On The Russian Front In 1943

Rating: 7/10 (8 July 2008)

A fine movie, made even more interesting by the fact that it's one of the few movies ("Das Boot" would be another example) that depicts the Second World War strictly from the German perspective, "Cross of Iron" is notable for the performances from a strong collection of actors, headlines by James Coburn as Sgt. Steiner. Steiner leads a German platoon at the Russian Front in 1943, a time when the Germans haven't yet lost the war, but they're definitely on the road to defeat. Steiner is the winner of an Iron Cross, and he comes under the command of Capt. Stransky (another fine performance by Maximilian Schell), a Prussian officer so desperate to impress his family that he'll readily lie in order to return from the Front with his own Iron Cross. Steiner is a fascinating character; a bit of a loner, who holds his officers in contempt as well as "the stinking Party" and whose only real commitment seems to be to the platoon he leads. For Steiner, the romance of war (if it ever existed) has long since been shattered. Any idealistic view of why he's fighting is gone - he fights now simply "for survival." The movie seems a little bit disjointed at times, and, like many war movies, eventually the battle scenes start to seem like a bit too much of the same thing over and over again - which, of course, is probably why soldiers are able to persevere through war. Still, it's a fascinating look at the cynicism bred by war. 7/10