In Which We Serve

Rating:
Summary: 5 Stars for the Movie Only
Review: The DVD has not been restored as the cover suggests. But, for $4.95, who can complain? This is simply one of my favorite movies: intellgently written, beautifully acted!!!, and very moving and involving. It's probably one of the few older WWII movies that can actually be called a work of art. I love the dialogue, especially. There's a speech that Celia Johnson delivers that is a masterpiece of emotional eloquence. If you haven't seen this movie, give it a try. It's wonderful. Students of film NEED to see this movie. It's one of the best things to ever come out of England and an early David Lean classic, although he shares the directing with that marvelous, stone-faced, yet utterly brilliant Noel Coward.

Criterion should really be the one releasing this film. It's simply too important to only have this version. But I'm grateful that this version exists and, like I said, for the price, you HAVE TO ACQUIRE IT. The image is not completely bad, the sound is okay. It's just that it's such a geart piece of cinema that it begs for a more pristine and truly restored edition.

Rating:
Summary: Mr. Miniver?
Review: This is an excellent movie that can't help but draw comparisons to the movie "Mrs. Miniver". They both came out in 1942 with an England at war and pretty much going it alone. They focus on the home front and show the quiet tenacity and sacrifice of the British citizen. There are patriotic speeches in both movies unabashedly designed to stir the emotions of the English (and, presumeably, American) public. Those speeches are fine with me because they are well done. I think this point is worthy of comment because the films probably lack some of their punch with generations who already know how all of this turned out. What is interesting and effective with "In Which We Serve" is how the film jumps around in time. Only the ending is seen in its' proper place. This enables us to witness how so many people are affected by the events that take place on the HMS Torrin.

I rated this film a "4" instead of a "5" (4.5 wasn't an option) because, oddly enough, I thought the acting of Noel Coward was too stiff. He never limbered up in his role unlike the rest of the cast. This is a movie worth seeing regardless of time and place.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER THAN MRS. MINIVER?
Review: well, maybe an overstatement. however, this film is an amazing dramatic achievement - all kudos to writer/director/lead actor noel coward. a great movie about WW2 with none of the glossiness and sentimentality of MRS. MINIVER (again, a classic film in its own right). this is a film about real people in very plausible situations not being "heroic"; just trying to live during a war with compassion and sense of humor. (not trying to diss MINIVER, but i never really could buy that nazi in the kitchen scene w/greer garson). coward and team splice in some actual battle footage which works very well to create an overall production standard that ranks among the best of the period. even now. all the actors are great (especially john mills).