More good than bad

Rating: Null/10 (22 March 2001)

I actually like this movie more than Saving Private Ryan. Some of the criticisms leveled at it are just unfair. Sure, the actors have British accents. So what? If they were speaking with Russian accents, someone would complain that Russian troopers don't speak English. If they were really speaking Russian, someone would complain about the subtitles... History buffs can always find faults but Saving Private Ryan has as many if not more historical inaccuracies. The atmosphere here seems right. The dark, grey battlefield is very well rendered and more importantly, the character of Ed Harris, the enemy, has dignity and humanity despite his final act. The almost animal sex scene is remarkable in its symbolism of war: love mingled with death, tenderness mingled with brutality. Some of the scenes, especially the field of corpses at the beginning has a surreal quality to them. Sadly, though, the ending seems to have been an afterthought. But thanks God, there is no flag-waving and cemetery scenes to manipulate our emotions. 8/10