BENEDICTION

 Peter Capaldi     Tom Blyth     Jack Lowden

Simon Russell Beale     Ben Daniels     Gemma Jones

         This is not your usual war story.  It starts out in London in 1914 with a poem about war written by Siegfried Sassoon (played by Jack Lowden as the younger and Peter Capaldi as the older), the protagonist whose life is chronicled beginning with his years as a young man when he and his brother are going off to WWI.  We see him three years later after his brother was killed and he has become at the same time a decorated British soldier and an anti-war activist, based on his “Soldier’s Declaration.” He is refusing to return to the battlefield on the basis that the conditions for peace have not been stipulated by government and the powers that be are guilty of “political errors and insincerities.”  

         He is fortunate (or unfortunate, depending on your point of view) in that a mentor with influence, Robbie Ross (Beale) sees that he is referred to a hospital for traumatized soldiers in lieu of being court martialed.  He is outraged by this “help” because he had wanted to publicize his protest.  Nevertheless, he concedes, and uses his time in a military hospital to develop more insight into himself with the help of therapist Dr. Rivers (well characterized by the script and performed by Daniels).  

         The plot takes a turn after Sassoon is discharged from the army and focuses on his life thereafter when he has acknowledged his attraction to men and becomes involved in ambivalent relationships with a number of them when, after a particularly painful period, he decides to marry a woman, Hester Gatty (Jones).

         Writer/Director Terence Davies has created a moving and interesting work on the life of the poet Siegfried Sassoon, although he has chosen not to adhere strictly to historical accuracy.  Presumably his interest was more in the direction of illustrating the lives of homosexual men during that period of time not only in the military but in everyday social life as well.  And perhaps just as much to validate anti-war sentiments. His depiction captures the passion against war and the advocacy for freedom of identity, which could be seen as related causes.

         Jack Lowden seems perfectly cast in the starring role, showing the interiority of the main character with subtle charm on the outside and depth of feeling on the inside, most particularly captured in the last scene.  Peter Capaldi as the older Sassoon with obvious bitterness and closed off emotions is aptly personified.  All the cast members are well chosen and help to give us a poignant impression of the people in Sassoon’s life.

 

An unusual war story that depicts international struggles mirroring internal conflicts.

 

Grade:  B                    By Donna R. Copeland

SUMMERLAND

Gemma Arterton     Gugu Mbatha-Raw     Lucas Bond     Penelope Wilton     Tom Courtenay     Dixie Egerickx

     The film is immediately engaging in telling a war story about displaced children and those sheltering them when London was under siege in WWII.  Alice (Arterton) is one of the shelterers, although one initially rejecting the idea and agreeing to do it only for a week until another home can be found.  Alice is a writer who jealously guards her time, and is known as the local witch because of her acerbic personality and avoidance of friends or even friendly chats at the grocery store.

     What happens is that the child assigned to her, Frank (Bond), manages to worm his way into her heart, as most children will eventually.  When Alice discovers that Frank can actually be interested in her work as a researcher studying mythology, a bond is formed that takes Alice completely by surprise.  But the moments of joy and understanding will soon be interrupted and seriously threatened.

     One of the elements that makes the story so appealing is the attractiveness of the two main characters, played by Gemma Arterton and Lucas Bond.  Even when they’re first becoming acquainted, the actors are able to convey a special kind of connection that makes the story even more meaningful by the end.  Arterton is skillful in portraying the prickliness of Alice at first, and then her gradual transition into someone more “normal.”  Bond is a natural in playing a child who is reacting to trauma, but has a firm base of security coming from a good home with caring parents.

     Tom Courtenay as head of the local school and Dixie Egerickx as Philip’s classmate and friend both give delightful performances that lighten the, sometimes heavy, drama unfolding.  The part played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw is primarily in flashbacks that fill us in on Alice’s history, and she also provides levity and depth of character.

     Writer/director Jessica Swale does a fine job in flashbacks that make Alice in particular, with her quirky characteristics, believable.  The story she tells is fanciful—too implausible perhaps for some—but I think the information given toward the very end made it all come together and be more plausible, although still a bit unlikely to some extent.  Swale’s writing is beautiful with memorable lines such as, “Planes crash, Frank; what matters is how you deal with it.”  Some of its power is in it serving as a theme for the movie as a whole, along with another apt saying that “stories have to come from somewhere.”

