Review of From Here to Eternity (1953) by Jeffrey C — 10 May 2007
A heartbreaking soldier's tale of impossibe romance, friendship, and duty to one's country.
I really expected the film to have more to do with World War II, especially Pearl Harbor (which is where the film is set). The actual battle of Pearl Harbor takes up about 10 minutes of the film -- the film tells a much more personal story than a war epic can offer. However, the amount of ground covered in the overlapping storylines is enough to warrant the term "epic".
It won several Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, also Best Supporting Actor for Frank Sinatra, and Best Supporting Actress for Donna Reed. Sinatra and Reed do some nice work in limited roles, but I thought the real heart of the film was in the performances of Burt Lancaster and especially Montgomery Clift.
Director Fred Zinnemann does a commendable job of weaving several stories together, and we really feel for all of the characters, but at times it seems like he's directing 3 or 4 films and we're left to wonder how they all connect. In a way they do, but they might have worked better as separate stories.
This review of From Here to Eternity (1953) was written by Jeffrey C on 10 May 2007.
From Here to Eternity has generally received very positive reviews.
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