D-Day Remembered * * * */ * * * *
"If you're going to die anyway, move in and die!"
D-Day Remembered is simply the story of the Allied Forces in the first few hours of June 6, 1944. For those unfamiliar with history, it was arguably the most important single event of the war. The invasion of Normandy, France pretty much laid out the groundwork for the rest of the war; the Axis Forces were demoralized, battered and had little reason to go on fighting. The war for Europe ended a little less than a year after D-Day.
In what the L.A. Times calls "a kind of film-making miracle," director Charles Guggenheim ingeniously combines archive film footage and pictures with the narration of historians and soldiers who took part in D-Day. History buffs like myself will be deeply immersed in the historical beauty of a film of this scope. This is not a "war film," like Saving Private Ryan, The Pianist or Patton. This is more like an art film, rare film archives that one interested in the subject would yearn to see. It's absolutely amazing how each scene is precisely shot, scene breaks and angles are perfect. A thrilling score accompanies.
This is as real and as close one will ever get to World War II. Roger Ebert did not like the film because he claimed it not to be feature-length and probably did not appreciate the hard-to-find film footage. In the hectic lives most people have these days, there's nothing like a 53-minute break to relish the efforts of 150,000 brave men who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country on film. After seeing more than six hundred films so far (not having commented on them yet), I was looking really forward to seeing rare film footage of a historical event I admire so much. I was not disappointed and I assure you won't be either.
The film is not easy to find, although a large library may have it in their historical films section. You can see, only nineteen people voted for it on IMDb! But that 9.0 you see is very well deserved. Watch this film with an open mind, don't expect Spielberg or Polanski, and you will be pleased.
Kudos to Charles Guggenheim. He did what no other documentary filmmaker may ever do: keep the viewer thoroughly engaged while keeping a bearable time limit. 10/10
"If you're going to die anyway, move in and die!"
D-Day Remembered is simply the story of the Allied Forces in the first few hours of June 6, 1944. For those unfamiliar with history, it was arguably the most important single event of the war. The invasion of Normandy, France pretty much laid out the groundwork for the rest of the war; the Axis Forces were demoralized, battered and had little reason to go on fighting. The war for Europe ended a little less than a year after D-Day.
In what the L.A. Times calls "a kind of film-making miracle," director Charles Guggenheim ingeniously combines archive film footage and pictures with the narration of historians and soldiers who took part in D-Day. History buffs like myself will be deeply immersed in the historical beauty of a film of this scope. This is not a "war film," like Saving Private Ryan, The Pianist or Patton. This is more like an art film, rare film archives that one interested in the subject would yearn to see. It's absolutely amazing how each scene is precisely shot, scene breaks and angles are perfect. A thrilling score accompanies.
This is as real and as close one will ever get to World War II. Roger Ebert did not like the film because he claimed it not to be feature-length and probably did not appreciate the hard-to-find film footage. In the hectic lives most people have these days, there's nothing like a 53-minute break to relish the efforts of 150,000 brave men who were willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their country on film. After seeing more than six hundred films so far (not having commented on them yet), I was looking really forward to seeing rare film footage of a historical event I admire so much. I was not disappointed and I assure you won't be either.
The film is not easy to find, although a large library may have it in their historical films section. You can see, only nineteen people voted for it on IMDb! But that 9.0 you see is very well deserved. Watch this film with an open mind, don't expect Spielberg or Polanski, and you will be pleased.
Kudos to Charles Guggenheim. He did what no other documentary filmmaker may ever do: keep the viewer thoroughly engaged while keeping a bearable time limit. 10/10