     Summerland has much appeal, particularly for the time we are living in; but it is a story with richness and depth in characterization as well.

A good summertime movie to counteract some of the stress of current times.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

1917

George MacKay    Dean-Charles Chapman     Andrew Scott

Mark Strong     Richard Madden     Colin Firth     Benedict Cumberbatch

     Be prepared to run for all you’re worth with the characters over all kinds of terrain strewn with friendly and enemy soldiers and feel continuing tension for almost the entire film of 1917.  Director and writer (with Krysty Wison-Cairns) Sam Mendes and his cinematographer Roger Deakins made an excellent call in filming the entire adventure in essentially one continuous take.  With the immediacy of the story, it pulls the viewer right into the screen, and you are there.  

     In France in the first World War, two young Lance Corporals, Tom (Chapman) and Will (MacKay) are sent on a mission to Colonel MacKenzie (Cumberbatch) with the urgent message to cancel a military charge where, unbeknownst to MacKenzie, a trap has been set by the Nazis.  Will and Tom will have to cross a no-man’s land of dead bodies and through enemy lines to get by all kinds of dangers along the way, and they have only a few hours to make it.  The charge is given with a special incentive:  Tom’s brother is one of the 1600 men in MacKenzie’s company who will be killed if MacKenzie proceeds with the attack.

     Along with the script and direction, cinematography and music (Thomas Newman) are paired so seamlessly with the story they serve as sensory enhancements, intensifying the whole experience.  There are breathtaking scenes such as one at sunset when a soldier is sneaking through the sculpted forms of the remains of a bombed-out building, which Deakins has constructed to look like a morbidly colorful abstract painting.  The whole scene is heightened by the fear of being shot.  In this case, the music has unworldly sounds that give expression to the tension and fear.  Other times, there are sharp contrasts between the horrors encountered along the way and snow-white cherry blossoms wafting in the breeze or come upon in a host of trees felled by the Germans.  

     Another feat in this film is the production design (Dennis Gassner) and the creation of miles of military encampments, abandoned encampments complete with rats, and a bombed out building where a young woman and an abandoned child are sheltered with one candle burning brightly.  And much later on, we witness a contrast with a camp of British soldiers listening to one of their own singing the popular American folk song, “Wayfaring Stranger.”  

     The paradox of 1917 is in its graphic description of the horrors of war coupled with the visual and lyrical beauty in which the story is presented.  A late bloomer this year, 1917 may be at the top of more than one list in the upcoming award season.

Heroics are paramount in 1917, but the visual and musical enhancements and the brief, tender moments, altogether, earn it a place on the “must see” list.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

JOJO RABBIT

Roman Griffin Davis    Taika Waititi    Thomasin McKenzie          Scarlett Johansson     Sam Rockwell     

Rebel Wilson     Archie Yates     Stephen Merchant     Alfie Allen

     What an ingenious anti-war film!  Taika Waititi has invested all of his creative energies into putting viewers into the mind of a child to take the journey from hope and hero worship on to despair and disillusionment, then full circle to hope, in a most unusual coming-of-age story set in Germany during the end of WWII.

     It begins (significantly, with a Beatles song “I want to Hold Your Hand” in German) with Jojo (incredibly portrayed by Davis in his first film), a gung-ho young German attending a youth camp for Nazi training.  He’s so into it, he has his [imaginary] friend Adolph Hitler (Waititi) by his side, bolstering him up when he’s discouraged and urging him on to a promising future as the bravest of Nazis.  There are signs, however, that Jojo might be too tenderhearted, and that’s how he gets his nickname, Jojo Rabbit.  (Jeers on all sides from his trainers and fellow recruits—except for one Captain “K” (Rockwell) who, uncharacteristically among Nazi soldiers, seems to have some empathy for him.)

     Jojo’s kooky-on-the-outside mother (Johansson) has a way of supporting her son while at the same time glossing over his stated fears.  In a way, she entertains him out of these concerns, but always with an underlying steadfastness that proves her worth.  She’s a mysterious character who appears to have important things going on, but Jojo doesn’t really know where she is when she’s gone from home.

