stewarthugo

If, as I was once told, war is 99% boredom then this film is an accurate representation of 99% of war. I persisted watching it because it I felt it might possibly have been one of the worst films I had ever seen. in the same category as Rocky 4, Meet the Spartans and Don't Mess with the Zohan. Indeed this film is in that class.

The story is ridiculous in saying that the Germans could possibly have successfully invaded Britain in 1944, when they were being inexorably pushed back on the eastern front and in other theatres. The story was non existent, the acting wooden with overlong pauses in the dialogue.

It was a massive waste of a couple of hours, boring and without merit whatsoever.

I was loaned this DVD by a friend who said it was one of the best films he had seen, but unfortunately could not share this view. First of all I found the film too long and the musical scenes were little better than pathetic. The acting was abysmal. I thought I was watching a film by an amateur dramatics company with the lead role being hopelessly miscast. I learned later that the lady who was the lead is, in fact, a famous pop singer. This, while not excusing her appalling acting, does explain it. I understand that she also wrote the rather lame musical sequences. In parts of the film, especially the beginning, the camera work was dreadful and very off putting. I accept the film did improve towards the end, but the whole concept was, in my view, rather silly.

I must first say that the cinematography is outstanding but I have the following reservations:

1. The "comedy" acting was both unfunny and irritating, a sort of Italian version of Jim Carey. I do not like this exhibitionistic, overacting style and could not really warm to the main character.

2. Having visited Auschwitz, read the books of Primo Levi and many others on the holocaust, I felt that the concentration camp sequences in the latter part of the film totally unrealistic; it looked more like a holiday camp. I believe that the death camps (the ones that had gas chambers) were all in Poland and was not sure where this camp was supposed to be. I became even more confused when an American soldier drove a tank in to liberate the camp (the Polish death camps were liberated by Russians and the only inmates left behind were those who were in the hospital block who were too ill to participate in the death marches).

I can not understand why this film is so successful and has had so many awards. The silly "comedy" and the unrealistic concentration camp make this film very disappointing