>From Here To Eternity Director: Fred Zinneman Starring: Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Deborah Kerr, Ernest Borgnine Running Time: 129 Min Drama/B&W
The fifties provided some of the greatest films in the history of cinema. New ideas were developed, new themes explored. Anti and post-war feelings ran high in Hollywood, and, as a result, films like From Here To Eternity were made. This Oscar winning picture has ranked among the greatest films ever made, and with good reason.
>From Here To Eternity takes a hard look at the American Army during World War II. Corrupt officers, rebellious privates, and an emotionally unstable Seargent are the focus of this cinematic masterpiece. Mostly, it chronicles a brief period in the lives of Private Pruit (Clift) and Seargent Warden (Lancaster), their loves and their sense of duty and honor.
This picture offers filmmaking excellence at every turn. Each main actor gives the performance of his or her career, particularly Clift, Lancaster, Sinatra and Reed. (The latter two both won supporting Oscars for thier work in the film.) Clift is masterful as Pruit, and after viewing this film, (or re-viewing it, if it has been a while) one cannot imagine anyone else in the role. He portrays his character with such depth and subtle emotion that a film about his life prior to where the film picks it up would be thoroughly engrossing.
Zinneman brings together all the elements of the film brilliantly. His edits between scenes of Warden and Pruit courting their respective loves are flawless. In one sequence, he dissolves the crashing waves of one cathartic episode between Lancaster and Kerr into the rippling smoke of Clift's cigarette as he opens up for the first time to Donna Reed.
As all the men grow gradually restless on the base, subtle visuals warning of the attack on Pearl Harbor creep into the frame. Lancaster leans against the wall while on the telephone, for the first time making us aware of any time-related element; the calendar shows December 6th. Shortly thereafter, he moves along a boardwalk , pausing in front of a directional marker, showing, amongst other things, a sign reading "Pearl Harbor 8m". And on the morning of the strike, a clock looms in the background, clearly showing ten minutes to eight, the first bomb hits seconds later. The attack sequence includes authentic war footage that blends well with the staged action.
This 8 Oscar motion picture helped define the filmmaking of the fifties. It manages to express anti-war, and in many cases anti-military sentiment while never allowing us a moment away from a military man. Daniel Taradash won a well deserved award for his brilliant screenplay. He has each main character starving for release from what they claim to be their one true love, the Army. While Warden becomes involved with his superior's wife, Pruit is falling for a woman who is paid to keep men company in a private club. Each man picks an emotionally dangerous (and in some respects career-threatening) situation to break the drudgery of their military lives. The dialogue is realistic and involving, and each character speaks to us from an emotional level.
>From Here To Eternity should be viewed by anyone with a respect for fantastic filmmaking. It begs for a repeat viewing from those who havn't seen it in ages, and it needs to be seen by anyone who has never had the pleasure.
Four out of Four stars Copyright (C) 1997 Nick Amado ************************* Questions? Comments? Complaints? Email me: NAMIAM@AOL.COM
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews