This is a WW2 film about disgruntled, weary soldiers from different nations in a frozen forest.
There is a lot of "smartness" to this. Some people won't like the disjointed dialog with pauses between lines, but that is how people spoke long ago. The constant "I interrupt the speaker cause I'm superior and he's inferior" dialog has been evolving in Western culture for the past 40 years.
But there was a time when being a brat wasn't praised the way that being a brat is praised today. And you thought the Nazis lost the war?
The only real drawback is how predictable the fate is for almost every character. It follows the Hollywood formula guideline of contriving bullets to only hit characters who are relatable, but never can find characters who are just hateful for no reason.
That, of course, has almost always been the Hollywood formula, although it wasn't preached as much until the mid sixties on into the eighties.
Very contrived, very predictable, but the dramatics are very good, and the characters do feel right for the times due to the constant pauses and lack of dialog among a tired group of soldiers.
There is a lot of "smartness" to this. Some people won't like the disjointed dialog with pauses between lines, but that is how people spoke long ago. The constant "I interrupt the speaker cause I'm superior and he's inferior" dialog has been evolving in Western culture for the past 40 years.
But there was a time when being a brat wasn't praised the way that being a brat is praised today. And you thought the Nazis lost the war?
The only real drawback is how predictable the fate is for almost every character. It follows the Hollywood formula guideline of contriving bullets to only hit characters who are relatable, but never can find characters who are just hateful for no reason.
That, of course, has almost always been the Hollywood formula, although it wasn't preached as much until the mid sixties on into the eighties.
Very contrived, very predictable, but the dramatics are very good, and the characters do feel right for the times due to the constant pauses and lack of dialog among a tired group of soldiers.