I'm not a huge fan of Blithe, but I do like how he did lose his eye sight temporarily from trauma/shock because thats a very real thing and I'm glad that it was illustrated here. Although I'm pretty sure back then they really weren't sure quite what it was, but it probably happened quite a bit, I'd think.
Night of the Bayonet has got to be one of my favorite parts of the series - when it happens and when its illustrated by Tipper. This is also when Babe first comes into the company and its a great scene when he does :D
And I do wonder too, where DID the tanks come from? But on top of that on an actual serious note: Where did their dress uniforms come from?? I mean, they didn't just carry those around with them all the time...but did the army really ship them out to the men even when they were in where-ever-Europe?
The Malarkey/laundry sequence is very poignant to me: you get the contrast between knowing who the men were and applying their names to faces and personalities and actual lives versus the blank anonymity of ink-on-brown-laundry-paper.
What I also think is interesting is the anonymity of the German soldiers; they have a definite presence in the series, but names are never mentioned (aside from the surrendering Major). I recently read the book Frontsoldaten about men in the Wermacht, and the idea of sacrificing identity. Either way, you're anonymous if you're alive and you're anonymous if you're dead -- what a terrifying notion.
I've always thought BoB had a rather tender view of the common Wehrmacht grunt; I'm always surprised when I hear people say it's a very black-and-white show. Well, it's definitely an us-vs-them show, but the German soldiers are seldom portrayed as evil. In fact, I don't think that's ever really shown at all. The red-bloused widow in "Why We Fight" is way more "evil" than any German soldier in the series.
I agree. You can tell that one of the production choices from the very beginning was to portray the characters and their choices as honestly as possible in the midst of exercising artistic license --(it is a film, after all). Part of what drew me to the series was that the only "good vs evil" exists only in the characters' opinions and their interpretations of their circumstances (if at all).
Times ago I was wandering in the web and I find this quote. When I read it, I linked it with Speirs speech.
James Ramon Jones (the author of "From Here to Eternity" and "The Thin Red Line" in a interview): "Especially in the beginning of the war, the guys who became good soldiers, and good infantry men sort of had to accept that they were dead - that they weren't going to get out of it. The statistics were so much their enemy that there wouldn't be much chance that in four or five years, that they would survive it. Some did... and in fact most of the men who got in combat did survive it."
Most blatantly beautiful cinematography in the series?shanghai_jimJune 13 2008, 15:54:30 UTC
I think so. I mean, "Points" had great scenery, and the subtle complexity of the Ardennes set is something else; but damn if this episode did not have some amazing shots, angles, framing, lighting, on and on and on.
- the opening sequence. The rotating pan around Blithe as he stares at the sky. The shot of the clouds. The trio walking through the wreckage. Blithe in the field. Severe tight shot on Tab. Medium shot on tne three. God's eye view on Blithe. Then pan down from God's eye view to human level, from heaven to earth, as Blithe turns around.
- the lake/fire sequence. The colors!
- the aid station scene: so chiaroscuro, it's like a Caravaggio painting, and a Caravaggio subject matter.
- the walk through the green fields in the rain shower, especially the panning shot behind the column of soldiers.
- Blithe finally shooting, and that spinning shell. The whole episode was self-consciously and deliberately beautifully shot.
Re: Most blatantly beautiful cinematography in the series?skew_whiffJune 13 2008, 16:11:37 UTC
Yeah, the direction and cinematography in this episode is pretty distinctive. Lot of use of slow motion put to good effect. The bit that always really impresses me is the combination of the clearing smoke and the muted sound to convey Tipper's disorientation after the explosion - we get put right into the viewpoint of a character.
Also, the bit with the lake and the fire is downright beautiful. Fire, water, reflections, silhouettes; so much of this series looks like it could be a painting.
Re: Most blatantly beautiful cinematography in the series?oddsbobsJune 15 2008, 04:46:29 UTC
You've convinced me. I've always gone back and forth over which episode I love the most, but you've made me realize that they each win at different things... and Carentan definitely has the most beautiful cinematography.
I should take the moment now to also thank you for pointing out all that symbolism (ie the halo of stars at the med station). I watched the episode again with these things in mind and it added a whole new layer. I actually liked Blithe, for one.
That's what's so great about BoB... the first viewing is great and all, and allows for regular viewers to enjoy it, but there's a lot there that keeps you hooked time and time again.
