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absynth
Reviews
Stalingrad (2003)
Very good documentary with eye witnesses
This documentary gives very good insight in the battle of Stalingrad, the gruesome city combat and the blockade of the sixth german army. However, it is not for history buffs or strategic experts, as it focuses on personal experiences and the stories of some of the last living participants in this turning point of the second world war.
Written by one of the precursors for popular history shows on german Network TV, Guido Knopp, the pattern for the three-part show is similar to his other releases: archive footage of the actual events is combined with testimonies of former soldiers or other participants of the war.
This gives the documentary a very personal note, with some of the german soldiers, now well in their eighties, bursting into tears while remembering their rescue from the encircled city. This first-hand report of the cruelties of war is what leaves viewers touched.
From what I know, this documentary is available in German only and is contained as an extra DVD to the 1993 movie "Stalingrad" by Joseph Vilsmair.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
Like Menace II Society on speed
This movie is definitely one of the best movies I have seen in the past years. Set in a ghetto suburb of Rio, it takes most of its quality from its unprecedented authenticity. I'm sure you all read the usual blubbering of the movie being shot (ha! the pun!) with amateur actors, so I'm gonna skip that.
However, the acting is great - even the smallest children deliver a performance that would put most Hollywood "actors" to shame (if you have seen the movie, you will probably know which scene I'm referring to). The time shifts are a bit complicated at first, but after a while you can easily follow the storyline. Some flash back scenes show details about each character's past to put some more depths into the protagonists.
The only minor drawback is that the movie is originally in Portuguese, which I do not speak - and I guess most of the American/European viewers (except the Portuguese) don't either. So I had to contend with subtitles, and am probably missing most of the dialogue.
All in all, this movie earns a solid 9/10. This is definitely a "must" - but don't watch it if you're out to be entertained.
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
Excellent WW2 movie with nice shots
...err, that was a bad pun, I guess. However, I would put this movie in one line with Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers and the excellent german Stalingrad movie.
It has plenty of battle scenes (although not quite as elaborate as the outstanding start end end battles in Ryan), a plot based on real characters (although Major König was propably neither a major nor that highly decorated, Zaitsev actually existed) and a nice tweak to conventional WW2 movies.
The madness of war is pointed out pretty well, with officers having scores of fleeing soviet infantry MG'ed for cowardry, the constant gun and artillery fire etc.
In contrast to one of the other commenters who mourned the lack of european actors on the movie, I'd like to point out that there is actually LOTS of Europeans, especially Germans.
Eva Mattes, Matthias Habich and Hans Martin Stier, which are all acclaimed actors here in Germany, take larger or smaller roles, and Ed Harris does actually a quite good portrait of a German Elite officer with an almost royal behavior.
And as a side note, all the Nazi extras are actually German, they speak without the slightest accent. Ryan's "Germans" were a bad joke to any native speakers, and the nazis in BoB were no native speakers, either. So that adds MUCH to the credibility of the movie.
Overall: 8 of 10.