cruisers at Devonport which is a feat of virtuosity worthy of Eisenstein; there are repeated shots of the engines and the stokers' feats in getting up steam in H.M.S. Kent's pursuit of the nominally faster SMS Nurnberg are concentrated on as exercises in co-operative skill and dedication. The ships themselves- real ships, we are constantly reminded- shown on the ocean and the pattern of guns across the screen could come from futurist paintings. Finally, the specially commissioned score, played, appropriately, by a Royal Marine band, is a fine accompaniment.

I was entirely unaware of the existence of this film until the day before yesterday. Having watched it through, I can't fully express my admiration for Walter Summers and his production crew. The photography is superb, at times equalling or even surpassing Eisenstein in 'Potemkin'. The use of real ships adds to the realism, even if naval anoraks like myself will be aware of the discrepancies between the ships used in the film and those that fought in the actions, but generally speaking the sequences of the ships at sea, steaming and fighting in formation, as remarkably authentic. I would almost say that the film's worth seeing just for the shots of 'Malaya' and 'Barham' steaming hard and firing broadsides at speed. It's a real insight into a period of naval life long since gone from us.

The screenplay is remarkably faithful to the events, and commendably fair and even-handed to Von Spee and his crews. If any one character can be said to be the hero of the film that character is Von Spee, played by Hans Von Slock, though Craddock and Sturdee (and Jacky Fisher) are well-portrayed.

As I watched the action unfold, I was drawn to compare this film with the 1960 film 'Sink the Bismarck!' There's the same movement from defeat to victory, the same suspense back in London as to the outcome of the second engagement, and the same resolution of that tension as dawn breaks and the sun rises on a new day. However, I much prefer this film. 'Battles' is extremely well-photographed, the pacing of the action is impeccable, and the musical score complements the photography and screenplay wonderfully well.

There's a minor historical inaccuracy right at the end, but that apart the film conveys a real sense of the urgency and jeopardy of naval service in wartime, without losing sight of the humanity of the people involved on both sides of the action. This is a real treasure of the British cinema; I am SO glad I now possess a copy.

With the Royal Nacy, the Royal Australian Navy, and the Japanese Navy having captured German's far eastern possession, the German Admiral in charge, Von Spee, decided to make a run for Germany. The Battle of Coronel occurred when his forces met those under Rear Admiral Sir Christpher Craddock. It was unexpected. Craddock's orders were to engage, so he did, even though the German fleet was vastly stronger. He suffered an overwhelming defeat, losing most of his fleet. However, the Germans had used more than half of their munitons. .

The conditions for the Battle of Falkland Islands was vastly different. Vice-Admiral Doveton Sturdee's forces were superior to von Spee, and took on coal at the Falklands just before the battle. His fleet could move at 25 knots; von Spee's only at 22.5; his guns were heavier and could outrange the Germans'. Curiously, it was his feuding with First Sea Lord John Fisher that got him command; Fisher wanted him out of his hair. This battle was as lopsided a British victory as Coronel had been a German one.

The camerawork is excellent, with many portrait shots of the personnel, and striking overhead views of the black gang. None of the actors are credited, although some of their names are known. Each of the ships is named, and the actual ship in the role is credited.

A painstaking and dramatic reconstruction of two decisive naval battles from the early days of the First World War, The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands boasts plenty of impressive production values for its time, revelling in the power and beauty of the machine. There are echoes of Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin and Gance's La Roue sprinkled throughout Walter Summer's direction, often counterbalanced by his documentary-like approach to the material, yet the flairs of a distinctly British touch linger. Not so much propagandist, more patriotic. A touch that utilises all the cinematic techniques available to Summer at the time, some of the film's most striking moments are the montage sequences of the mechanical workings of the ships and shipyards - the inferno of the engine rooms, pumping pistons and dramatically mounting pressure gauges. With meticulous naval and military detail, the script is pared down and well-structured to build dramatic tension in what is essentially a documentary with necessarily dramatised sections. Accompanied by Simon Dobson's contemporary and rousing militaristic score, The Battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands is a hidden gem of British silent cinema, elaborate realism that reveals in the beauty of the form, scale and movement of its subject matter yet never to the point of jingoism or exploitation.