     Which, because he is alone, is how he discovers an extra person in the house, “Elsa” (McKenzie) named, for purposes of subterfuge, after his dead sister, a young Jewish girl Jojo’s mother is hiding.  Jojo’s and Elsa’s interactions provide a context for Jojo to spout out all that he has heard of Jews (having never met one) and a framework for Waititi to illustrate how stereotypes vanish when actual people meet actual people, the distance shrinking as they become friends.

     Seldom have anti-war movies covered the scope of Jojo Rabbit.  It portrays the internal experiences of a young Nazi in training ushering us on through his figuring out “Jews”, his encountering primal fears of home searches, his observing people he trusts of glossing over facts for humanitarian concerns, and his discovery of who important people in his life really are, including his mother and his ever loyal friend, Yoki (Yates).  But beyond all of that, it has its comedic moments, e.g., reverse psychology is rephrased as “backwards mind power”, and the name of Jojo’s “book” about Jews he is writing is entitled, “Yoo-hoo, Jews”).

     I thoroughly enjoyed Jojo Rabbit, and hope that viewers will grasp all the underlying messages in it about children and about war.  It’s a satirical spoof, a heart-warming drama, a comedy, and horrifying picture of the costs of war.

Jojo Rabbit is not to be taken lightly, although it is a comedy, along with being a satirical spoof and heart-warming drama.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

A PRIVATE WAR

Rosamund Pike     Jamie Dornan     Tom Hollander     Stanley Tucci

     I don’t know if other people will have the same experience in watching this film as I did, but to me it was like listening to television news stories from Sri Lanka, Iraq, Aphganistan, Libya, and Syria one after the other, highlighting mangled, bloodied bodies and cries of misery.  Our heroine, Marie Colvin—a journalist and real person—(played eloquently by Rosamund Pike) seems to be drawn to war zones, even as she hates them.  She says at one point, “In covering war, can we really make a difference?”  In her own mind, that is what she is about, trying to get the world to care.  And she is successful, at least in her editor’s mind, when he compliments her:  “You have the God-given talent to make people stop and care.”  I wish the story had moved me to a greater extent, but it didn’t, which I will address below.

     We first get a bit of background on Marie, at home in London with her husband David, a professor/novelist, when she is early in her career.  He makes a comment about her being away from home so much, and clearly doesn’t appreciate the passion she has for her work.  When she gets seriously injured in Sri Lanka and begins showing signs of PTSD, he tries to get her to change directions.  But after a stint in a mental hospital, in a couple of years she is headed to Iraq.

     That is where she will meet the photographer Paul Conroy (Dornan), who is awed by her and eventually becomes a devoted partner in covering war stories.  He sticks with her throughout, being a kind of protector (which she allows it) and pal.  They end up in Libya during the Arab Spring, and meet with Gaddafi—whom she has met before—and she asks him hard questions, which he responds to with heart and humor.  

     By this time, Marie is showing signs of serious alcohol problems and issues with Sean, her editor (Hollander).  She has met someone who—if anyone could—inspire her to rest on her laurels, but at this point, Sean tries to reel her in to continue.  She comes back with the argument that what she does protects him (and her readers).  “I see it so you don’t have to”, she says; whereupon Sean comes back with, “But if you lose your convictions, what hope do the rest of us have?”  That kind of guilt trip will always get to Marie, and she travels on to Syria and Assad’s bombing of civilians there.  

     I was taken with director Matthew Heineman’s previous films, which were documentaries: Cartel Land, City of Ghosts.  Here, he attempts to dramatize Marie Colvin’s life (based on Marie Brenner’s article in “Vanity Fair” magazine, with a screenplay by Arash Amel) as a gutsy, committed journalist whose life-long wish was to appeal to populations of the world to help those in desperate need.  But, surprisingly, the film doesn’t leave the viewer with a clear understanding of Marie herself.  Why did she keep chasing war stories to the point that it was almost—if not in fact—suicidal?  Did her editor, Sean Ryan (Hollander), try to keep her out of harm’s way—until the sensational story became more important?  Nor does the film pull us in emotionally so that we’re cheering at the end.  No, it’s missing the heart and soul that his documentaries captured so well.

     That being said, Pike’s performance is flawless and moving throughout.  She clearly understood and appreciated the character of Marie Colvin, in ways that I could not in seeing this film.

