Review of 49th Parallel (1941) by Nikolai E — 24 Jan 2010

Okay, so I'm in absolutely no position to discuss this film objectively, except to say I was deliriously happy while watching it. The best way to describe it is 'One Week' if Joshua Jackson had been in the Waffen SS.

See, in the early days of World War 2, the Royal Canadian Air Force blows the shit out of a German U-boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, stranding its landing party in MOTHERFUCKING CANADA, BITCHES. Now, Canada could of course at any time use its infinite powers to crush these Nazis like the insects they are, but instead, our great nation decides to fuck with them like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass, and the results are preposterously entertaining.

Powell and Pressburger, my favorite filmmakers outside of Orson Welles, made this film to goad America into the war effort and basically show Joseph Goebbels just exactly how propaganda is fucking done.

The film has one clear message: Do not fuck with Canada. What do I have to say to make you see this film? Do you want to see Laurence Olivier as a loudmouthed, French Canadian fur trapper with an atrocious accent? Yes, you do.

I mean, the film is dedicated to all the peoples of Canada, throw them a bone and watch the thing. Does the film have problems? Absolutely, but I'm not the guy to tell you what they are. I'm the guy who will be ramming this film down the throat of acquaintances and random strangers for years to come.