chris-sedition Reviews

Stalingrad (2003– )

Riveting

[10/10 · 5 October 2010]

First, I'll just get a few short comings of this work out of the way.

(a) It helps if you know something about the battle before watching this documentary. You -might- feel a little lost in the bigger-picture sense without such knowledge.

(b) Those looking for an in-depth military analysis of the battle should look elsewhere. This film is brilliant in its ability to capture the experience of war, not the theory behind it. Hence, there are not a lot of maps, etc. in this movie.

(c) Sometimes the film can be a but redundant.

So, now that all of that is out of the way, on to the good stuff. What really makes this film shine is the first-person accounts by people who were actually there, and lived through it. Both ex-German and Russian soldiers are interviewed, along with Russian civilians. It is said that a soldier only really experiences war in the 1000 feet that is around him. If that is true, then this film is a horrifying, moving, and amazing account of those 1000 feet. It also abuts the historical-drama movie by the same name. The two are really worth watching in tandem. This is a bottom-up account of Stalingrad that illuminates the experiences of the common foot soldier, which is often a story not heard from the German side of things. I really feel this is "must see" for anyone with even a remote interest in WWII.

War of the Century (1999– )

Mind blowing. A MUST see.

[10/10 · 2 November 2009]

Go add this, now, to the #1 spot of your movie cue. Seriously, stop reading and go do it. Done? OK, now you can keep reading.

While War of the Century ("WOTC") is limited in scope to "just" the German v. Russian fronts, it one of the best documentaries ever produced in regards to the mentality of World War II. In that respect, it far exceeds the BBC's epic "The World at War" and Ken Burns' "The War." Moreover, WOTC manages to accomplish this in a mere four installments of 45-min episodes.

As others have said, this WOTC is riveting, moving, and wholly unsettling. There is brutally frank discussion about the extremes to which war drives people. Ex German and Russian soldiers talk about how, and why, they killed members of their own armies and innocent by-standers. Civilians, and soldiers, talk about their roles in murder, cannibalism, rape, torture, racism, and total destruction of the "enemy" (who is often hard to define at certain times).

In Apocalypse Now Col. Kurtz says, "It's impossible for words to describe what is necessary to those who do not know what horror means. Horror. Horror has a face … and you must make a friend of horror. Horror and moral terror are your friends. If they are not, then they are enemies to be feared." WOTC, through startling personal accounts, brings the stark reality of WWII right in to the comfort of your cozy living room. Bottom line: This is one of the top 3 documentaries on WWII (or any war) that I have seen. Moreover, it is a dark look into the human nature, and and the extremes to which people can endure.

A Haunting in Connecticut (2002 TV Movie)

Wow. I was NOT expecting to be that taken by this...

[8/10 · 30 January 2008]

I went to the gym last week. I flipped on the TV for background noise, with no intention of actually watching TV. This documentary happened to be on. I overheard some of the dialouge during my first set. It made me curious, so I started watching a bit. 45 min later, and with 5 other people who had joined me, we had all abandoned our work-outs. We were glued to the TV. I'm not a fan of horror or suspense movies. I am generally a skeptic about the supernatural. I do not believe in God. However, something about this show really, really got to me (and the 5 other people at the gym!). It was the most well done, and scariest account of a co-called haunting that I have ever come across.