This is about recent wars and intended as an anti-war film.

Grade:  C+                                     By Donna R. Copeland

JOURNEY'S END

Sam  Claflin     Paul Bettany     Asa Butterfield     Stephen Graham

Toby Jones     Tom Sturridge     Robert Glenister

     This is an unusual movie in depicting the fears of troops in war as much as the bravery—which makes sense to me.  It takes place in the spring of 1918, the fourth year of World War I, in northern France.  British Company C is informed that the Germans are about to make a major offensive on March 21. Then, a brigadier general orders an operation a few days before, in which two officers and their soldiers will storm the German forces 60 feet in front of them and capture a German, which would be a huge feather in the cap of the British Forces.

     Before this happens, we’re introduced to a few members of Company C.  Captain Stanhope (Claflin) is in charge, aided by his second, Osborne (Bettany).  Osborne (whom every calls “Uncle”) is a seasoned officer soon to retire, and he has the job of backing up, shoring up Stanhope, who has problems with bravery and leadership that are kept secret.  When a new recruit appears, it presents multiple problems. Raleigh (Butterfield) is the brother of Stanhope’s betrothed, and they were in school together.  Raleigh so admires Stanhope, he has volunteered and used connections to be assigned to his company.  But Stanhope, realizing that he has a drinking problem, fears what Raleigh might say to his sister about him.

     Stanhope is just neurotic enough to dread this intrusion/perceiver threat, and gives Raleigh mixed messages.  Raleigh is a gung-ho new recruit who always looks on the bright side, and he sees nothing about what Stanhope fears.  Then one of those coincidental moments occurs; the colonel orders an operation the night before the expected German raid, and pressures Stanhope to assign Osborne and Raleigh, two men with whom he has emotional connections—with a few other soldiers to the mission, which is to capture a German to gain intelligence.  Stanhope tries, but is unsuccessful in convincing the colonel to have him assign others to the operation.

     This film is not so much about these specific events in WWI as it is about the emotional and personal rigors that men go through during war.  It shows the unaccountable bravery of Captain Stanhope in talking his soldier down from imminent desertion in the face of fear, and then falling apart himself when he is with someone he trusts.  He is a sensitive, artistic type, who is clearly not made for war, but apparently fell into his position because of his intelligence—or something else; we’re not told how he got into military service. Anyway, he did well enough to be made a captain and pays a huge price for it in the trauma and losses he experiences.

     Director Saul Dibb graphically shows the personal, seldom told, experiences of war by men who have joined the military for a myriad of reasons, some with more conscious motivations than others who, in a way, simply find themselves there. All the drama takes place in dark, vulnerable trenches in northern France, which serves to highlight even more the dramas going on inside the soldiers.  It gives equal time to both the fears and the bravery of the men, and is unusually eloquent about the obliviousness of upper level brass in planning major operations and recommending the officers and men to carry them out. Like so many realms in our society, the movers and shakers fail to keep their ears to the ground and stay knowledgeable about fundamental elements, remaining instead in their ivory towers.

     The cast of Sam Claflin, Paul Bettany, Asa Butterfield, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, and Tom Sturridge is well chosen, and each actor contributes significantly to the authentic feel of this story.  They give life and inspiration to the conception of R. C. Sherriff, the novelist who wrote the original screenplay on which this film is based.  

An unusual account of war, showing the doubts and fears of men, along with the bravery.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

12 STRONG

Chris Hemsworth     Michael Shannon     William Fichtner     Taylor Sheridan     Michael Pena     Navid Negahban

     This film had potential, but the filmmakers chose instead to make it one long, two-hour gun battle nonstop.  We hear a bit about the characters in the beginning, but not really enough to feel invested in them.  We are given a bit of war planning and arguing, then the 12 committed men are sent to Afghanistan as elite special forces with the primary purpose of disempowering Al Qaeda.  They will secure the alliance of a Taliban warlord with grudges against his rivals and a mutual hatred of Al Qaeda, which has just attacked the U.S. on 9/1/1.

     If we could have been given more back story about Captain Mitch Nelson (Hemsworth) who secured undying loyalty from his team including Hal Spencer (Shannon), Sam Diller (Pena), and others, their confidence in him and his leadership would have been more gratifying.     This is even more salient for the character General Dostum (Negahban), the Taliban leader with whom Captain Nelson has an ambivalent relationship.  What a rich and illuminating history he must have.  Having some light shed on the political and historical background of these relationships would elevate the story beyond constant war skirmishes. 

