Nominated: Julius Caesar, The Robe, Roman Holiday, Shane
Should Have Won: Shane
Be Sure to See: War of the Worlds
"He'd strangle in his own spit if he didn't have me around to swab out his throat for him."--Sgt. Warden
A decent but unfocused
movie, From Here to Eternity has
several plots it seems to be “about”. Montgomery Clift from Red River, one of my favorite westerns, plays Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt
from Kentucky. He is a stubborn soldier in a new unit and makes few friends
and many enemies when he refuses to join the company boxing team
because of a tragic fight from his past. His friend Maggio is picked
on by sadistic Fatso (the always perfect Ernest Borgnine). And First
Sergeant Warden has an affair with the captain's wife. These are the movie's plot points yet it seems to be the Oscar winner that was about the Pearl
Harbor bombing, though that doesn't happen until 1:45 in. It doesn't
know if it wants to be a military movie, a love affair movie, or a
movie about an outsider trying to fit in. But it is still pretty
good, just a little unfocused.
The
direction is pretty good but there are two shots that seem to be
added in and I could just feel the director sitting behind the camera
grinning. One is when Warden is on the phone with Karen (Captain
Holmes' wife) and the calender beside him is turned to December 6,
1941. The following scene we see a street sign pointing the direction
to Pearl Harbor. I expected the camera to pan over to show director
Fred Zinnemann saying, “Eh? See what I did there?”
Some
of the scenes seem a little rushed or obscure for me. Like the fate
of Maggio played by Frank Sinatra in an Oscar nominated role. All I could
think of when he was on screen was he looked skinnier than Barney
Fife. It might or might not be a spoiler here to mention he dies but
the way he died is very confusing. I know who is responsible but not
how it happened. Knife fight perhaps though my first thought was he
beat him to death. Of course he gives one of those death speeches
before he croaks. This sets up the revenge knife fight between
Prewitt and Fatso in the alley. There was an earlier fight between
Prewitt and Gallovich who had taunted Prewitt to box the whole
time. This was filmed with a typical style of the times. Lots of pick
up shots and clumsy footwork. The ally fight worked a little better.
I think it was well blocked out but a little short. However I liked
how the death stab was off camera, leaving the audience wondering who
wins (oh wait, I remember what Patrick Swayze said in Road
House: Nobody ever wins in a
knife fight).
The
movie is iconic because of the beach scene. Burt Lancaster (I still
always picture him as Moonlight Graham no matter what I see him in)
and Deborah Kerr on the beach with the water flowing over them. My
two issues with this scene are 1) it was too brief. The fact they
were there together is important; the water passes over them and they
get up and run, rather than stay there. The scene passes faster than
the tide did, and 2) I can't see it and not think of Airplane!
It
was an okay movie but did very well with audiences and the Academy.
It was nominated for thirteen Oscars winning eight, the most since
Gone with the Wind. My
problem with it was of its uncertainty of what the main plot was.
I've seen it three or four times and it is certainly worth a look, but the Academy voters should have come back
to the voting ballots and given it to Shane...get it?
No comments:
Post a Comment