MOVIE NIGHT

Since I began this Blog last month, I have tried to keep to a schedule while also building up my posts. With a post each day and a specific theme to follow there isn’t much time to share some of my recent experiences or thoughts on what I have watched. But after I watched this particular film last night, I feel compelled to comment on it.

My wife decided to go through some of our newly purchased movies and popped one in. Being in the other room at the time, I came in where the old movie music was playing. Not knowing the title, genre or actors, I sat down to investigate.

The film was based in 1940 around the conquering of France. Yes it is Hollwoodized and needed a love story to succeed. This love story, however, was a compliment to the mood of the film, not a distraction from it. As I watched the film I kept thinking, "Why have I never seen this movie before?"

Most of the war films I've seen are about the battles or soldiers who fought in them. Very few films show, instead, the struggles of the civilians through the war itself. The film was "Reunion in France" with Joan Crawford & John Wayne. It was like watching a history movie about an era that I never took time to think about, but at the same time so pivotal to just pass by.

Here you see how the socialistic ideas of Hitler poured into the upper class as they enjoyed a now vacant city all to themselves. It was eerie watching scenes as the streets were now empty in what was once a bustling city.

So many questions were answered that I didn't even know I wanted to ask: Why were the French conquered so easily? What was it like to live in a Nazi occupied country? Were people allowed to roam the streets or were they shut up in an attic like in "The Diary of Anne Frank?" Can you image your country now conquered and being expected to enjoy life as if nothing had happened?

Now, setting all of this aside, there is still another aspect to ponder on. Given it was made in 1942, the war was uncertain as America joined the ranks, and years had passed since France had seen any sign of hope. Watching with this, and other historical facts in mind, may help bring more out of the movie while also aiding you to feel what it was like watching it in the theater for the first time. It is a powerful story with a certain truth you don’t see in other films on the same topic.

This is a must see for any WWII fan as well as any Joan Crawford or John Wayne fan, since both had amazing performances.

*Here is the trailer.