I’m reminded of the jokes about American westerns’ “white” hats and “black” hats that helped us identify the warring parties.  We have no such clues in 12 Strong, where it’s often difficult to tell which fighters are American and which are which Taliban.  Some of them are robed, and we know they are Afghans, but which are General Dostum’s and which are enemies is difficult to see.  My hunch is that those who are familiar with videogames—which are fast-moving—will have an easier time than I had.

    Production designer Christopher Glass and the visual effects artists have created impressive sets and special effects.  It is thrilling to see the American bombs hitting their targets and rockets flying through the air.  These filmmakers did their jobs well; I put most of the responsibility for neglecting character development in favor of never-ending battle scenes at the feet of the director, Nicolai Fuglsig.  I believe this is his first foray into directing a feature film, and hopefully, next time he will attend more to emotional and character development to give depth to his films.

     Chris Hemsworth is effective in depicting a dedicated American war hero who is sharp and cagy in his analyses and attuned to nuances and competing agendas in his dealings with others, whether friend or foe.  We do get a better idea of what kind of person he is.  That is not the case with the characters of fine actors like Michael Shannon, Michael Pena, Taylor Sheridan, and Navid Negahban.  They were wasted in this movie, considering their intrinsic worth.

     This is a story that needs to be told, but with many more details about the circumstances and the people involved.

Knights on (not white) horses win the day (not the war) in Afghanistan post 9/11.

Grade:  D+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

DARKEST HOUR

Gary Oldman     Kristin Scott Thomas     Stephen Dillane     Ronald Pickup     Ben Mendelssohn     Lily James

     Timing.  If only this picture had preceded Dunkirk, I think we would have a better understanding of both films.  Darkest Hour informs us about Winston Churchill’s darkest hour just after he’s become Prime Minister (without the firm support of key Parliament members and even King George VI) when Hitler’s Germany has occupied the Netherlands, Belgium, and France.  Viscount Halifax (Dillane) and Lord Chamberlain (Pickup) are urging him to start negotiations for peace with Hitler—which is anathema to Churchill.  But to this film’s credit, we feel the tremendous burden the conundrum places on someone with this degree of power.  And Churchill sincerely looks at all sides, finally being convinced of the road to take, delivering one of the most rousing speeches of his career about standing up to Hitler’s military threat.  (The ride on the underground, where he elicits riders’ opinions is the filmmakers’ invention.)

     Writer Anthony McCarten and Director Joe Wright have made Darkest Hour a study of Winston Churchill the man—his relationship with his wife Clementine (Thomas) (who continually reinforces the better side of him), his interactions with Parliament members and his staff and the King (Mendelssohn), and frequent periods of doubt and concern over doing what was right for the country and its people.   He seems hardboiled about sacrificing thousands of troops in Callaix, yet when it is made personal by his secretary Miss Layton (James), he is clearly moved and saddened.  When his family toasts him on winning the post of Prime Minister, his own toast is, “Here’s to not buggering it up.”

     This may be the role of Gary Oldham’s career, and one that may earn him a long overdue Academy Award.  The makeup and his portrayal of the great man completely hide his own identity.  I tried in vain to see a trace of Oldham the actor in his appearance.  He’s known for a wide range of roles and pictures, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Nil by Mouth (writer, director), Sid and Nancy, The Dark Knight (2), Batman, Planet of the Apes, and Harry Potter, and he well deserves accolades for his performance here.  Kristin Scott Thomas is exemplary in her acting as well, and Lily James is noteworthy in her role as Churchill’s new secretary. 

    Director Joe Wright is acclaimed for his British productions, particularly Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, but is respected as well for his other films, The Soloist, Hanna, and Anna Karenina. In Darkest Hour, he elects to shine more light on Churchill’s personality, particularly during a tenuous period when he has little support and must convince so many that it’s better not to negotiate with Hitler and Mussolini but for England to stand its ground.  He was a voice crying in the wilderness, because so many in the government were not taking strong stands against fascism, and his good friend President Roosevelt did not feel free (because of America’s neutral stance) to lend air support. 

