Review of From Here to Eternity (1953) by Alison C — 08 Feb 2011

From Here to Eternity might come across as a Pearl Harbor movie, and it reminded me a little like the movie Pearl Harbor. But this romance movie is original and dramatic with good direction and preformances.

With 2 different love stories tying together, one about a Sergent falling in love with his commanding officer's wife, and the other about a soldier being bullied into joining the army's boxing ring, but refuses, and during all his embarrassing hard work he falls in love with a bar girl. These stories at times seem really melodramatic, but with some fine writing and preformances they're hardly an annoyance. The struggle between what a man's job, what he want to do and who he wants to love is a great angle in this movie. The leads do a great job working together, and some qudos to Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine too.

This movie won 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. But the one that really stood out for me was the cinematography. (which it also won for) The use of the camera in many scenes were quite original and unique (spacifically when the camera zooms out as though it was going throught he glass on a rainy night) ON top of that the sets and shooting areas are wonderful, featuring the dreamy Hawaiian enviroment, fromt he beaches, tot he bars. One problem I had though is when the actual bombing of Pearl Harbor happens, it's not as climactic or as scary as it could have been, although it included a couple real film shots of the actual bobming which was a great addition.

The romance is great, the drama aint bad, and there are plenty of scenes to remember. It might not have the same kick compared to later romances, but From Here to Eternity has a great cast that really brings the most out of the movie.