A Time To Love And A Time to Die (1958):
Brief Review -
Quite possibly Douglas Sirk's most hard-hitting & devastating film ever. The war was no different for German soldiers either. Almost 3 decades after Lewis Milestone's Oscar-winning "All Quite On the Western Front" (1930), Sirk brought a story of a German soldier trying to beat the horrors of war. The idea is very complimentary since we usually see people suffering from war effects and consequences while soldiers are out there on the front, away from the tyranny that local residents have to bow down to-that's the USP here. In one scene, a devastated man tells the soldier that it's us who have to face all the consequences and side effects of the war, but you soldiers are there on the front and are responsible for it. I was stunned for a moment because I have never seen a civilian blame a soldier for the war, while our traditional notion about soldiers is that they are our protectors. I was a bit more shocked because I'd never expected such remarks from a Sirk film. For me, he was all about drama-family drama, rom-coms, and the usual soapy stuff. A Time To Love And A Time to Die has a lot of hints about its story in the title alone. It's the story of a German soldier on a 3-week furlough who sees a different Germany than the one he left before going on the war. While looking for his parents, he meets a young, beautiful girl from the neighbourhood who is looking for her father. They both fall in love and get married despite certain hurdles. The soldier comes to realise the actual effects of the war during these 3 weeks and happens to become a flag bearer of the anti-war profile. The screenplay keeps you busy despite its long runtime. I guess they could have trimmed the romance and added more war action. Sirk brings out good performances from all the actors under his direction, and the overall experience is something non-Douglas Sirk type shocker. A good filmmaker knows how to make a good film, in any genre. That Climax.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.
Quite possibly Douglas Sirk's most hard-hitting & devastating film ever. The war was no different for German soldiers either. Almost 3 decades after Lewis Milestone's Oscar-winning "All Quite On the Western Front" (1930), Sirk brought a story of a German soldier trying to beat the horrors of war. The idea is very complimentary since we usually see people suffering from war effects and consequences while soldiers are out there on the front, away from the tyranny that local residents have to bow down to-that's the USP here. In one scene, a devastated man tells the soldier that it's us who have to face all the consequences and side effects of the war, but you soldiers are there on the front and are responsible for it. I was stunned for a moment because I have never seen a civilian blame a soldier for the war, while our traditional notion about soldiers is that they are our protectors. I was a bit more shocked because I'd never expected such remarks from a Sirk film. For me, he was all about drama-family drama, rom-coms, and the usual soapy stuff. A Time To Love And A Time to Die has a lot of hints about its story in the title alone. It's the story of a German soldier on a 3-week furlough who sees a different Germany than the one he left before going on the war. While looking for his parents, he meets a young, beautiful girl from the neighbourhood who is looking for her father. They both fall in love and get married despite certain hurdles. The soldier comes to realise the actual effects of the war during these 3 weeks and happens to become a flag bearer of the anti-war profile. The screenplay keeps you busy despite its long runtime. I guess they could have trimmed the romance and added more war action. Sirk brings out good performances from all the actors under his direction, and the overall experience is something non-Douglas Sirk type shocker. A good filmmaker knows how to make a good film, in any genre. That Climax.
RATING - 7.5/10*
By - #samthebestest.