An unmatched epic

Rating: 10/10 (9 January 2015)

Since I first saw it over thirty years ago, A Bridge Too Far remains one my favourite films of all time. In addition to the all-star cast that provides the right amount of weight to the characters, the fact that director Richard Attenborough was able to put together the vast and well-choreographed combat scenes with such accuracy remains excellent viewing today as it was back when the film was made. Back in 1977, there were no special CGI effects to plug the obvious gaps, and thousands of extras were used.
Covering the planned attack on the German western flank with the aim of securing a path into the German industrial heartland, Operation Market Garden was a massive undertaking, conceived by British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery in short period of time. Central to the mission would be the landing of over 35,000 airborne troops from Britain, the United States and Poland.
The story flows nicely, and while I am a history buff and know all of the characters, my girlfriend who finally watched the film with me after years of having me bang on about it was able to follow it easily. I guessed it helps that she has become familiar with Waffen-SS formations and loves US jeeps! From what I have seen and heard over the years, most if not all of the main roles were excellently written. Sean Connery is excellent as Maj. Gen. "Roy" Urquhart and Anthony Hopkins plays Lt. Col. John Frost with an aristocratic authority, but the star of the show is the excellent Edward Fox as Lt. Gen. Brian Horrocks - especially for his rousing speech prior to XXX Corps setting off on the narrow road to Arnhem.
Every aspect is touched nicely, from the impact on the soldiers from all sides as the battle progressed, through to the ordinary Dutch civilians from the underground father and son team through to Kate ter Horst (Liv Ullmann) and Dr. Spaander (Laurence Olivier).
However what really stands out for me is the scriptwriter's treatment of the Germans, right at a time when feelings about the Second World War were still raw for many (including Dirk Bogarde, who once said that he would exit a lift if a German walked in). They are treated with an accuracy and sensitivity, more so as the two main divisions featured in the film are Waffen-SS - for long seen as the baddest of the "bad guys". Unlike other films of that time such as "The Battle of the Bulge", "Where Eagles Dare" and the like, none of the German officers are "ve haff vays of mekking you talk" cardboard cutouts - probably helped by their speaking German rather than English in a silly accent.
Hardy Krüger's SS-Brigadeführer Ludwig (a character based on SS-Brigadeführer Heinz Harmel, commander of the 10th SS Panzer Division "Frundsberg") is rightly portrayed as a hard but fair officer, and his immediate superior SS-Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich is truthfully shown as a consummate professional soldier - battle-hardened yet not beyond showing compassion for his enemy. Both "Frundsberg" and the 9th SS Panzerdivision "Hohenstaufen" (comprising the II. Panzerkorps) were widely respected by their former enemies, and truly lived up to their reputation as an elite military formation.
There are some slight quibbles - rollbars on Kubelwagens, the composite grey Panther tanks, the senior Waffen-SS officers' collar patches being of an older variant, the use of the Wehrmacht term "general" as opposed to proper SS ranks - but these are really the domain of the military geek like myself who has watched the film well over a couple of hundred times.
One sad side story concerns the commander of the "Hohenstaufen" 9th Reconnaissance Battalion, SS-Hauptsturmführer Viktor-Eberhard Gräbner (mistakenly called "Paul Grabner" in the cast list). He had been awarded the Knight's Cross earlier in the summer, but he wouldn't actually get to wear the award until September 17th - the day before he died on Arnhem bridge.
Operation Market Garden carried a heavy cost for the Allies, but despite the huge losses and Germans coming out on top it did probably shorten the war - though not by Christmas of 1944 as Montgomery had envisaged. It remains in itself a disaster, but ultimately a heroic one.
In all, A Bridge Too Far strikes the right tone and balance, and tells the story as it is wile allowing us to get to know the personalities involved. It still stands high today, and remains in many ways an unmatched classic.