WOODEN CROSSES (6) vs. BATTLE OF NERETVA (11)

PLOT

                “Wooden Crosses” is a French war film set on the Western Front in WWI.  It was released in 1932.  It was based on a novel by a veteran of the war.  It is basically a buddy film focusing on the friendship on the newbie Gilbert and the veteran Sulphart.  Their relationship is reminiscent of Paul and Kat in “All Quiet…”  The plot moves smoothly from soldier life to combat.  The interaction of the small unit is natural, although it reflects the period before French poilu became disillusioned with the war.  It gets its anti-war bona fides from the whittling down of the unit and the horrendous combat scenes.  This is one of the great WWI movies.  GRADE  =  A (9)

                “The Battle of Neretva” is a huge budget Yugoslavian film released in 1969.  It deals with a battle between the Germans and partisans.  The plot is a collection of battle scenes connected by bombardments.  An international all-star cast is given some things to do, but there is no time (even though the movie is long) for character development.  It is often unclear what is happening and why, but I really didn’t care.  GRADE  =  C (7)

ACTING

                “Wooden Crosses” is basically a two man show.  Pierre Blanchard is fine as Gilbert, although the character does not undergo the usual naïve to cynical arc of a new soldier.  Gilbert fits in immediately and becomes a leader quickly.  Gabriel Gabrio is great as Sulphart. He is one of the great characters in WWI movies and very entertaining.  He even gets to sing.  The rest of the cast is fine and they do death well.  GRADE  =  A (9)

                “The Battle of Neretva” has some major stars who were attracted by the pay.  Orson Welles plays a politician, Yul Brenner gets to blow things up, Sergei Bondarchuk plays a partisan, Curt Jurgens and Hardy Kruger are Germans.  There roles are glorified cameos.  There are some female actors that make an impression, but the male stars seem to be just putting in the time, except Kurger, of course.  Overall, the acting is wooden.  GRADE  =  C (7)

CLICHES

                “Wooden Crosses” is built upon the cliché of the veteran soldier pairing off with the new guy.  The Sulphart character has been seen in many films.  He is resourceful and keeps spirits up.  Gilbert is not a stereotype.  He hits the ground running and his biggest personality trait is he reflects the conscience of the group.  This is unusual for the newest unit member.  Although a two-man focus, the movie is firmly in the “who will survive?” subgenre.  GRADE  =  B (8)

                Surprisingly, “The Battle of Neretva” has no glaring cliches.  It even avoids the classic fighter bombardment cliche by having the planes actually drop bombs!  It does not avoid the typical touchdown-signaling deaths.  GRADE  =  A (9)

COMBAT

                 The outstanding thing about “Wooden Crosses” is the combat.  It has both quantity and quality.  I have seen enough WWI movies to assure you that they seldom have very much actual fighting.  This movie manages to give good treatment to both the soldier life and the battles.  The attack on the village features twelve minutes of continuous balls to the wall combat. The bombardment effects are outstanding.  The movie makes you wonder why these men went over the top and makes it clear why later in the war French soldiers would refuse to.  GRADE  =  A (9)

                “The Battle of Neretva” has lots of combat, but quantity does not mean quality.  There is plenty of military hardware, including tanks.  There’s a lot of air bombardment to the point where it becomes redundant.  And then you have Yul Brenner’s character to blow things up.  Unfortunately, the climactic blowing up of the bridge is a fizzle.  In spite of blowing up an actual bridge twice (too much dust for the cinematography), the film had to use a model.  There is a cavalry charge in a WWII movie, but it can’t save the overall blah choreography.  GRADE  =  B (8)

FINAL SCORE:  Wooden Crosses 35  The Battle of Neretva  31

ANALYSIS:

                This outcome should not come as a surprise.  Few have seen both movies, but take it from me, “Wooden Crosses” is one of the best WWI movies and “The Battle of Neretva” was a Yugoslavian attempt at a battle epic.  While not as bad as “Battle of the Bulge”, it needs to be lumped with it.  It actually has a good reputation, although I can see no reason why.  Heck, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.  (Keep in mind that “Army of Shadows” was released in 1969 and was not nominated.)  It has no scenes that match the best of “Wooden Crosses” which has a remarkable scene where the unit is in a dugout that they know is being mined.  It is a must-see movie where I would avoid “Neretva”.