The start of this movie shows a Ukranian village, happy and peaceful. Five youths, Dana Andrews, Anne Baxter, Farley Granger, Jane Withers, and Eric Roberts, go out on a picnic, but before they make it back home, their lives are disrupted by a Nazi invasion. Bombs, soldiers, and gunshots make them transition from innocence to realism, and by the end of the film, their lovely little world isn't the same.
In the first, very lengthy section of the film, the merry-making is just too merry. How many Ukranian songs and group dances do we have to sit through? One more, and then another, and then just one more. Then, when the kids go out on their harmless outing, it isn't really harmless. Jane Withers is in love with Dana Andrews, but he continually insults her appearance and intelligence. Is this courtship supposed to be cute? The transition from peace to war feels intentionally dramatic, as if screenwriter Lillian Hellman had a smug smile on her face as she said the words she believed no one had ever said before: "War is bad."
If all war movies were like The North Star, no one would ever go to see them and the genre would fade away. Thankfully, not all of them are this bad. I still haven't recovered my jaw from the ground after learning it was nominated for six Academy Awards.
In the first, very lengthy section of the film, the merry-making is just too merry. How many Ukranian songs and group dances do we have to sit through? One more, and then another, and then just one more. Then, when the kids go out on their harmless outing, it isn't really harmless. Jane Withers is in love with Dana Andrews, but he continually insults her appearance and intelligence. Is this courtship supposed to be cute? The transition from peace to war feels intentionally dramatic, as if screenwriter Lillian Hellman had a smug smile on her face as she said the words she believed no one had ever said before: "War is bad."
If all war movies were like The North Star, no one would ever go to see them and the genre would fade away. Thankfully, not all of them are this bad. I still haven't recovered my jaw from the ground after learning it was nominated for six Academy Awards.