Stanley Kubrick's first feature length shows him to be well versed in Eisentein, Pudovkin and Dreyer as well themes he will go on to explore throughout his illustrious career. Minus the healthy budget, technicians and big stars it intersperses flashes of brilliance with murky storytelling that results in a split decision.
After their plane crashes four men at war find themselves six miles behind enemy lines. The objective is to get back to their side by building a raft and floating down river at night but they are discovered by a peasant girl and have to delay. In the meantime one of the soldiers becomes obsessed with killing an enemy general.
Working within the confines of his lean budget Kubrick does a fine job of buffering the film's look through multiple angles, striking close-ups and jarring editing. Sound synchronization is fraught with problems and the performances erratic and Kubrick as he has done throughout his career lingers a touch long in some scenes but working with what he has to does in moments as impressive a job of conveying the irony, darkness and absurdity of war as Malick does in The Thin Red Line and Coppolla in Apocalypse Now.
After their plane crashes four men at war find themselves six miles behind enemy lines. The objective is to get back to their side by building a raft and floating down river at night but they are discovered by a peasant girl and have to delay. In the meantime one of the soldiers becomes obsessed with killing an enemy general.
Working within the confines of his lean budget Kubrick does a fine job of buffering the film's look through multiple angles, striking close-ups and jarring editing. Sound synchronization is fraught with problems and the performances erratic and Kubrick as he has done throughout his career lingers a touch long in some scenes but working with what he has to does in moments as impressive a job of conveying the irony, darkness and absurdity of war as Malick does in The Thin Red Line and Coppolla in Apocalypse Now.