It's the day to day effort(s), the gradual grinding down, of the "ignoto" (the "unknown" soldiers) that make wars of attrition like this one worthy of closer scrutiny. It's fertile ground for filmmakers, though it's ground seldom tread. (Most filmmakers opt for grandiose depictions of the Big Battles and totally ignore or dismiss outright the many unsung smaller battles that make up a war.) One of the most effective shorts I ever saw was A TIME OUT FOR WAR. Based on an Ambrose Beirce short story and featuring Barry Atwater (who played the vampire Janos Skorzeny in the original telefilm THE NIGHTSTALKER), A TIME OUT FOR WAR was set during The Civil War and focuses on a couple of Yanks dug in across a small creek from a Rebel soldier. They take pot-shots at one another from time to time in the name of God and country and all that, but finally decide to call a truce long enough to take a dip and get a sip from the aforementioned crick. Things seem to have taken a turn for the civil when one of the Union soldiers finds the water-logged body of a fellow blue-belly in the water. The Reb watches as the two Yankees retreive the dead man... and the short ends with them resuming hostilities. EL ALAMEIN reminds me of that short and, in like fashion, leaves one shaking one's head at the madness of Men who would make war on other Men (for whatever "reason"). Don't miss it.
Review of El Alamein - The Line of Fire