     The film highlights that period of time when Winston Churchill proved himself a hero.  Not much will be new to the viewer after so many Churchill movies; the primary reason to see it is perhaps Gary Oldman’s performance.

Behind the scenes government in Britain leading up to the Battle of Dunkirk.

Grade:  C                                    By Donna R. Copeland

AN ORDINARY MAN

Ben Kingsley     Hera Hilmar     Peter Serafinowicz

     “I will never hide, and I will never be taken”, states The General (Kingsley), the last one responsible for war crimes in Czechoslovakia who hasn’t been captured.  The General is being hidden by his loyalists, transported from place to place for varying lengths of time to keep him away from the authorities.  But The General is not easily corralled; he will not go gently into anonymity.  He longs for some stability and thinks maybe he has found it when his protectors find him an apartment rather than a seedy hotel.

     This man is extremely well experienced in counter intelligence and sniffing out potential enemies.  He covers the apartment thoroughly, examining every inch.  But one day someone uses her own key and lets herself in.  He immediately has a gun aimed at her, and she explains that she is the housekeeper for the previous tenant.  He grills her as if it were an interrogation, and her responses fascinate him.  She is obviously poor, has no parents, family, or boyfriend, to which, he says that she is like him, a ghost.  They don’t really exist.  But he “owns” her, she is his, and he will pay more for her than her previous employer did.

     The attraction between these two is some of the most interesting material in the film.  Tanja (Hilmar) (or “Maid!” as he calls her) is enigmatic, giving cryptic answers to his probing questions.  She is about the age of his daughter with whom he no longer has contact, so an added complication in the story is his identifying Tanja with her.  The more silent she is, the more he projects onto her his perceptions of his own daughter.  Subsequently, he asks Tanja surprising questions and does surprising things for her, and she remains as mysterious to him as all the women in his life he has known.  It’s a challenge to him to “pierce her veil” and discover who she is.  (The association to his daughter is not to be missed.)

     As time goes on, his association of Tonja with his daughter becomes clearer, as he teaches her to cook, buys her clothes, advises her, and defies her when he has a different agenda.  But she is not to be outdone, and surprises him at critical times.  Nevertheless, he has his own plans, and seems to take particular delight in evading those who are charged with capturing him.  This very unusual cat and mouse game, where both identities keep changing, makes the film.  This “ordinary man” may not be so ordinary after all.

     Ben Kingsley is well cast as the mischievous, but very experienced and bright, military man.  Hera Hilmar plays her character to a tee, whether it is as the underprivileged no-life maid or the woman she turns out to be.  Writer/director Brad Silberling has produced an intriguing, playful film that should please those interested in war stories and devious plots.  Ben Kingsley is delightful as he always is in playing mischievous-authoritarian characters (not an easy thing to do) with an almost invisible eye to the camera.  Hera Hilmar as the maid-plus is perfectly cast in her simple, unaffecting beauty and her ability to appear mysterious and competent at the same time. 

A cat and mouse game different from most any you have seen before.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

PARADISE

Yuliya Vysotskaya     Christian Clauss     Philippe Duquesne     
Peter Kurth     Viktor Sukhorukov     Jakob Diehl

     Paradise comes from a different perspective on the ending of WWII in Germany, one in which previous leaders and a prisoner reflect on what happened from their viewpoints, why they made the decisions they did, and their regrets.  Olga (Vysotskaya) is a Russian noblewoman who joined the French Resistance and got arrested for sheltering Jewish children by Jules (Kurth), a French-Nazi collaborator with the occupying Nazis in Paris in 1942; and Helmut, a German nobleman who bought into the Nazi vision of Germany being a paradise with Aryans in charge.

     The movie depicts how these three people’s paths cross—and sometimes re-cross—in unexpected ways.  Olga and Helmut first meet at the seaside and again later at a festive occasion when she is married to a Jew.  They have a tryst, and he falls for her immediately, but she rebuffs him and doesn’t answer his letters. 

     Olga, who does not have children of her own and is part of the Resistance, ends up being interrogated by Jules after she is arrested because of her Jewish last name.  The film gives many examples of how people desperate for freedom will make desperate bargains with their captors, some for noble reasons, some for not so noble reasons.  Irrespective of Jules, Olga ends up being sent to a concentration camp, where Helmut, her admirer of years before, is now the Fuhrer’s representative sent to uncover corruption in the camps—not only perpetrated by the prisoners, but by those in charge as well.  Mostly by those in charge. 

