Film Review
The last but one film that Michael Powell and Emeric Pressurger
directed together would prove to be their most
commercially successful, although today the film is somewhat less
well regarded than their best work (
A Matter of Life and Death,
The Red Shoes).
The story of the
Graf Spee so fascinated Powell that
in 1956 he would publish a novel
The
Last Voyage of the Graf Spee recounting its eventful last few
weeks of service.
The Battle of the River Plate
is most memorable for its dramatic, stunningly realised action
sequences, which were achieved with the cooperation of the Royal Navy
and the US Navy. These make effective use of VistaVision - a
short-lived rival to CinemaScope - to evoke a sense of scale and
awesome military might as British and German warships lock horns in a
grisly fight to the death.
The film also stands apart from many war films of its time in its
sympathetic, non-stereotypical treatment of German officers, continuing
a trend which can be seen in all of Powell's war films, even those with
an obvious propaganda agenda - evidenced by
The Spy in Black (1939) and
Contraband (1940). In
contrast to many war time stories, this one is less about the
heroism of the Allies and more about the honour and integrity of a German officer.
Far from being an idealistic fanatic and a
sadist, which is how Germans are all too often portrayed in war films, Captain
Langsdorff (a superb Peter Finch) is the epitome of the professional naval officer, executing
his duty with efficiency without sacrificing his humanity.
This is not a film about the glory and sacrifice of battle,
but rather one about one man's determination to prevent the
savagery of war from eroding the noble precepts by which he lives.
After this Michael Powell and Emeric Pressurger would share
the directing credit on just one more film,
Ill Met by Moonlight (1957),
although Pressurger would script some of Powell's subsequent films,
including
They're a Weird Mob (1966) and
The Boy Who Turned Yellow (1972).
© James Travers 2008
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Next Michael Powell film:
Ill Met by Moonlight (1957)
Film Synopsis
November 1939. When his freighter,
The Africa Shell, is sunk by the
German pocket battleship
Graf Spee,
Captain Dove finds himself a prisoner of Captain
Langsdorff. Despite the humiliation of his situation, Dove
is impressed by Langsdorff's courtesy and professionalism, and shows
him the respect due to a fellow naval officer, albeit one on the
opposing side. When the
Graf Spee sinks another British
ship, Dove is joined by several dozen other prisoners, who are equally
well-treated by the German captain and his crew. Meanwhile, three
British warships, under the command of Commodore Harwood, have assembled
in the South Atlantic, ready to engage the
Graff Spee as it heads for South
America....
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.