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.

7. The Flowers of War (2011, 146m)

December 13, 1937 to January 1938: The Nanking Massacre

For the first time in this project, we're off to Asia with Jīnlíng Shísān Chāi (The Flowers of War), a film by the acclaimed Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Hero (2002), and House of Flying Daggers (2004)). The film focuses on a group of people that take shelter in a Nanking church when the Chinese capitol is invaded by the Japanese Army. The film features an ensemble cast, starring Christian Bale, Ni Ni, Zhang Xinyi, Tong Dawie, Atsuro Watabe, Cao Kefan and Huang Tianyuan.

John Miller (Bale) is an American mortician that has come to the city to tend to the recently deceased Father of the local Catholic church. When the Japanese attack, Miller flees to the church, helping two Chinese schoolgirls along the way, including Shu (Xinyi) who provides voice-over commentary for much of the film. Nearby, the remaining Chinese troops in the city, lead by the formidable, yet understated, Major Li (Dawei) - a talented sniper - make a final stand against the invaders in order to protect the remaining schoolgirls. The girls are saved but everyone else is killed, save for Li and one critically wounded young soldier.

Miller arrives at the church and is informed by George Chen (Tianyuan), a reserved young man left in charge after the Father's death, that the priest's body was tragically destroyed by a stray bomb and they have no more need of him. Miller demands to be paid for his trouble, but George insists they have no money to pay him. Meanwhile, the remaining schoolgirls arrive and the church is sealed against outsiders. George asks Miller to fix a broken-down truck parked in the courtyard so they can evacuate the city, but Miller refuses to do it for free. Major Li arrives shortly thereafter and takes a position outside the church with his rifle, a guardian angel of sorts.

Soon, a group of prostitutes appears, seeking refuge, but George turns them away, so their unofficial leader, Yu Mo (Ni Ni) simply leads the girls over the church's walls. George is helpless to stop them and the women take up residence in the church's basement. The prostitutes and the schoolgirls find themselves immediately at odds and are constantly fighting. Yu Mo also tries to persuade Miller to fix the truck, that he may take the prostitutes to safety instead, offering sex in return. He quickly becomes infatuated with her but doesn't want to commit himself to anything. Drunk, in an attempt to win over Yo Mo with humor, Miller dresses in the Father's vestments and attempts to engage in a little role-playing, but things get a little out of hand and Major Li is forced to intervene.

Suddenly a force of Japanese soldiers breach the gates and storms inside, intending to rape the virginal schoolgirls. Still in the Father's clothes, Miller comes to their aid, acting as the church's priest and putting his life on the line to save them. Undeterred, the soldiers persist and Major Li engages them with his rifle. After the battle, the local Japanese Colonel, Hasegawa (Watabe), pays a visit to the church, apologizing for the behavior of his men. He says he is a music lover and wants the girls to perform at a Japanese victory ceremony, stationing guards around the church for their safety. However, as time passes, Miller realizes the terrible truth: the Japanese are merely protecting the girls as 'party favors' for their celebration, and everyone must come together in the remaining time to try find a method of escape.

Wow. I was really impressed with this movie. The visuals are simply stunning and the events portrayed, though uncomfortable at times, are not widely studied in the West. Yimou's signature visual style is evident throughout, resulting in something quite beautiful and serene, a stark contrast to the brutal events depicted. Acting-wise, Ni Ni is great, as the beautiful yet mysterious Yu Mo, as are many others, such as Huang Tianyuan's charming-yet-infuriating performance as George. Further, Christian Bale is solid as the conflicted Miller which, by no means a standout, is good in the role and allows the other actors to shine. My personal favorite is Tong Dawei as Major Li, the consummate professional/undeniable bad ass. Honestly, I'd love to see a movie just about him.

Of course, a film such as this is bound to attract the usual complaints about the White Savior, and this movie is no different. Indeed the credits struck me as somewhat odd as well: Christian Bale was listed first, prominently, then the whole crew (director, writer, composer, cinematographer, etc), and finally the rest of the cast was all at the end. Indeed, though this film is largely historical fiction, there were whites such as John Rabe, a German, who actually helped get people to safety. However, what I would say is this: this film was made by a prominent Chinese director, for a Chinese market. At no point during the production of this film, was there some up-his-ass American jamming his manifest-destiny crap into this movie. In fact, during an interview, Yimou said it was a conscious choice on his part and getting Bale's character into the movie/past the censors was one of his biggest accomplishments: "this kind of character, a foreigner, a drifter, a thug almost, becomes a hero and saves the lives of Chinese people. That has never ever happened in Chinese filmmaking, and I think it will never happen again in the future." Similarly, Yimou wanted to present a more sympathetic/"layered" portrayal of the Japanese, than that usually seen in Chinese film, particularly with Colonel Hasegawa, who struggles internally with the orders of his superiors.

A lot of Western reviews at the time of the film's release release were, I feel, unduly harsh on these counts alone. There's a tendency I've seen a lot lately for people to get indignant on the behalf of others who aren't offended in the slightest (such as Roger Ebert's review of this film, where he asked why is couldn't have been a Chinese mortician instead of an American one) and it drives me crazy. Honestly, I think that telling people from another country (or of another race), based on our own sensibilities, what should be offensive to them is far worse. Regardless of who helped who historically, though, this film is largely about the Chinese characters and that's what's really at the heart of this story. The film is mixed language, 40% English/60% Chinese (subtitled).

Overall, seeing great films such as this, that I've never seen before, is one of the main reasons I'm doing this project. This movie combines good acting with a compelling, heart-wrenching subject I know very little about, and presents it all through dazzling visuals. Though the events portrayed are grim and tragic, the film itself is brilliant and masterfully crafted. It's also available on Netflix Instant Watch so you should definitely check it out! I rate this film a 4/5.