In the last couple of days I have watched 2 war films which I thought I'd recommend as they both seem to be little heard of but both are very good and well worth watching.
First of all is The City Of Life & Death which tells the story of the Rape Of Nanking. An Asian Film production and shot in B&W this film views the story from all sides and doesn't shy away from the atrocities & brutalities committed from Chinese soldiers being buried alive to the treatment of the Comfort Women. A good film rather than a great one it is still a powerful telling of the events in Nanking.
The second film is Beneath Hill 60. For those who have seen the superb 39th Battalion about the fighting on the Kokoda Track here is another brilliant Aussie war film. Beneath Hill 60 tells the true story of a group of Australian miners who are signed up and sent to the Western Front in WW1 to be used as tunnellers to dig under the German trenches and lay explosives. The film manages to convey the claustrophobic nature of their work to good effect and the scene where the mine under the Messines Ridge is detonated is particularly impressive. If I have one critical point about this film it is that there is perhaps one too many flashbacks telling the pre-signing up life of the main character but it is just a minor point.
If I had to give stars for the films then The City Of Life & Death would get 3.5 out of 5 while Beneath Hill 60 would get 4.5 out of 5.
First of all is The City Of Life & Death which tells the story of the Rape Of Nanking. An Asian Film production and shot in B&W this film views the story from all sides and doesn't shy away from the atrocities & brutalities committed from Chinese soldiers being buried alive to the treatment of the Comfort Women. A good film rather than a great one it is still a powerful telling of the events in Nanking.
The second film is Beneath Hill 60. For those who have seen the superb 39th Battalion about the fighting on the Kokoda Track here is another brilliant Aussie war film. Beneath Hill 60 tells the true story of a group of Australian miners who are signed up and sent to the Western Front in WW1 to be used as tunnellers to dig under the German trenches and lay explosives. The film manages to convey the claustrophobic nature of their work to good effect and the scene where the mine under the Messines Ridge is detonated is particularly impressive. If I have one critical point about this film it is that there is perhaps one too many flashbacks telling the pre-signing up life of the main character but it is just a minor point.
If I had to give stars for the films then The City Of Life & Death would get 3.5 out of 5 while Beneath Hill 60 would get 4.5 out of 5.
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