6. For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943, 170m)

May 1937: The Spanish Civil War

Alas, I had to do a little reorganizing here as it occurred to me that I really should have included a film about the Spanish Civil War, but only after I had already watched The Flowers of War (2011). So I have reordered those posts just in case any person, vaguely mad as I am, ends up following in my footsteps and tries to tackle this list him/herself. Further, at the end, it's my intention to single-out the best films I watched over the course of the project and make, effectively, a 'highlights list' in case there are those who are interested in seeing some of these movies but don't want to commit to the (likely) full one-hundred.

Either way, today's film is For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943) based on the celebrated novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway, inspired by his own experiences as a reporter during the Spanish Civil War. The film stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff, Arturo de Córdova, Vladimir Sokoloff, Mikhail Rasumny, and Katina Paxinou. Though the Spanish themselves stayed out of the Second World War, many of the same nations that would fight in that conflict used the Spanish Civil War to cut the teeth of their armies (Germany and Italy provided aid to Francisco Franco while the Soviet Union helped the opposing Republican forces). I was planning, at some point, to ask why all WWII movies were two hours long, but then this one was almost three so I figured I probably shouldn't ask too many questions.

The film follows Robert Jordan (Cooper) - no, not the best-selling fantasy author, though many speculate he may have derived his pseudonym from the book - an American serving with the Spanish Republican forces in their struggle against Franco's fascists. Jordan, we learn, is skilled with dynamite and demolitions and is tasked by Russian General Golz (Eric Feldary) to blow up a bridge used by the opposition. To this end, Jordan and Anselmo (Sokoloff), his elderly guide and friend, will be aided by a local band of guerrillas, hiding in the mountains in the vicinity of the bridge.

The small crew is lead by Pablo (Tamiroff), a cowardly stand-offish man who wants the dynamite for his own purposes, but peopled by diverse characters such as the Gypsy Rafael (Rasumny), who are eager to help. When Pablo's true intentions are revealed, the formidable Pilar (Paxinou), Pablo's woman, belittles him in front of the others. In return, Pablo suggests she lead the group instead, which she does, happily, to the applause of everyone else involved.

Here, Jordan also meets María (Bergman), a fellow refugee whom Pilar has taken under her wing to help with the cooking/general chores in the cave where the guerrillas are headquartered. At the start of the war, her father (the mayor of their village) and mother were murdered and she was imprisoned and raped. Amidst the grim and uncertain times, the two inevitably start a relationship, though Jordan grows increasingly concerned as her affection for him grows. He knows that she wants him to leave with her, yet he intends to see the war through to its end (for better or worse).

Meanwhile, Pablo vacillates between cowardice and a resolve to complete the mission, resulting in increasing sentiment among the men to have him killed before he betrays them. One night, when everyone is sequestered during a snowfall - to prevent footprints - Pilar tells the tale of the man Pablo used to be; how he lost his resolve after witnessing the mob behavior and wanton murder of his fellow Republicans. At this point, Pablo returns and is once again allowed to join the group. The next day, however, on the eve of the planned sabotage, he witnesses the death of a fellow company of guerrillas. Led by a man named El Sordo (Joseph Calleia), these men sacrifice themselves to allow Pilar's forces to escape. In a moment of weakness, Pablo destroys the only detonator for the explosives, jeopardizing the plan's success at the worst possible moment.

This film, at least given it's length, should be fairly epic yet, upon watching it, I couldn't tell you why it's so long. Don't get me wrong, I love old movies and am typically all about slower pacing - at least with a purpose. However, with this film, it didn't feel like it accomplished anything. The narrative simply seemed drawn out for no reason. For a time, the will-he/won't-he nature of Pablo was interesting, particularly when it was unclear how he would respond to Jordan's usurpation of his authority. Unfortunately, once it became clear that Pablo didn't have the balls to do much of anything, after his third or fourth time leaving, followed by concern on the part of the men, and subsequent return, it seemed like nothing more than a waste of time. Similarly, in addition to the Sisyphean trials of Pablo, a lot of time was spent discussing horses. The concern was, once the bridge was destroyed, the rebels needed to escape the valley, however they didn't have enough horses for everyone. The clear solution, at least to me, was to move the nonessential personnel (María for example) out of the valley the day before the attack. Problems such as this, that fly in the face of common sense, serve only to catapult the audience out of their suspension of disbelief and, thus, highlight further faults. When compared to other epics, be they contemporaries like Gone with the Wind (1939), and especially when stacked up against the heavies of two decades later, such as Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Ben-Hur (1959), and of course Lawrence of Arabia (1962), that depict so much, it's a shame to see a film clock in at almost three-hours that could just have easily (and likely more effectively) been told in half/two-thirds as long.

Musically, the film harkens back to another era with it's classic score, though the mixing leaves something to be desired. There are times in the movie when the music serves one purpose - suspense, for example - and another piece of music, conveying an entirely opposing thought - say, humor - is spliced in awkwardly for a couple seconds, before returning to the original piece. Mind you this is not simply the juxtaposition of themes in a single composition, but two different songs crudely and distractingly cutting to and from one another.

Visually, the film is solid, though given it's scenic nature I can't help but feel like it would have been better in widescreen, had they waited another ten years. Obviously, I can't hold that against them, however. On the other hand, the technicolor is beautiful, bringing the film's earthy color pallet to life with soft, yet rich hues.

In general, I felt that the acting was adequate. I will admit up front that I haven't seen too many films with Gary Cooper or Ingrid Bergman in them but, as a point of comparison, felt that Bergman was good in Casablanca (1942) and Cooper was stellar in High Noon (1952). Perhaps it was the director's goal to employ understated performances, that somehow this would bring the film more realism/authenticity, but to to me everything simply felt flat. For a time at least, Tamiroff was compelling but, once his conflict with the rest of the characters had overstayed it's welcome, he similarly went from feeling like a threat to a distraction. Even a unique, somewhat quirky character like Pilar, whom I would normally love, was only okay in this case.

Overall, I thought the film was alright. The subject matter was somewhat interesting but the pacing was off and the film was overlong. If there was stand-out character (like Christoph Waltz in Inglorious Basterds (2009), seriously, I could watch that guy for the whole three hours - not that Basterds needed one of course, since it was taut and compelling all the way through), someone to keep the audience's interest, it would be a different story. Reportedly, Hemingway himself didn't care for this adaptation as he felt it diminished the political elements of his novel. Indeed, it's possible, with an additional storyline, the film might have felt less repetitive. In the end though, what promised to present us with the grim realities of war, wound up as nothing more than folks hiding in a cave talking about Pablo and his horses for eighty-seven percent of the time. I rate this film 2.5/5.