(no subject)
Saw The Deluge (1974) a very good Polish film kind of like Dr. Zhivago written by a Polish Nobel Prize winner. It was set during a war in 1655 which is a time period I don't think I've ever seen a war film about. It was cool to see cavalry charges, muskets, swords, pikes, cannons and all of that stuff. The star was a very handsome man like a Polish Brad Pitt with beautiful blue eyes. He was better looking than the female lead and she was a stunner. It was almost six hours long and the first half was better than the second. I especially liked the way the forces creep up on a village like modern navy seals would. That scene was followed by a very good sword duel. Costumes and acting were very good. The writing was superb. Cinematography and direction were above average. This little guy playing Col. Wolodjowski their big war hero was great, like a little bull dog kind of like Joe Pesci. And they had a loud fat guy with a blemish on his forehead who was cool too. The action was handled very well. 4/5 stars.
I also saw 1917 (2018) another war picture. It was alright, although a little simplistic. Not much action. No great dialogue. Pretty straight forward. The duo becomes a solo pretty early and the complexity reduces proportionately. Roger Deakins is getting rave reviews for his camera work, but I think he's done better. The one long shot might be a hard trick to pull off but it isn't actually better than what he usually does. There's a lot more running than acting. Although there are bodies littering the scenery only three Germans and one Brit die on screen. That's got to be a low count for war films, but you know how Brits hate gun violence. One death is by knife and another by strangulation. And of course this is actually an anti-war film which doesn't glorify violence. It's two soldiers sent on a mission to stop a battle and save two battalions from walking into a trap. 3/5 stars