I'm not a huge fan of Blithe. He irritates (irrigates? xD) me, and I wish he could have shown some more initiative instead of whimpering at the bottom of a foxhole.
I don't exactly like Blithe, but I sympathise with him, because god knows I'd do the same in his situation.
Still, from what I know about what really happened, Blithe was kind of hard done by in this series. The real Blithe didn't die in 1948 but lived to marry and raise a family. He also served in Korea, so he can't have been too unnerved by warfare.
I wonder if the self-consciously arty way this episode was made is linked to the certain ... heavinesss of symbolism and "moral of the story" it has. I think it's quite noticeable here. Blithe's problems, which were based on the observations of several people including Winters, was used to make him the sounding board and stand in for three philosophies of war, expressed by Welsh, Speirs and Winters, the three being "too hot", "too cold" and "just right".
A lot of the shot constructions have heavy symbolism: the sign Blithe's head rests against in the aid station makes it look like a halo of stars, and again at the end, his bandages look like a medieval nun's wimple and he has the transfixed gaze of a mystic, with the hand in repose over his heart; tipped or knocked-over crucifixes everywhere; the way the three leaders keep materializing out of thin air from Bithe's POV.
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Night of the Bayonet has got to be one of my favorite parts of the series - when it happens and when its illustrated by Tipper. This is also when Babe first comes into the company and its a great scene when he does :D
And I do wonder too, where DID the tanks come from? But on top of that on an actual serious note: Where did their dress uniforms come from?? I mean, they didn't just carry those around with them all the time...but did the army really ship them out to the men even when they were in where-ever-Europe?
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What I also think is interesting is the anonymity of the German soldiers; they have a definite presence in the series, but names are never mentioned (aside from the surrendering Major). I recently read the book Frontsoldaten about men in the Wermacht, and the idea of sacrificing identity. Either way, you're anonymous if you're alive and you're anonymous if you're dead -- what a terrifying notion.
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When I read it, I linked it with Speirs speech.
James Ramon Jones (the author of "From Here to Eternity" and "The Thin Red Line" in a interview): "Especially in the beginning of the war, the guys who became good soldiers, and good infantry men sort of had to accept that they were dead - that they weren't going to get out of it. The statistics were so much their enemy that there wouldn't be much chance that in four or five years, that they would survive it. Some did... and in fact most of the men who got in combat did survive it."
Reply
- the opening sequence. The rotating pan around Blithe as he stares at the sky. The shot of the clouds. The trio walking through the wreckage. Blithe in the field. Severe tight shot on Tab. Medium shot on tne three. God's eye view on Blithe. Then pan down from God's eye view to human level, from heaven to earth, as Blithe turns around.
- the lake/fire sequence. The colors!
- the aid station scene: so chiaroscuro, it's like a Caravaggio painting, and a Caravaggio subject matter.
- the walk through the green fields in the rain shower, especially the panning shot behind the column of soldiers.
- Blithe finally shooting, and that spinning shell. The whole episode was self-consciously and deliberately beautifully shot.
Reply
The bit that always really impresses me is the combination of the clearing smoke and the muted sound to convey Tipper's disorientation after the explosion - we get put right into the viewpoint of a character.
Also, the bit with the lake and the fire is downright beautiful. Fire, water, reflections, silhouettes; so much of this series looks like it could be a painting.
Reply
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I should take the moment now to also thank you for pointing out all that symbolism (ie the halo of stars at the med station). I watched the episode again with these things in mind and it added a whole new layer. I actually liked Blithe, for one.
That's what's so great about BoB... the first viewing is great and all, and allows for regular viewers to enjoy it, but there's a lot there that keeps you hooked time and time again.
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Still, from what I know about what really happened, Blithe was kind of hard done by in this series. The real Blithe didn't die in 1948 but lived to marry and raise a family. He also served in Korea, so he can't have been too unnerved by warfare.
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A lot of the shot constructions have heavy symbolism: the sign Blithe's head rests against in the aid station makes it look like a halo of stars, and again at the end, his bandages look like a medieval nun's wimple and he has the transfixed gaze of a mystic, with the hand in repose over his heart; tipped or knocked-over crucifixes everywhere; the way the three leaders keep materializing out of thin air from Bithe's POV.
Reply
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