Blames the German soldier and society

Rating: 9/10 (22 July 2009)

Cross of Iron is frequently characterised as an apology for the German soldier, separating him from the guilt of the Nazis who ordered him to perform various atrocious acts. I suggest the reverse is the case: Peckinpah goes out of his way to show that evil German deeds cannot be blamed on the Nazis, but in fact arise from disturbing elements already present among non-Nazi Germans. Here are several examples: When Schnurrbart and Steiner discuss "what are we doing here?", they quote from Friedrich Bernhardi, an aggressive German expansionist who wrote before Nazism existed; the most evil character in the film (Captain Stransky) despises the Nazis; the snivelling Lt Driebig has no Nazi connections; Steiner sees both Eva the nurse and the hard-hearted German generals on his home leave as sharing guilt for the war, but there is no indication that any of them are Nazis; in fact, Eva's final words to Steiner are "long live Germany" – she is just an ordinary German patriotically doing her bit to support the war; Steiner accuses the cultured (and non-Nazi) Colonel Brandt of being in effect no different to Stransky. We only see one Nazi during the entire film.
Peckinpah drives his theme home with the final quote from Brecht: "Do not rejoice at (Hitler's) downfall  because the bitch that gave birth to him is in heat again". In other words: Hitler is not unique; mass-murderers like him will arise again and find willing allies; and German atrocities would have happened anyway in WWII even without the contribution of the Nazis. The most disturbing part of Peckinpah's theme, is the implication that any culture can give rise to a Hitler – the next one need not be German.
As for the film itself, some of its special effects look very dated now, but the inherent realism more than makes up for this. Classic Peckinpah film techniques are all here, and the juxtaposition of slow mo and different angles combine to give an overwhelming effect of what it is like to be under a battalion assault. The battle scenes are extremely realistic, particularly the manner in which Lt Meyer plans and leads a counter-attack to clear the trench system, and the manner in which the tanks break into the position. There is plenty of humanity shown among both Germans and Soviets. Even the nasty Stransky's character is understandable, and all the more terrifying as a result. I have to rate this film higher than Saving Private Ryan, because whilst the latter has sublime early scenes (both in France and USA), it then descends to that awful clichéd final battle.