*Very minor spoilers*
This unsurpassed mega-series along with it's prequel "The Winds of War" is beyond stunning, it is shattering. This is a compelling, mesmerizing, heartbreaking yet inspiring epic which towers above all other depictions of World War Two and the Holocaust. In fact this body of work, taken in total is in a category all its own: there is simply nothing to compare it to and nothing remotely like it. Rarely has a work of art affected me so profoundly. It asks, and even answers, some of the biggest questions: what is evil? how can one live a meaningful life in the face of such senseless, brutish evil? What is a full life? How should one live? How should one die? As above, this is in a category all of it's own: while it has flaws they cannot take away from the overall impact of the story. However it is simply flabbergasting at times how the story can shift from casting an intense, even hypnotic spell in its unflinching, devastating depictions of the Holocaust to showing long, boring, drawn out scenes straight out of a daytime soap opera (albeit with superior actors). I must admit I fast forwarded through most of the scenes featuring the vapid, hysterical, and generally loathsome Rhoda Henry (Polly Bergen). Also the amount of drinking and smoking without anyone (except President Roosevelt) suffering any ill effects was odd, given the otherwise brutal realism. At one point a Russian General drinks an entire fifth of vodka in about 15 seconds. Several hours later he is neither tipsy nor showing any ill effects (or indeed effects of any kind) whatsoever. The amount of drinking in this film is simply astounding, but may be historically accurate, I don't know. One thing that absolutely takes away from the overall greatness of the film is it's one-dimensional depiction of anyone non-white. Any Blacks or Asians (even the Japanese Generals) are utter flat cartoons and this is troubling especially in the context of an otherwise powerful anti-racist message. Perhaps if this had been made today such an error would not have been made.
One other odd aspect of this series, which people find jarring to various degrees is that different actors fill major roles in the first and second series. While both sets of actors who play Natalie and Aaron Jastrow are excellent and soon seem natural, I found the switch from Jan-Michael Vincent to Hart Bochner as Byron Henry totally distracting from beginning to end. Mr. Bochner, while talented, simply could not fill the inspired, natural reading of the role by Jan-Michael Vincent. I also found the switch in actors playing Adolph Hitler distracting, but to a much lesser degree. In The Winds of War, Gunter Meisner gave a chilling and serious reading of the evil genius, but in War and Remembrance, I found Steven Berkoff's over-the-top, even clownish, reading of the Fuher to be unfortunate. An excellent companion piece to this would be Downfall (Der Utergang), the film about Hitler's last days in the bunker featuring an astonishing and courageous performance by the Swiss actor Bruno Ganz as Hitler. Robert Mitchum, despite being older than the character the role originally called for, was simply perfect as Captain (Later Admiral) "Pug" Henry: I was not overly familiar with him and am pleased to have found a new favorite! One other minor quibble was that some of the Nazis had ridiculous Colonel-Klinkish accents while others spoke like Oxford-educated Americans, depending on how "evil" they were. This was silly, but easy to overlook given the overall greatness of the piece.
I am a student of history and the historical accuracy in this piece is far beyond anything I have ever seen in a work of fiction. There is a time commitment in watching this: over 30 hours, all told, but it is more than worth it. In fact, I plan to revisit this monumental, tour-de-force, this unbelievably touching, yet oddly uneven masterwork more than once. Rent it. See it. Love it.
Warning: this is not for the innocent. Unless you are ready to let your children start to let go of childhood and begin to ask very deep, very troubling, and very adult questions don't let them watch it. This is absolutely guaranteed to give younger children nightmares, and very likely to seriously traumatize them.
This unsurpassed mega-series along with it's prequel "The Winds of War" is beyond stunning, it is shattering. This is a compelling, mesmerizing, heartbreaking yet inspiring epic which towers above all other depictions of World War Two and the Holocaust. In fact this body of work, taken in total is in a category all its own: there is simply nothing to compare it to and nothing remotely like it. Rarely has a work of art affected me so profoundly. It asks, and even answers, some of the biggest questions: what is evil? how can one live a meaningful life in the face of such senseless, brutish evil? What is a full life? How should one live? How should one die? As above, this is in a category all of it's own: while it has flaws they cannot take away from the overall impact of the story. However it is simply flabbergasting at times how the story can shift from casting an intense, even hypnotic spell in its unflinching, devastating depictions of the Holocaust to showing long, boring, drawn out scenes straight out of a daytime soap opera (albeit with superior actors). I must admit I fast forwarded through most of the scenes featuring the vapid, hysterical, and generally loathsome Rhoda Henry (Polly Bergen). Also the amount of drinking and smoking without anyone (except President Roosevelt) suffering any ill effects was odd, given the otherwise brutal realism. At one point a Russian General drinks an entire fifth of vodka in about 15 seconds. Several hours later he is neither tipsy nor showing any ill effects (or indeed effects of any kind) whatsoever. The amount of drinking in this film is simply astounding, but may be historically accurate, I don't know. One thing that absolutely takes away from the overall greatness of the film is it's one-dimensional depiction of anyone non-white. Any Blacks or Asians (even the Japanese Generals) are utter flat cartoons and this is troubling especially in the context of an otherwise powerful anti-racist message. Perhaps if this had been made today such an error would not have been made.
One other odd aspect of this series, which people find jarring to various degrees is that different actors fill major roles in the first and second series. While both sets of actors who play Natalie and Aaron Jastrow are excellent and soon seem natural, I found the switch from Jan-Michael Vincent to Hart Bochner as Byron Henry totally distracting from beginning to end. Mr. Bochner, while talented, simply could not fill the inspired, natural reading of the role by Jan-Michael Vincent. I also found the switch in actors playing Adolph Hitler distracting, but to a much lesser degree. In The Winds of War, Gunter Meisner gave a chilling and serious reading of the evil genius, but in War and Remembrance, I found Steven Berkoff's over-the-top, even clownish, reading of the Fuher to be unfortunate. An excellent companion piece to this would be Downfall (Der Utergang), the film about Hitler's last days in the bunker featuring an astonishing and courageous performance by the Swiss actor Bruno Ganz as Hitler. Robert Mitchum, despite being older than the character the role originally called for, was simply perfect as Captain (Later Admiral) "Pug" Henry: I was not overly familiar with him and am pleased to have found a new favorite! One other minor quibble was that some of the Nazis had ridiculous Colonel-Klinkish accents while others spoke like Oxford-educated Americans, depending on how "evil" they were. This was silly, but easy to overlook given the overall greatness of the piece.
I am a student of history and the historical accuracy in this piece is far beyond anything I have ever seen in a work of fiction. There is a time commitment in watching this: over 30 hours, all told, but it is more than worth it. In fact, I plan to revisit this monumental, tour-de-force, this unbelievably touching, yet oddly uneven masterwork more than once. Rent it. See it. Love it.
Warning: this is not for the innocent. Unless you are ready to let your children start to let go of childhood and begin to ask very deep, very troubling, and very adult questions don't let them watch it. This is absolutely guaranteed to give younger children nightmares, and very likely to seriously traumatize them.