Second World War is widely perceived as the Good War, in other words one of the rare examples of epic struggle between clearly defined sides of Good and Evil. Those individuals, organisations and countries that participated in it, at least those on the winning side, have all the reasons to be proud of it. So, it isn’t surprising that such sentiments found their way on the silver screen in the form of films so incredibly expensive and spectacular that they could be characterised of Seventh Art equivalents of monuments and memorial complexes. Such practice is usually associated with Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and other Communist countries, but it wasn’t exactly uncommon in the West, with 1962 Hollywood epic The Longest Day being the best known example. The last big budget Western film to fit such description was 1977 Anglo-American co-prodcution A Bridge Too Far, which, ironically, covered the last of Allies’ major military defeats.
A Bridge Too Far is based on the book by Irish journalist Cornelius Ryan, author of the book that has been adapted into The Longest Day, so this film can be viewed as its unofficial sequel. The plot begins in late Summer of 1944 after the Anglo-American forces managed to break out of its Normandy beachhead and liberate most of France and Belgium. Germans have suffered terrible losses and are considered to be in complete panic and disarray, but the speed of Allied advance have created problems with logistics. Worried that Germans might regroup and build strong defensive line on the Rhine, Allied leadership come with the plan to quickly cross the mighty river at the place least expected by the enemy. The ultimate target is the bridge at Arnhem, a city deep inside Netherlands, still under German occupation. In order to surprise Germans, Allies launch greatest air landing in military history, with US 101st Airborne Division tasked with securing important bridges near Eindhoven, US 82nd Airborne Division tasked with securing bridges at Nijmegen and British 1st Airborne Division under General Roy Urquarth (played by Sean Connery) tasked with securing Arnhem bridge. They must hold those bridges until relief comes in the form of armoured columns of British XXX Corps under command of Lt. General Brian Horrocks (played by Edward Fox) advancing towards Arnhem on the narrow road from Belgium. On September 17th 1944 tens of thousands of Allied paratroopers land behind enemy lines in Netherlands and Germans are indeed surprised, but three airborne division fare very differently. While Americans, despite difficulties, manage to secure their objectives, everything that could have gone wrong goes wrong for the British at Arnhem. That includes crack German formations of II SS Panzer Corps under command of General Wilhelm Bittrich (played by Maximilian Schell) whose presence, despite warnings of Dutch resistance at the ground, was fatally ignored by Allied planners. Only British 2nd Parachute Battallion under Lt. Col. John Frost (played by Anthony Hopkins) actually manages to reach the bridge, but they are soon cut off from the rest of division and confronted by numerically and technically superior enemy. Despite desperate odds and lack of ammunition, Frost and his men hold their position as the hope of rescue diminishes with every hour.
A Bridge Too Far deserves a praise less as a film and more as an impressive logistical achievement. Made in time when CGI wasn’t available, the reconstruction of the battle of such epic proportions required not only thousands of extras, but also large number of 1940s planes, tanks, artillery and similar military equipment difficult to find three decades later, in a time when most of it already became obsolete. Another, more challenging, problem was to present battle fought by tens of thousands of people over many different locations into single coherent story. William Goldman, one of Hollywood’s greatest screenwriters of its time, solved it in a way similar to The Longest Day. Events are presented through the series of loosely connected vignettes, during which some of the biggest Hollywood stars of its time (Ryan O’Neal, Robert Redford, Eliott Gould, James Caan) appear in which could often be described as nothing more than glorified cameos. This approach works and the audience, also thanks to the use of some of the actual battle participants as technical advisors, gets not only accurate but very clear picture of what went on. Constant scene of fighting, explosions, destruction, carnage and general mayhem become repetitive after some time and it is easy to imagine some segments of audience, especially those with little interest in WW2 history, might interest before the actual end.
Main problem for A Bridge Too Far is in its tone or, to be precise, somewhat schizophrenic approach of its director towards subject matter. Richard Attenborrough, although WW2 veteran himself, became famous a decade earlier with film adaptation of musical What a Lovely War! dealing with another global conflict which, instead of perceived as Good War, is viewed as pointless slaughter. Despite few scenes featuring Dutch civilians who enthusiastically greet Allied soldiers as liberators, A Bridge Too Far in many scenes actually resembles First World War, at least in the experience of British soldiers, which include WW2 variant of Lions Led By Donkeys trope. This could be recognised in the character of British general Frederick Browning (played by Dirk Bogarde), commander of Allied I Airborne Corps, whose disregard for caution and intelligence provided by his subordinates results in bloody fiasco. Such pacifist sentiments were still in vogue following Vietnam War, but they looked out of place in the film supposed to celebrate and honour sacrifices made for liberation of Europe. And if Attenborrough indeed wanted to warn future generations about dangers of war, next decades made those efforts as futile as those of Operation Market Garden planners.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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