Review of From Here to Eternity (1953) by Everett J — 27 Jun 2008

From Here to Eternity.

Directed by Fred Zinnemann.

Based on the novel by James Jones.

Written by Daniel Taradash.

Starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Deborah Kerr, Donna Reed, Frank Sinatra, Philip Ober, Ernest Borgnine.

The rapturous, ecstatic bonding of wartime preparation. The setting is the Schofield Barracks on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The men are playing for war and the women are playing at suffering gamely, with all the dignity and silence expected of them. The film uses the backdrop of imminent war to focus on the tyranny of interpersonal relationships and all their incipient head rushes and sorrows. It posits a headstrong yet dedicated soldier against the cold institutional machinations of the gnawing, impersonal war machine.

This film garnered thirteen Academy Award nominations, taking home eight including best supporting actor and actress nods for Sinatra and Reed.

Pvt. Robert E Lee Prewitt (Clift) is transferred to the barracks as the film opens. He was previously first bugler and something of a boxing champion He?s recruited to join the boxing team but he flat out refuses on account of an incident in the ring where he hit a sparring partner and ended up blinding him. He remains entrenched in his position which raises the ire of Capt. Holmes. (Ober) who makes it his mission to break Robert. He orders a series of unnecessary punishments that Robert accepts because he would rather be in the army than anyplace else. Eventually Holmes is brought up on charges relating to his treatment of Robert and forced to resign from the army. Robert personifies the lauded attitude of the military lifer. He measures the quality of his life by how much he is able to give to the army. He?s not caught up in jingoist fever as much as truly dedicated to the structure and organizational capacities inherent in the army experience. His personal goals and ambitions remain in the background as he continues to gain strength wearing the uniform and performing all the tasks as they come to him.

Pvt. Angelo Angelo (Sinatra) is a nervous, bullish little man possessed of tremendous confidence in his ability to go up against any man who might dare to come up to him. Angelo gets himself in deep trouble by harassing Sgt. James R ?Fatso? Judson (Borgnine) while Fatso is playing piano at a bar. Later, Angelo smashes Fatso over the head with a chair. When Angelo abandons his post to go to town he is captured and sent to the stockade, he is greeted by a grinning Fatso who runs the show. Angelo is repeatedly beaten, tormented, and tortured. He finally escapes and dies with Robert present. In one of the most poignant and touching scenes in film, Robert plays a mournful dirge on his bugle that elicits great pangs of emotion as tears fall down Clift?s cheeks, cementing him as a sensitive, caring man caught up in a profession that pushes for hardness and lack of emotion above all else. Robert is strong willed and has positively no inclination to back down from his position to not box for the team. Still, when he?s brutalized by the same Sargent that has been making his life hell, he lunges at him, launching a fight where he brutalizes the other man after spending a great deal of time only hitting him in the body. Finally, after being knocked down, he looks up and gains a new perspective. From that point on he bloodies his opponent with shot after shot to the head. Something has given way but he?s still not going to fight for the team.

With the glories of potential war bleeding into the synapses of those involved in protecting the barracks from attack, the women work through their own internal exercises. Karen (Kerr) is the unhappy wife of Capt. Holmes. Their marriage is strained mostly because he keeps having affairs and she?s rightly sick of it. So when Ist. Sgt. Milton Warden (Lancaster) comes a? knocking, she?s hardly in a position to refuse. Thus begins the great, terrible love affair the film is best known for. There?s one scene that has become so entrenched in our consciousness that it?s hard to view it objectively. It?s on the beach where the lovers frolic in the sand as the tide comes in. It retains its erotic power after fifty years and continues to slightly shock the senses considering when the film was released. It?s a bona fide love scene where bodies are pressed together and one instantly knows what will happen next if not very soon. It?s this kind of suggestion that makes for compelling cinema. One doesn?t actually see anything but the imagination takes the viewer to a very specific place.

Robert and Angelo use their pass to go to a gentleman?s club that doesn?t serve alcohol. While in attendance, Robert notices Alma Burke (Reed) who has been christened ?Loreen? by the establishment?s owner. He?s immediately smitten and proceeds to talk to her. There is a mutual attraction which carries on to further meetings where Robert meets Loreen?s roommate and is given a key to the place. The romance between these two is not as explicit as the other one but there is a definite charge between Robert and Loreen. There is a spark of energy between them that is accentuated when Robert stumbles in after stabbing Fatso out of revenge for his treatment of Angelo. Loreen?s natural maternal instincts take over as she attempts to heal Robert and their relationship takes on a more distinctive measure.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor comes as a bolt from the blue and the film treats it as such. It just seems to happen and it creates instant chaos in the lives of those whose sole job is to serve and protect. The scenes with the Japanese planes bombing the barracks are thrilling as the soldiers fall to their stomachs to avoid being shelled. The threat of war hangs over every scene simply because as an audience we know what is going to happen eventually. Still, it?s quite a jolt once the nightmare commences.

The performances in this film are all natural and nuanced. All five principle actors were nominated for Academy Awards. Burt Lancaster plays the rigid, efficient soldier with precision and a great attention to detail. Lancaster possessed a solidity and projects a real strength of character as he maneuvers his way through the military bureaucracy. He?s utterly believable as a man whom Karen points out is ?married to the Army?. Montgomery Clift plays his character with just a hint of trouble behind his eyes. He?s tormented by his past and consumed with remorse but he doesn?t let it stand in his way of soldiering. Still, there is something tremendously melancholy about Clift?s performance. Physically, Clift?s shoulders are slightly hunched as if Robert isn?t quite sure of himself enough to stand erectly with the other soldiers. Frank Sinatra makes for a most interesting soldier. His character simply makes sense and provides the film with necessary comic relief. He?s quite good at playing for laughs and possesses quite a considerable physical presence despite his rather emaciated frame. Deborah Kerr has a melancholy all her own as Karen struggles through her bad marriage and the development of romance with Milton. Kerr purrs softly and exudes a strong, daring sexuality that is borne out with her gestures and slight, ultra feminine movements. She is a finely structured woman who knows how to use her body for best effect.

Donna Reed has an anxious quality about her as she attempts to solve Robert while questioning her position at the club. Reed gives a masterful turn as a troubled, startled woman who sees much further than the limited horizons her present position affords her. With great subtlety Reed commands an aching, trembling desire that she cannot quite fathom or properly name. Ernest Borgnine is a force of nature in brief turn as the jolly Fatso. Fatso is a temper tantrum come to life, he strikes blows with a casual glance and the resultant characterization borders on poetry. It?s all in Borgnine?s gestures and the terrible way he postures himself in every scene. He is the face of institutional cruelty gone mad with a fervor for administering grave torrents of actual pain.

Overall, this film is tinged with a sweet darkness that permeates every frame. The characters are all fully fleshed out and come off as real people worth believing in and rooting for. It?s a film that focuses its attention on the personalities that exist in every military battalion and the struggles and dangers that face those who risk their lives for the almighty cause. There is purpose and rhythm in this film as it almost plays as a dance with death as the mercenary spirit gains great currency in the face of so much pressing calamity. The difficulties of preparing for war become a backdrop for deeply moving, intoxication stories that serve as tumultuous gestures of brazen noncompliance with the edicts of total war.