Foreign films on the war

[Timo]

Yep, that's the same movie.

Star of Africa is a movie based on the life of Hans-Joachim Marseille. It's ages ago since I saw it so it's hard to comment on it.

BTW: Kinder. Mütter und ein General isn't a great war movie when it comes to action scenes, but it is made in the 1950's and there's a lot of original German equipment used, including SPW's and Kübels. I actually liked the movie because it shows the tragedy of those senseless last weeks of the war when so many lives were waisted.

[Harri]

First watch the 2nd movie again, then check this link:

Yes, I noticed that detail already when I see the film for the very first time. Have you any idea what that AT gun in the movie is? Or have the Germans hired this Finnish prototype for filming their movie? The "tank" there isn't real anyway so is the gun also a kind of replica?

[Juha Tompuri]

Harri,

Atleast the battle scenes were filmed at Jämijärvi, Finland. So the 75K/44 (75K/46) was real. Are you sure that the T-34´s were "fake" ?
I also have the film at a cassette, but haven´t seen it for years.

Regards, Juha

[Harri]

Really? There is not mentioned that it was filmed in Finland (Jämijärvi is an airfield). That explains also why there is a White half-track. Perhaps the Kübelwagen, motorcycles, trucks and weapons are also Finnish ones? I think the field gun there (under tarpaulins) is the Finnish 105 H 37. At least the barrel which is visible looks exactly the same.

T-34s may be real but I believe they could be also those T-34 decoys (T-37s and T-38s) made for training during the war. They have been filmed so far away that details are not seen.

I just watched the parts II and III. Both films are in my VHS cassette number 2 from the year 1985 when I bought my first recorder! I just wish I had the part I, which I didn't record, because I was in the army. But I saw the film and it was probably the best of those three.

[Javier Acuña]

People with a weak stomach should avoid this movie. "Come and See" is bizarre, disturbing, and haunting. It starts off very surreal, and it is difficult at some points to understand what is going on or what certain characters are doing. This gives the theme a foreign and realistic feel. We follow the life of a peasant boy in Byleorussia in 1943, as he joins the partisans. Then the nightmare begins. The destruction of a Russian village is the horrific centerpiece of the story. It is brutally realistic, with more tracking shots that hold for long periods of time without cutting. We see the German Wehrmacht burn a barn loaded with civilians to the ground as these soldiers clap, smile, and embrace each other. The images are unforgettable, and will stay with you long after you've seen the film.

Do you mean it is "artistically" disturbing or it is plainly coarse?
I think I'm old enough to watch a controversial movie, but I'm not into watching sick stuff.

[Timo]

It's disturbing and haunting because it shows the einsatzkommandos at work in all details.

[Lars EP]

People with a weak stomach should avoid this movie. "Come and See" is bizarre, disturbing, and haunting. It starts off very surreal, and it is difficult at some points to understand what is going on or what certain characters are doing. This gives the theme a foreign and realistic feel. We follow the life of a peasant boy in Byleorussia in 1943, as he joins the partisans. Then the nightmare begins. The destruction of a Russian village is the horrific centerpiece of the story. It is brutally realistic, with more tracking shots that hold for long periods of time without cutting. We see the German Wehrmacht burn a barn loaded with civilians to the ground as these soldiers clap, smile, and embrace each other. The images are unforgettable, and will stay with you long after you've seen the film.

Do you mean it is "artistically" disturbing or it is plainly coarse?
I think I'm old enough to watch a controversial movie, but I'm not into watching sick stuff.

Even if Hollywood generally tries to give us another impression, war is a pretty sick business.

Regards --- Lars

[askropp]

We see the German Wehrmacht burn a barn loaded with civilians to the ground as these soldiers clap, smile, and embrace each other.

Was there a different movie shown in the Netherlands? I didn't see the "Wehrmacht", not even the Waffen-SS, I saw the SD, and thus there were no "soldiers", but only policemen. Even the label "German" doesn't fit to all those characters, as several of them begged for mercy by telling the partisans that they weren't even Germans and that "the Germans made them do that". The leader of that group was a SS NCO who spoke fluent Russian and acted as an interpreter for the commanding Sturmbannführer. The whole SD gang reminded me of a travelling circus or marauding Landsknechte from the 30 years' war, complete with whores and pet animals.

[Chris Maggos]

Top Ones Foreign WW2 Films

1 - Das Boot (1981 German Film)
2 - Downfall (2004 German Film)
3 - Stalingrad (1993 German Film)
4 - Letters From Iwo Nima (2006 Japanese Film)

[HaShomer]

Try to see Open City, Italian, 1945. Outdoor scenes of recently destroyed towns are real, not stage craft.

[tyskaorden]

Top Ones Foreign WW2 Films

1 - Das Boot (1981 German Film)
2 - Downfall (2004 German Film)
3 - Stalingrad (1993 German Film)
4 - Letters From Iwo Nima (2006 Japanese Film)

Well the Letters form Iwo Jima have a Japanese Point of View of the Battle but was directed by Clint Eastwood and produced by Steven Spielberg so I would not say that it is a Japanese Film.

[Helmut0815]

Paul Verhoeven's "Black Book" (Zwartboek), Netherlands, 2006

Highly recommended.

regards

Helmut

[YankeeZulu]

"El Alemein" is worth seeing. Not great, but worth seeing. Amazon has copies.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Alamei ... ne_of_Fire

[Annelie]

My Honor Was Loyalty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGFJYJHxYxc

[YankeeZulu]

^ That looks good. Ever notice that since Saving Private Ryan was released most war flicks slow the film speed down whenever the shooting starts? It gives it that sort of "strobe-like" effect.