Escapando do Inferno

I hate to rain on the parade of the people here who think this film is so great, but I had to force myself to watch it until the end. It obviously comes from a time in British history when the attitude was "Good show, British boys. You stuck it out in the German POW camps and kept the Jerries busy with your escape attempts, and we're proud of you chaps." That kind of gung-ho, congratulatory feeling is everywhere in the movie. Unfortunately, it turns the story into something bordering on the farcical. The Germans are portrayed as hapless dupes, toothless blusterers, not quite comical but easily fooled and quite incapable of backing up their threats. They may begin by saying that any attempt at escape will be met with death, but none of that seems to ever happen, and when an escape attempt is broken up or an escapee is returned, nobody seems the worse for wear. When two German shepherd dogs jump on an escapee emerging from a tunnel, they don't bite. It's all a game for the prisoners, without any real danger, pretty much on the level of schoolboy pranks. Life in Colditz is cheery, without any privations that we can see. It looks like a better place to be than in training camp back in Britain, where discipline was tough and your day was gruelling.

The prisoners seem to have a very free hand in the castle, moving about almost at will. How did they manage to cut through all those steel bars that they removed so easily from a window? How did they put together several dozen German uniforms, good enough to fool the sentries the escapees walked past? How did they speak such accent-free German that no one noticed? The film claims that everything portrayed is factual, but that claim is difficult to believe.

There is no narrative. The story, such as it is, consists of one escape attempt after another, none of them particularly inventive. Nothing joins them together into a cohesive plot.

I suppose we're expected to forgive crass nationalism in war movies. The Americans always save the day in American films, the British show superior character in British films. For me, this kind of thing spoils a movie. The Colditz story has it in spades. Brits always respond to Germans with a cheekiness that I think in real life would have earned them a rifle butt to the head. And they make arrogant, contemptuous comments about other prisoners, French, Polish, or Belgian. That dissolved most of the sympathy I might have felt for them. Yet, when the credits roll at the end, we see that these others were in fact more successful than the British in their escapes.

I didn't like this movie at all.

The Colditz Story was one of a number of movies the British made during the Fifties which relived the victories and bravery of their armed services during WWII. Often these movies starred John Mills. The Colditz Story is based on fact. Colditz Castle in Germany was used to imprison the most incorrigible prisoners-of-war, those who persistently made escape attempts. British, French, Polish and Dutch officers were sent there. Unfortunately for the Germans, they wound up trying to keep inside men dedicated to escaping, and who had skills they now could share. The result was that more prisoners of war escaped from Colditz than from any other prisoner of war camp in either the First or Second World Wars.

The movie is based on the memoirs of Pat Reid (John Mills), who served as an escape officer at Colditz and then was one of the first to break out and make it back to England. While the movie is a bit dated, it also is a dramatic and efficient telling of escape attempts, ruses played against the German captors and, of course, of the unfailing courage and good spirits of the British officers. Take the film for what it is, a demonstration for British audiences of the pluck and courage of their military during a horrendously threatening war which they won, and you won't be disappointed.

If you're fond of old British movies, you'll recognize, among others, Eric Portman, Lionel Jeffries, Bryan Forbes and Ian Carmichael.

Shot in stunning B&W Colditz is exactly what you'd want from a 1950s British war film - horrible conditions, very stiff upper lips, and lots of self-deprecation and self-deprecating humour.

THe surprise is how well it is directed and the acting - all of which are classic for its genre. Now overshadowed by bigger productions like the fictional Guns Of Navarone, Colditz is actually probably one of the truest to its source material, and is a rewarding view.

For this viewer it is notable because it is at times an uncomfortable watch - it really did try to understand what being in Colditz meant - and yet it is exciting, human, and full of wonderful moments.

Highly recommended.

Allied prisoners - that normal prison of war camps can't hold - are sent to a mountain stronghold that they are told is "escape proof."

Colditz Castle (in Germany) remains one of the most daunting and visited memorials of World War II. Looking a little like Count Dracula's castle from the outside the very sight of it must have made many a heart sink - especially those that didn't know if they were going to their deaths. Even when they found out that they weren't they still had to be vetted to see if they were not stool pigeons!

This was originally a book and in the fullness of time it would be turned in to this film, a TV series (and a very good one at that) and even a hit board game. The film has to scrap a great deal of the (excellently written) book and can only represent a few of the many plot lines. In truth the prisoners ran out of escape ideas near the end and had only one left - to build a glider to escape from the roof. The war ended before it was tested!

Anything with John Mills in is usually pretty good (ok - Who's That Girl, with Madonna falls short) and this is no exception. The prisoners realise that escape committee's are needed so escape attempts - between various nationalities - wouldn't cross one another. Everything here is based on a real incident, although some of the facts around it are fictionalised.

A good memorial to a tough place and some tough people that were prepared to risk machine guns and attack dogs to get over-the-wall to continue the war. While this type of movie always has many dramatic plus points built in, it is - still - one the top hundred British movies ever made and one of my top two hundred (made anywhere) films. There isn't a second of boredom in the whole movie.

I don't think The Colditz Story is the best of the PoW films, but it is still a very well done film all the same. I don't think the film is flawless, I think it could have been longer to give more depth to the characters(though there is evidence of that) and the film could have focused a bit more on the psychology of imprisonment like the TV series did.

Any faults aside, what I did love about The Colditz Story was the action. The Colditz Story has a carefully-constructed story about the daring escapes of the prisoners, and the action that forms this story is very well played, with a perfect balance of being tense in some scenes and music-hall jolly in others. The dialogue is thoughtful and quite literate, while Guy Hamilton who went on to greater projects since(primarily Goldfinger, my personal favourite of the Bond films) does a solid job directing.

The Colditz Story is beautifully shot and has the suitably foreboding German prison of the title to add to any authenticity, and there is a stirring and evocative music score too and the pacing ensures that there is very rare a dull moment. The acting is very strong, John Mills is perfectly cast, and Eric Portman also gives a performance worth of note. Ian Carmichael, Bryan Forbes and Lionel Jeffries successfully portray their heroic prison inmate characters too.

All in all, a very well-done film that despite any small imperfections deserves to be better known. 8/10 Bethany Cox