I´m sick of the glorifying of the american soldiers!

We all know this already, you think you're making a groundbreaking post but it's the same thing all over again.

Yes, I see your point, I´m not trying to speak bad of the contributions of the U.S in ww2. And I know, Hollywood films have 80% of the market, even here. But i´m just tired of this trend. That is why i mentioned red sun, black sand as something i am looking forward too. Flags of our fathers seems like the same old patriotic unbalanced crap.

The film you are refering to is the Kirk Douglas, Richard Harris film; Heroes of Telemark from the 50´s or something. Not a very good movie, and not wery true to the actual story. Fortunately a producer friend of mine has the rights to it and they are planning to make a new one, in Norwegian, and more true to the actual events. I´m looking forward to that.

And the other movie with Max Von Sydow is HAMSUN, yes. A remarkable film! If that was an american production Von Sydow would undoubtedly have won an oscar for his performance. It is out of this world.

Weather is cold and dark as usual:)

By the way AllenKR, I recall passing by a 'Norway town' en route to Hearst and San Francisco from Los Angeles - is that where you're from? I also remember this Viking House on a lake up in California again en route to San Francisco. Was back there in '98.

Best wishes,
Tom516

Make a good move about the Russians in Stalingrad, or about the Aussies in the South Pacific or about the CZH Resisistance and Americans will watch it.

If its a good movie, its a good movie what the hell do you care?

Everyone knows the Russians were the main reason why Germany was defeated in Europe, but Saving Private Ryan was still a hell of a movie, even if it was just about .0005 percent of Allied forces.

And who told you that Americans were taught that the War was Won beause of the invasion of normandy? Not in american schools thats for sure.

"Genocide is the ONLY solution - like it or not."

I recall that men like Ira Hayes and John Bradley, not to mention Jacob De Shazer and Richard Winter went to war to DESTROY IDIOTIC OPINIONS LIKE THAT. So sad to see the efforts of the Greatest Generation wasted on (hopefully a scattered few) of their less than worthy descendants.

Ryandaddi needs an education. Preferrably one at the receiving end of sniper bullets and suicide bombs in downtown Baghdad - or perhaps that's too good for him.

It's because of idiotic opinions like that, that America is damned by foes and friends alike today. It's disgusting and despicable to see how tarnished the image of America gets when some dumb loudmouth who'd never get within 100 yards of a recruiting station starts shooting his mouth off about being the 'greatest, most badass country in the world and all the rest are F --KIN losers' and talking big about nuking the world.

Thank heavens for people like Marine Sergeant Drury and AllenKR who give lie to the image of America presented by the likes of Ryandaddi.

Tom516

I think that every country has the inalienable RIGHT to glorify its own soldiers as it so chooses - to extremes at its own risk (too much glorification leading to hubris). I will say this for the Italians, Germans and Japanese of WW2 as much as for their Allied foes.

That being said, every historical representation must stand up to the standards of good historical research and good drama. There are many films, noble efforts to be sure that try and incorporate good historical research at the expense of drama or try and glorify their soldiers at the expense of both (See U-571 for an example of the latter - or better yet, DON'T see it).

I think that Hollywood has every right to make good war movies about American soldiers, whether they be the bedraggled patriots in the snows of Valley Forge sworn at in several languages by their European drillmasters only to emerge and conquer at Monmouth Court House, or the flag-bearers of the Joe Rosenthal photograph at Iwo, as Clint Eastwood has done here. It's American cinema, it's their right.

Norwegian, French, Czech, Dutch, Indian, Philippine, Korean, etc. cinema has as much right to make their own films about their own heroes. And many have, though their efforts are, sadly, not as well publicised.

One particular movie made by the Malaysians is The Story of Lieutenant Adnan. It's the true story of a Malaysian officer who held against the Japanese advance in 1942. The Dutch director Paul Verhoeven made Soldier of Orange about the Dutch Resistance in WW2. French cinema has made several very interesting WW1 movies, Joyeaux Noel (with the Germans and Brits) and A Very Long Engagement.

The Czechs have a MUCH superior aviation story to Hollywood's idiotic Pearl Harbor, the film 'Dark Blue World' - virtually the same plot as the Hollywood movie but handled with respect and intelligence and a story that becomes uniquely Czech, as it contemplates the fate of the heroic Czech pilots who returned after the war only to be deemed 'traitors' by the Czech communist government.

The Koreans have, of course, the very well done Taegukgi which does retread the whole 'brothers at war' theme but it is bitterly apt in Korea's case - it tells the story of the Korean War (to them the Korean CIVIL War - which is technically STILL ONGOING, though punctuated by a Truce, by the way) through Korean eye. Before this we only knew The Bridges at Tokko Ri, The Hunters, MacArthur, that other movie with the 'jody call' (AllenKR help me out here, which one is that? Jody was there when you left - your baby was there when you left - Sound off ONE TWO, etc.) But now the Koreans have 'gotten a word in' and are telling their own story.

I'm glad to hear that Norway will be coming out with their own 'Heroes of the Telemark' movie - looking forward to it! Norway actually has a lot of 'unfilmed' WW2 history and perhaps we'll one day get to hear the story of the heroes of Oskarborg fortress which sank the arrogant DKM Blucher in Drobak Narrows or of the gallant crews of the Norge and Eidsvold who fought their ships against treacherous and overwhelming odds - the Germans got theirs a few days later when old lady Warspite blew their 'tin cans' out of the fjords.

The point is, TELL YOUR STORY - don't be afraid to, we're all free to tell it the way we think it should be told. Don't wait for anyone else to tell it for you and if someone tells it for you, you really have no one to blame but yourself.

Here's to more diversity in world cinema!
Tom516

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I have been poitning this out for a long time. The US entered for self-interested purposes. Not to promote democracy or to save the Jew. It saw an oppurtunity to bomb Europe and move ahead economically. US has always acted in its own best interest and always will. Germany had more balls than all of them.
They had to fight everyone with little or no help. Thats guts. But we always have top talk about the stupid Holocaust. Europe would be better right now under the Swastika.