I think the movie was somewhere in the "decent to good," range, but a little better screenwriting could have taken it to the, "very good to excellent" range.
In spite of the liberal assemblage in the cast, I think there was an almost unwitting theme of the value and worth of preserving the signs and symbols of western civilization. I was quite surprised to see Catholic priests presented in a somewhat heroic light and the Soviets in a less than flattering one.
As an aside, this month marks the 45th anniversary of the original broadcast of Sir Kenneth Clark's Civilisation series which first aired on the BBC from February - May 1969.
Clark was appointed director of the British National Gallery at the age of 30, and was instrumental in overseeing the cataloging and relocation of the collection to country homes and other locations during the blitz.
I can highly recommend the Civilisation series for anybody who has not seen it: art history the way it should be taught.
Thank you, Joe.
I agree with all you say.
Speaking of western culture, we’re fast losing what little remains of that which so many have died to try to preserve. And it appears many more lives will be lost if we’re to save what’s left — if we can.
And, no, this is NOT off topic.
WOMAN’S LIB AND ISLAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0cS4p9cFlo&feature=c4-overview&list=UUFDlhK80EdO28R-iGTXiGaw
I remember seeing a few episodes of the Civilisation series many years ago. I wonder if Netflix has them.