"UNDERFIRE: The Untold Story of Pfc. Tony Vaccaro" (2016 release; 79 min.) is a documentary of WWII veteran and photographer Tony Vaccaro. As the documentary opens, we get some grainy footage and pictures of the D Day invasion, Omaha Beach in particular. We then go back in time, and get to understand how Tony Vaccaro got to that point, and started taking thousands upon thousands of WWII pictures on his sturdy little camera, only to then abandon them for fifty years after the end of the war. At this point, we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the 'plot' would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it plays plays out.
Couple of comments: this is the latest movie from documentarian Max Lewkowicz. Here he brings us the story that few will be familiar with, unless you are a WWII journalism expert. The documentary achieves several things: first, and very deservedly, it shines the spotlight on Vaccaro, who himself provides the main commentary (the movie essentially retraces the 2 year trek Vaccaro and his division did from the beaches of Normandy to close the Berlin). Second, the movie examines the ethical issues of war time photography. On a number of occasions, Vaccaro expresses doubts whether it is right for him to take certain pictures of certain situation. It makes for compelling viewing. Third, then there are the pictures themselves, so many of them being of extraordinary quality, it is absolutely amazing to see, now 7 decades later. All the while, the movie hums along, and before you know it, we reach the end already, seemingly far too quickly.
I recently stumbled upon this movie while surfing on HBO on Demand. So glad I took a flyer on this! If you have any interest in WWII, do yourself a favor and watch this movie, you'll thank me later. "UNDERFIRE" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
