jokk2155 Reviews

Stalag 17 (1953)

Truer to life than you might think

[14 December 2004]

What most people don't know is that there really was a Stalag 17 (Stalag XVII-B). It was located, just as in the movie, near Krems in Austria. It housed about 30,000 POWs, including Americans, Russians and Brits.

Sefton's ability to bribe his way past the guards into the Russian women's compound and to lavish the Russians with goodies from his Red Cross packages would have been feasible. The Soviet Union was not a signatory to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war, so Soviet POWs in the 2nd World War were not entitled to food and other necessities from the Red Cross.

Shooting the Past (1999– )

As haunting and evocative as it is...

[22 November 2002]

...a couple of elements were a bit annoying. First, the minor annoyance. The dialogue of the American developer didn't ring true. Poliakoff should have paid more attention to detail: would an American say "a fortnight" instead of "two weeks"? Or "car park" instead of "parking lot"? Not that these anglicisms interfere with the plot or anything, it's just that they rob that character's dialogue of some of its authenticity.

On a more serious note, (POSSIBLE SPOILER HERE) the plot hinges on an improbability. The story develops because of a miscommunication between the crew in England and the American developer. But why was Oswald, of all people, the one who had to communicate with the American office? The more you think about it, the less plausible that seems.

That being said, "Shooting the Past" is still head and shoulders above any drama you're likely to see on your TV screen. We should be thankful it was ever made.

Tarzan of the Apes (1918)

Elmo had to be the guy...

[13 September 2002]

...because of his already established reputation as a Hollywood strong man (e.g. his role as the Mighty Man of Valor in the 1916 DW Griffith classic "Intolerance").

Also, the image of Tarzan in 1918 was not that of a lithe gymnast like Christopher Lambert in "Greystoke", but of a man powerful enough to wrestle lions. Strength equalled bulk.

There's an interesting piece of trivia attached to that movie and Uganda (that's in East Africa) where I'm now based. There's a popular myth around here that the 1918 version of "Tarzan of the Apes" was filmed on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. In fact it was shot, I believe, in Louisiana.