Rating : 6/10
Release Date : 31st October, 2014
Time : 134 minutes
Director, Writer : David Ayer; Music : Steven Price
Starring : Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal, Jason Isaacs, Anamaria Marinca, Alicia von Rittberg
“Ideals are peaceful. History is violent”
If you’re turned off by the sight of blood, don’t watch this one
If violence makes you queasy, don’t watch this one
If gore makes you twitch, don’t watch this one
And if you don’t like watching people die, definitely don’t watch this one
But do watch it if you want to experience war, up close, with all its mud, blood and glory - and hopefully wish there was never a war again
Brad Pitt leads an American tank in 1945, as the Allies make their final push in Germany. He and his loyal crew, who he's promised to return home safe, have been killing Germans, or Krauts, as he likes to call them, all the way from Africa and hope to be there when the final bastion falls. The crew, comprising the bible preaching Shia LaBeouf, the fierce Hispanic Michael Pena and the crazy Jon Bernthal. have to welcome a new member, Logan Lerman (of Percy Jackson fame), when their assistant gunner dies. He, Logan, is young, a rookie (actually a typist), unaccustomed to war and now thrown into the thick of it. Brad decides to teach him the ropes while they navigate the treacherous towns and forests of Germany, meeting near-fanatical resistance from the last few defending soldiers.
The action scenes, especially the ones involving multiple tanks are great, tension inducing, slickly done. All the violence is quite neatly offset by some touching moments – none as beautiful as the little meal Brad, Logan enjoy in a tiny German village, with Anamaria and Alicia. The impromptu piano and the song. The precious eggs, safely stored, being brought out. Brad cleaning himself up. And then the rest of the crew arrives, bringing reality back to that moment.
Have always wondered why we go to war so often. What makes us so power hungry? Also, what makes us so cruel when we are in power, a gene that seems unique to the human race. Also, when a war does occur, have always found it strange how the soldiers go about doing what they do, without once questioning why they’re doing it – going through the prospect of imminent death while believing in his cause but not even being sure the cause is the right one.
It’s a thought provoking but not an easy film to watch. The execution of a prisoner. The induction of a rookie into killing. The murdered civilians, strung up as an example for other folk unwilling to help. But it does present the gritty, real side of war – the mud, the stench, the conditions, the blood – and the inescapable reality that everyone loses in such a situation. Maybe, just for that, its worth a watch.
“It will end soon. But before it does, a lot more people gotta die”
6 comments:
There are people unnerved in chaotic situations, they seem to grow calmer in such conditions, unfazed by violence unfolding right in front of their eyes. I am..terrified of..violence..haunted by it in a way that...having been through extremely traumatic experience... Raw emotions wells up inside me. I don't know..I guess I saw how random and violent life becomes in an instant. It almost makes you afraid of the next moment...
We are the sum of our thoughts. What we choose to dwell on will dictate our emotions..this has changed me into someone I despise..
I've learned that my life is not what I thought it was. I've learned that my beliefs are suspect. And that my instincts are worthless.... Hoping to right the course of my life somehow, or at least to find out exactly where the harsh winds of fate had brought me..suffering felt fitting, a penance for my shitty choices in life, whatever their root cause.
Nothing unnerves people more than silence, especially people whose mundane lives are threatened.. This is dense stuff....
A rewarding line from Conan Doyle : "Any intended victim who has a regular routine immediately makes himself more vulnerable".
Everything is down to a choice we make. But is it really possible to demarcate black and white. To evolve is to be lost in the grays. The extremes are easy to be. Gray is acquired talent... Sometimes we are so strong, valiant almost. Fighters. And as night creeps in, the bravery hides in the shadows vulnerability at large..
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