     Helmut spots Olga just by the crook of her neck when he is on inspection, and is entranced by her just as before.  He then requests that she become his cleaning lady, which she does and a romance is lit. 

      This is one of the places where the film has value in showing the power of basic beliefs about life, and the ambivalence that arises when people are faced with situations that challenge those basic beliefs.  Helmut, who appears to be convinced that the Nazi principles are ideal, is flummoxed when he encounters their real-life effects.  His underlying beliefs are contradictory to some of his actions, and he remains in a dilemma.  Olga is shown to be noble throughout in her basic principles of love for humanity and a kind of practical view of what is best.  Jules acknowledges his mistakes, but still shows weakness and a willingness to give in to immediate gratification.  He misses the overall picture altogether.

     The biggest drawback of the film is its constant cutting from one interview and time to another, which makes it difficult to maintain a logical chronology.  This is a popular technique with filmmakers, used so many times without any reason for it.  In Paradise, when we first encounter the main characters it is not clear at all who they are and how they will fit into a story, introducing unnecessary confusion for the viewer.  Moreover, a better film title needs to be chosen; both the original “Ray” and the current “Paradise” are misleading.

     I liked the perspective Director Andrey Konchalovskiy took in presenting a view of WWII that is different from most films about the subject.  He is psychologically attuned to human motivations that are not unitary, resulting in ambivalence, and surprising turns in human decision-making.  He is in sync with cinematographer Aleksander Simonov and musician Sergey Shustriskiy in delivering a sometimes stark but very descriptive picture of humans under the stress of war.

A picture about dreams of a paradise that never comes to be, which creates horror on its way to would-be glory.

Grade:  C+                          By Donna R. Copeland

DUNKIRK

Mark Rylance     Tom Hardy     Kenneth Branagh     James D’Arcy     Cillian Murphy    

Harry Styles     Fionn Whitehead     Barry Keoghan     Aneurin Barnard     Tom Glynn Carney

     Chaos reigns in the thick of battle, which Dunkirk exquisitely illustrates.  Christopher Nolan (writer/director) knew that it was critical to show the defense and evacuation in air, on the sea, and on land, and that cutting back and forth among these arenas was essential to a realistic account of the operation.  In 1940, before the U.S. entered the World War II, Germany had separated the northern Allied forces from the French forces in the south, and hoped to wipe out the Allies at Dunkirk.  In response, the Allies came up with an ambitious plan to evacuate their 330,000 troops from Dunkirk and transport them to England. 

     We are there as two young British soldiers (Whitehead, Bernard) find themselves in a throng on the beach waiting for British destroyers to pick them up.  German flyers saying, “We surround you” litter the beach, which is being periodically strafed, and when the two soldiers see a wounded man on a stretcher who needs to be carried to a waiting ship, they pick him up and run toward the ship.  There is chaos, and after much difficulty, they get him to the boat, only to have the boat bombed, and they have to figure out how to survive.  Nolan will get back to them time and again.

     Another arena is the air, where Farrier (Hardy) is an ace pilot on a Spitfire determined to shoot down every German fighter plane he sees.  And he sees and blasts many that we see go down and drown in the sea.

    The naval officers are waiting impatiently for British destroyers to show up, but they’re delayed, and other boats loaded with servicemen keep getting blown up, with the passengers who aren’t killed by the blasts jumping into the roiling sea.

     One of the more entertaining and uplifting—although also horrifying at times—segments in this film has to do with a private boat in the area requisitioned to rescue fallen troops in the sea.  The captain of this ship is Mr. Dawson (Rylance), who epitomizes the Wise One.  He rescues troops thrown into the sea, and instructs his son on board about PTSD (which had not yet been identified), boating, and simple human kindness.

     Stand-outs among the actors are Rylance as a brave and noble soul, Hardy as an ace pilot who is able to convey so much even with a mask covering his face, and Murphy as a crazed pilot rescued from atop his wrecked plane in the ocean.

