Review of Battleground (1949) by Van R — 24 Dec 2009
BATTLEGROUND depicts without a shred of either glamour or false heroics the trials and tribulations of the beleaguered 101st Airborne Division and its stubborn defense of the town of Bastogne against the onslaught of the German army during the Battle of the Bulge in 1944.
WINGS director William Wellman and scenarist Robert Pirosh--Pirosh served in the 101st Division at Bastogneâ??have fashioned the first wave of a new kind of war movie unlike the patriotic, flag-waving propaganda war movies made between 1942 and 1945.
This gritty, realistic World War II combat film pulls few punches compared with its predecessors. The grimy G.I.s here get to grouse more about the war, the conditions, and themselves. BATTLEGROUND consists largely of campfire scenes around foxholes and eschews those familiar briefing room scenes with big battle maps and brass making points.
Indeed, this movie focuses strictly the infantry. No sooner do two replacements show up in a camp somewhere in France than they find themselves in the woods carving foxholes out of the earth. Similarly, no sooner do they have those foxholes dug than they find themselves again on the march.
Whereas BATTLE OF THE BULGE (1965) provided a bigger (Technicolor) portrayal of this event on a grander scale, the black & white BATTLEGROUND is content to follow the exploits of the fictional 2nd Squad, 3rd Platoon of I Company.
Incidentally, Paul G. Vogel received an Oscar for Best Cinematography for BATTLEGROUND. William Wellman was nominated for Best Director, and BATTLEGROUND was nominated for Best Picture, with James Whitmore getting a nomination for Best Supporting actor.
Essentially, BATTLEGROUND represents the World War II equivalent of the Vietnam war movie PLATOON. Of course, the violence is muted, but death occurs and characters that we grow attached to die. Contemporary, attention-deficit moviegoers probably will die of boredom because explosions are going off constantly, but for 1949 BATTLEGROUND was a hallowing war movie!
This review of Battleground (1949) was written by Van R on 24 Dec 2009.
Battleground has generally received positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
