Posted on 09/24/2007 5:05:53 PM PDT by VOA
see link above...
This is an announcement of the airing of part 2 (of 4?) of
Ken Burns "documentary" on WWII.
Behind their President and for their country. . .
But this thing is tedious.
When he landed they beat the hell out of him and made him walk 10 miles with a broken leg.
Really ironic, my dad who knew him when they were kids helped to liberated the Stalag he was in.
I just labeled it “tedious” but I must admit that the little bomber sequence we just saw was pretty gripping. Those guys not wanting to get into those planes but doing it anyway...um...and some of those planes that got back with everybody on board shot up. Air guys dont get enough appreciation, I think.
“BTW I think it is a 7 part series.”
Sorry about that...I must have goofed when scanning listings.
fwiw...I had to shutdown my DVD, The Eye of Vichy, to watch this episode tonight. Vichy is a short (30 min, I think) “film” by famous (and still active) French “new wave” director Claude Chabrol. It is nothing but a collage of Franco/German propaganda newsreel footage that was shown in both Vichy France and in the north during the war. Paints a very, very ugly picture of enthusiastic French collaboration. Netflix has it, although I bought it after first renting.
Anti-commie shows? Not hardly to be found.
You can count the anti-commie movies on one hand. There are scores of anti-fascist movies and documentaries.
That's because the commie left is in charge of the media.
“Paints a very, very ugly picture of enthusiastic French collaboration.”
If you haven’t seen it, I would recommend (even though it’s from PBS!),
“Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State”.
It does a fairly good job of parcelling out accountability in terms of
who ordered it, who enthusiatically helped, who tried to not participate and
who sat on the sidelines...when it comes to the Holocaust.
The segment on the French/Vichy involvement ain’t pretty.
Especially as it centers on rounding up Jewish children in Paris and
“shippin’ em’ out”.
(If you rent/buy, do be forwarned about the “discussion” interludes
hosted by hot reporter-turned-nutty-liberal-earthmother Linda Ellerbee.
There are a few pearls from some of the commentators, but also some
PC drivel.)
Also recently rewatched Shoah and also watched/bought The Sorrow and the Pity, less known, 8-hour documentary on French collaboration (Amazon).
I am interested in French history and very hopeful with the election of Sarkozy. But the French have so, so much to be ashamed about. They didn't so much get defeated by the Nazis as roll over and join up with them. Sure, there were resistors. But my impression is that there was a hell of a lot more ~enthusiastic~ collaboration than there was "resistance."
The Bloody Bucket...
“But this thing is tedious.”
Yes, it’s just not working terribly well for me.
Keith David is the wrong man for this narration job, and the audio quality of his voice sounds distorted, like he’s eating the microphone or they’re using excessive compression—something.
In fact, the entire audio mix is mediocre. Poor matching of levels.
Music selections are sometimes incongruous.
I don’t know, naturally one’s expectations for a work like this are high, but it’s falling short somehow, lacking compelling impact, with some exceptions. The Ball Turret gunner’s recounting, for example.
All of that said, still a worthwhile piece.
Your specific comments about the audio production sound right to me.
I would add that this production demonstrates that everybody -- even Ken Burns -- needs an editor. I don't have any objection at all to framing the film in terms of the four communities. But at times -- especially as each of these first two episodes began -- Burns seemed almost to be stretching to fill the time. I think it happens sometimes that when a filmmaker has profound subject matter but not quite the film to do it full justice, he becomes ponderous as a way of trying to convey the significance of it all.
Saw a movie with WW11 theme; taking place in England. The entire country, like here; backed their soldiers; the war effort. . .made huge sacrifices and sang their anthem. As they did here.
I was struck again, by how far our culture had taken us, from our own roots. . .or rather, how far down, the values of the Lib Left had taken America; so that now our neighbor is politically, our enemy. No more unified fronts. . .shared values, shared 'enemy'. . .common goals. Instead of personal sacrifice; we howl, when gas prices go up.
These realizations were not just new revelations, of course; but did wonder if the younger film-watchers even realized the difference here; or whether they could even appreciate it. Wondered if even their majority, understand altruisim. . . (Hillary and Bill, of course, have surely never entertained an altruistic thought. . .and by turn; they cannot imagine that anyone else has either. . .and hence we see only their shameless 'lust' for power.)
The Left is relentless in it's idiological determination; and all these people share a collective patience, as well. We know it has it's rewards. It was confirmed for us today as we looked on, and watched Ahmadinejad being celebrated at Columbia University; where our Military is not deemed worthy; or our President, for that matter. . .
I’m glad it was my parents generation who bore the burden...they had the guts to see the fight thru....I’m afraid that if WW II were to come again the MSM would be wringing their hands about the “quagmire” in Europe and the South Pacific.....not to mention the country is much,much more casualty averse now....the libs would be having a fit over taking the enormous KIA/WIA numbers.
In England, after the signing of the Nazi/Soviet Pact, the British Communist Party actually opposed its own country's war effort until the German invasion of Russia. For the radical left, no treason is too audacious.
“...he becomes ponderous as a way of trying to convey the significance of it all.”
Yes, precisely. ...Well put.
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