These WW2 US Military documentaries are all over the place.
The Frank Capra _Why We Fight_ series are interesting, if for nothing other than their "propaganda" value, showing you how the war was sold.
_Tunisian Victory_ is exceptionally good in terms of explaining strategy, and what the war felt like while it wasn't certain what the outcome would be.
Even the much weaker _Battle of New Britain_ does an adequate job of showing you the marine experience, both day to day and in the runup to battles.
But I honestly have nothing good to say about _The Battle of San Pietro_. It explains nothing, it shows nothing, it clarifies nothing. Some Americans fought someone (Germans? Italians?), they won some small skirmishes they lost some small skirmishes. They took some hills then lost them then took them again. How did this fit into the big picture? Who knows?
I don't know if John Huston was being passive-aggressive with this movie, or if he just didn't know how to tell a documentary story. But this is a seriously weak effort.
The Frank Capra _Why We Fight_ series are interesting, if for nothing other than their "propaganda" value, showing you how the war was sold.
_Tunisian Victory_ is exceptionally good in terms of explaining strategy, and what the war felt like while it wasn't certain what the outcome would be.
Even the much weaker _Battle of New Britain_ does an adequate job of showing you the marine experience, both day to day and in the runup to battles.
But I honestly have nothing good to say about _The Battle of San Pietro_. It explains nothing, it shows nothing, it clarifies nothing. Some Americans fought someone (Germans? Italians?), they won some small skirmishes they lost some small skirmishes. They took some hills then lost them then took them again. How did this fit into the big picture? Who knows?
I don't know if John Huston was being passive-aggressive with this movie, or if he just didn't know how to tell a documentary story. But this is a seriously weak effort.