     This is an extremely difficult film to watch, in that almost every scene is tension-filled with life-threatening struggles.  It’s not always clear what exactly is happening or what is being said by the characters.  The cinematography by Nolan’s favorite, Hoyle Van Hoytema, is brilliant in instilling a “You are there” experience in the viewer.  Likewise, Hans Zimmer’s score suffuses every scene with high emotional valence.

     For a fitting coda, Nolan includes excerpts of Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s actual speech following the Battle of Dunkirk, underscoring the British spirit of never giving up:  “We shall go on in the end…we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be.  We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.”

From the air, on the land, and in the sea, the battles wage on relentlessly.

Grade:  B                                    By Donna R. Copeland

13 MINUTES

Christian Friedel     Katharina Schuttler     Burghart Klaussner

Johann von Bülow     Felix Eitner     David Zimmerschied

     This film is a thriller based upon the life of a heroic German resistance fighter during WWII.  The story opens with George Elser (Friedel) painstakingly planting a bomb in the wall behind the podium where Adolph Hitler, his target, will be speaking.  After he accomplishes the task, he attempts to flee to Switzerland, but is stopped by border guards, who find incriminating evidence on him, and he gets arrested.

     As a young adult, Elser is a musician in a small-town pub in southern Germany.  He is clearly a ladies’ man, and has that reputation among the locals.  It’s around 1932-34, and Nazi officers and party leaders are just beginning to harass people for not towing the party line and for associating with Jews.  Elser is completely repelled by their boorish behavior, and incensed by their treatment of Jews and people even associating with Jews.  By 1939, he is convinced that Hitler is going to be really destructive to people and to the country, and feels like he can’t just stand by and watch it happen.  Hence, he meticulously makes his plans to take Hitler out.  Elser is very smart and resourceful in managing to come up with all the materials he needs and how to use them.

     The bomb does indeed go off and kills innocent people nearby, but Hitler had left the building 13 minutes before; hence, the title of the film. While Elser is incarcerated, he’s tortured in various ways by the Nazis to get information about accomplices (and to protect their pride; they don’t want to look foolish by being outsmarted by one man).  Hitler and his aides cannot believe that Elser could build such a bomb on his own, and bring in experts to verify his ability, which they do.  But the brass is still not satisfied, and in frustration, Elser offers to draw a diagram and answer specific questions about how he built it, which he did.  The obstinacy of Hitler and his henchmen even in the face of these facts is shown by their shocking actions toward the end of the story.

     The film inserts flashbacks in Elser’s mind to fill us in on his history.  We learn that he had no respect for his drunken father, and had to return to his hometown to straighten out some of his father’s bad business deals.  While there, he met Elsa (Schuttler), who is married to a man who abuses her.  Of all the women he’s been with, she is the only one he falls in love with.  To protect her and his family, he tells them nothing of his plan, and when he leaves to go to Munich to implement it, he promises her he will return and marry her.  He was absolutely right in the secrecy, because she was brought to the prison during the interrogations.  When the interrogators threatened to harm her, he confessed to the crime and gave them all the information about it, and they released her.

     Some of the more interesting segments of Elser’s imprisonment has to do with the perspective of one of the interrogators.  Arthur Nebe (Klaussner) seems to believe him, and sets limits on his torture, angering some of Nebe’s colleagues and bosses.  He will pay dearly for this later, which validates just how ruthless and vindictive the Nazis could be.

     13 Minutes is very well crafted by Director Oliver Hirschbiegel, editor Alexander Dittner, cinematographer Judith Kaufmann and musician David Holmes.  The technique of using Elser’s flashbacks to give us his background story provides relief from the horrors of his imprisonment.  Also, by seeing all of his experiences, it becomes apparent how truly heroic Elser was.  He was a complicated person who at first seems rather irresponsible like a playboy, but as events unfold, we see him taking personal responsibility in trying to help his fellow Germans and his country.  It’s eerie when he predicts what will ultimately happen to Germany under Hitler, because he was right.  He showed his honor to the end, when he blames his failure on his not being committed enough to what he believed was right.

     As Elser, Christian Friedel delivers an award-worthy performance in portraying a very complicated man who is transformed radically by his choices and life experiences.  Burghart Klaussner as Arthur Nebe likewise projects subtlety and range beneath a stoic façade.

An instructive film portraying heroism in unexpected circumstances.

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland