The Way Ahead - Probably the best drama/propaganda about the British Army, specifically following conscripts from initial mobilisation to battle in North Africa. Understated performance by David Niven and Trevor Howard's first appearance on screen.
The Cruel Sea - Following anti-submarine warfare during the Battles of the Atlantic and the Arctic, particularly the toll of command and the moral responsibility of taking lives. Contains probably the most accurate and disturbing depiction of PTSD hallucinations that I've come across yet. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the best film about the Royal Navy in the Second World War.
A Bridge Too Far - Superb depiction of Operation Market Garden focusing on British and Allied Airborne and XXX Corps hammering up the road to Arnhem to meet them. Fantastic performances by immensely talented actors (Caine, Hopkins, Bogarde, Connery, Hackman etc). Immensely moving.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - Powell and Pressburger's best film. The best film about belle epoque Britain and Britons. Simply wonderful.
A Matter of Life and Death - Cheating slightly here but it is about an RAF pilot and the cultural angst over Britain slipping behind the United States. Roger Livesey is, as always, brilliant and it is also one of the best films ever made.
A man who served in the Navy Reserve in Canada told me they made every joiner read The Cruel Sea to rid them of any romantic ideas about serving in the navy. It's an incredibly bleak book.
This was a very insightful post. Having grow up in Germany, World War 2 was not only the cornerstone of our historic education, but the entire myth underpinning society. The worst one could call someone was a Nazi - and we knew that there were Nazis hiding everywhere, under strange stones, in every fringe political movement. Now the leader of Germany's far right part is a Lesbian women, married to a Sri Lankan. She is a Nazi in the eyes of my university professors. At the same time, somehow, the myth is seeming to loose power among the young. You can see this in in a huffed criticism of Israel among the left - unthinkable in the past. On the right, questions of nation, belonging, pride, masculinity, are asked again - unthinkable in the past. At the same time, the ghost of Nazism still lives throughout our collective memory, but increasingly unrecognisable. Kanye praises Hitler in direct reference to his blackness, after all.
I echo the other Powell and Pressburger recommendations I see in the comments (Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death), but my favorite of their WWII movies is A Canterbury Tale (https://www.criterionchannel.com/a-canterbury-tale).
I also recommend Larisa Shepitko's The Ascent and Elem Klimov's Come and See. Both are about the Eastern Front.
I just remembered that I was left despondent after first watching Come and See, so I watched another movie right after, also for the first time and kind of at random. It also turned out to be a WWII movie called A Man Escaped, about a man in the French resistance who escapes from a jail run by the German occupation. I found it uplifting. Just a pairing recommendation that worked for me.
Re. Film/Documentary recommendations:
The Way Ahead - Probably the best drama/propaganda about the British Army, specifically following conscripts from initial mobilisation to battle in North Africa. Understated performance by David Niven and Trevor Howard's first appearance on screen.
The Cruel Sea - Following anti-submarine warfare during the Battles of the Atlantic and the Arctic, particularly the toll of command and the moral responsibility of taking lives. Contains probably the most accurate and disturbing depiction of PTSD hallucinations that I've come across yet. Despite that, or perhaps because of it, the best film about the Royal Navy in the Second World War.
A Bridge Too Far - Superb depiction of Operation Market Garden focusing on British and Allied Airborne and XXX Corps hammering up the road to Arnhem to meet them. Fantastic performances by immensely talented actors (Caine, Hopkins, Bogarde, Connery, Hackman etc). Immensely moving.
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp - Powell and Pressburger's best film. The best film about belle epoque Britain and Britons. Simply wonderful.
A Matter of Life and Death - Cheating slightly here but it is about an RAF pilot and the cultural angst over Britain slipping behind the United States. Roger Livesey is, as always, brilliant and it is also one of the best films ever made.
A man who served in the Navy Reserve in Canada told me they made every joiner read The Cruel Sea to rid them of any romantic ideas about serving in the navy. It's an incredibly bleak book.
This was a very insightful post. Having grow up in Germany, World War 2 was not only the cornerstone of our historic education, but the entire myth underpinning society. The worst one could call someone was a Nazi - and we knew that there were Nazis hiding everywhere, under strange stones, in every fringe political movement. Now the leader of Germany's far right part is a Lesbian women, married to a Sri Lankan. She is a Nazi in the eyes of my university professors. At the same time, somehow, the myth is seeming to loose power among the young. You can see this in in a huffed criticism of Israel among the left - unthinkable in the past. On the right, questions of nation, belonging, pride, masculinity, are asked again - unthinkable in the past. At the same time, the ghost of Nazism still lives throughout our collective memory, but increasingly unrecognisable. Kanye praises Hitler in direct reference to his blackness, after all.
The Ascent (1977) and Come and See (1985), the former directed by the latter's late wife, both depict WWII in Belarus.
I echo the other Powell and Pressburger recommendations I see in the comments (Life and Death of Colonel Blimp and A Matter of Life and Death), but my favorite of their WWII movies is A Canterbury Tale (https://www.criterionchannel.com/a-canterbury-tale).
I also recommend Larisa Shepitko's The Ascent and Elem Klimov's Come and See. Both are about the Eastern Front.
I just remembered that I was left despondent after first watching Come and See, so I watched another movie right after, also for the first time and kind of at random. It also turned out to be a WWII movie called A Man Escaped, about a man in the French resistance who escapes from a jail run by the German occupation. I found it uplifting. Just a pairing recommendation that worked for me.
The Channel Islands are not part of the United Kingdom: they are Crown Dependencies (although of course part of the British Isles).
thank you for the correction I wondered if I was getting it the right way around
There's a whole Venn diagram about it online somewhere which is worth learning if you have nothing better to do (I don't)
Fascinating stuff and a good take. Looking forward to part two.
Great illustrative photos too.