I have mixed feelings on this movie. It is a movie that appeals to me, it has a lot of things that I should like. Yet, I was utterly bored during the first half of this film, and by the time the setting changes and the action becomes more diverse, by the time it got interesting, I was disengaged emotionally.
This movie's failure is structural. It is not the fault of the actors, it is not a bad story, it is not the cinematography or the music, rather it is the overall quality of these elements together that gives an underwhelming result. This movie is whatever the antonym of synergy is. If synergy is 1+1=3 then this movie is 1+1=1. The movie has nothing to offer other than a surface-level presentation. It is without any depth. It is devoid of depth. It is an illusion. When it shows Steve McQueen on a bike, that's what it is: Steve McQueen on a bike. There is no meaning, no signification, no symbolism, no reason. There is barely any tension or stakes.
The film premise is a prisoner camp during WW2. Yet, surprisingly the movie is not a prison break movie. The atmosphere in the prison is barely inconvenient. They are well treated, they eat well, they are allowed to drink and get turnt. Almost all of the major characters have little schemes and when they are caught there is virtually no punishment or retribution. They repeatedly hatch these plans to get out, but there is no real tension, each issue or problem is immediately resolved with little cost or sacrifice and the attitude of the prisoners is so upbeat and confident that it deflates the drama that could have been. There is one character who is psychologically affected, and dies from it. And, it does give the main cast an opportunity for introspection, but it way too brief. McQueen is sent to the cooler repeatedly: it affects him in no way. However, that sequence is so jarringly different in tone with the rest of the movie that you are left puzzled when the movie switches back to the naïve prison shenanigans.
Yet, the film is not a war movie either. It completely ignores any historical event, or any context. Granted, the bad guys are Germans and the good guys are British and American, but none of this has any implication whatsoever. The only thing that is unmistakably WW2 is when the SS are involved, but it is only abruptly and at the end. Instead, by the last act, you understand that it is an adventure film, and that all the tension and excitement will be delivered there. Once outside the camp, the movie's structure does not work against it anymore, and each vignette and separate adventure becomes unique and interesting.
This movie is a testament of old Hollywood filmmaking. It did not really matter what the story was about, what mattered was the poster and how many people you could trick into buying a ticket. The actors were the characters and the setting was the story.
This movie's failure is structural. It is not the fault of the actors, it is not a bad story, it is not the cinematography or the music, rather it is the overall quality of these elements together that gives an underwhelming result. This movie is whatever the antonym of synergy is. If synergy is 1+1=3 then this movie is 1+1=1. The movie has nothing to offer other than a surface-level presentation. It is without any depth. It is devoid of depth. It is an illusion. When it shows Steve McQueen on a bike, that's what it is: Steve McQueen on a bike. There is no meaning, no signification, no symbolism, no reason. There is barely any tension or stakes.
The film premise is a prisoner camp during WW2. Yet, surprisingly the movie is not a prison break movie. The atmosphere in the prison is barely inconvenient. They are well treated, they eat well, they are allowed to drink and get turnt. Almost all of the major characters have little schemes and when they are caught there is virtually no punishment or retribution. They repeatedly hatch these plans to get out, but there is no real tension, each issue or problem is immediately resolved with little cost or sacrifice and the attitude of the prisoners is so upbeat and confident that it deflates the drama that could have been. There is one character who is psychologically affected, and dies from it. And, it does give the main cast an opportunity for introspection, but it way too brief. McQueen is sent to the cooler repeatedly: it affects him in no way. However, that sequence is so jarringly different in tone with the rest of the movie that you are left puzzled when the movie switches back to the naïve prison shenanigans.
Yet, the film is not a war movie either. It completely ignores any historical event, or any context. Granted, the bad guys are Germans and the good guys are British and American, but none of this has any implication whatsoever. The only thing that is unmistakably WW2 is when the SS are involved, but it is only abruptly and at the end. Instead, by the last act, you understand that it is an adventure film, and that all the tension and excitement will be delivered there. Once outside the camp, the movie's structure does not work against it anymore, and each vignette and separate adventure becomes unique and interesting.
This movie is a testament of old Hollywood filmmaking. It did not really matter what the story was about, what mattered was the poster and how many people you could trick into buying a ticket. The actors were the characters and the setting was the story.