The Charge of the Light Brigade 1968
directed by
Tony Richardson and produced by
Neil Hartley.
The film is about the poor state of the British Army's leadership during the
Crimean War, as witnessed by a relatively competent officer,
Captain Louis Nolan. A veteran of campaigns in
India, Nolan is unusual in the hierarchy of his day for having acquired his rank through promotion rather than purchase. As such he looks with contempt on his colleagues, who are mostly aristocratic dilettantes casual about squandering their subordinates' lives.
Nolan's superior is the gruff
Lord Cardigan, who treats the regiment under his command as his personal property. Cardigan's men are typical of the common soldiers of their day; though well-equipped and intensively trained, they endure squalid living conditions and are punished mercilessly for the slightest missteps in their duties. Nolan soon gets into a highly publicized feud with Cardigan, who is angry at him for ordering
Moselle wine at a banquet where all guests were to drink
champagne.
Meanwhile the
Russian Empire invades lucrative territory in
Turkey. Britain joins an alliance of other European nations ostensibly created to come to Turkey's aid, although all are more interested in making their own territorial acquisitions and parading their military might. The British forces are to be led by
Lord Raglan, an amiable, vague-minded man who proves a poor commander despite his long war record. As campaign preparations begin he is preoccupied with a bad mistake he made while allotting commands, requiring Lord Cardigan to lead the cavalry alongside his equally unpleasant arch-rival
Lord Lucan. Captain Nolan, enlisted as Raglan's aide, is glad to get away from England; it gives him an escape from the morally uneasy
affair he has been having with Clarissa Morris, the wife of his best friend
William. Also traveling with the British command is a minor officer's wife named
Fanny Duberly, who wants to observe battle firsthand (and be near Lord Cardigan, with whom she is infatuated).
Britain and its ally France travel to the
Crimea, where they march inland to attack the strategically important city of
Sebastopol. Along the way the British forces are ravaged by
cholera, an occurrence met with palpable indifference by their commanders. Captain Nolan, although no friend of his subordinates, is frightened to see the army's organization all but fall apart as men are consumed by the disease. When the outbreak passes, British and French forces win an infantry battle with the occupying Russians. Lord Raglan refuses to use the cavalry to press his advantage, so concerned is he with keeping Cardigan and Lucan from having to work with one another. As a result the Russians reinforce the road to Sebastopol, necessitating a series of battles before the British even reach the city. Back in England the press lies that the city is captured and Russia's government humbled. As the war progresses Lord Cardigan retires nightly to the
yacht he keeps on the coastline in order to hold formal dinners, at one of which he seduces Mrs. Duberly.
Captain Nolan has been growing increasingly exasperated at the ineptitude of Raglan and the other officers, which has caused needless death and delay at every step. His emotions reach a tipping point when a Russian raiding party captures an improperly defended British
fortification, stealing several pieces of
artillery in the process. Lord Raglan is slow to realize what is happening, and Nolan practically demands that he take steps to recover the valuable equipment. The first order Raglan sends out is so badly worded that the cavalry leaders interpret it as telling them to hold. Nolan secures another, delivers it personally, and gains permission to ride with Cardigan's
light brigade as they chase the Russians.
As it happens the brigadiers are in a valley that branches off in two directions; one contains the escaping raiders, the other an
artillery battery and a sizable reserve of Russian cavalry. Lord Raglan did not bother to mention this in his order, since the lay of the land is obvious from his high vantage point. Cardigan, at his lower level, can only see the valley with the cannons, and assumes that he must charge into this. As the cavalry advances into cannon fire Nolan realizes his mistake, but is killed by
shrapnel before he can warn Cardigan.
The Light Brigade, torn apart by the cannons, clashes briefly with the Russians and then retreats. With most of his force dead or wounded, Lord Cardigan, ironically, is unharmed. He immediately begins bickering with the other officers about who must take the blame for the disaster.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ch...%281968_film%29
Waterloo 1970
directed by
Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by
Dino De Laurentiis.
Waterloo (
Russian: Ватерло
is a 1970 Soviet-Italian film directed by
Sergei Bondarchuk and produced by
Dino De Laurentiis. It depicts the story of the preliminary events and the
Battle of Waterloo, and is famous for its lavish battle scenes.
It stars
Rod Steiger (portraying
Napoleon Bonaparte) and
Christopher Plummer (portraying the
Duke of Wellington) with a cameo by
Orson Welles (
Louis XVIII of France). Other stars include
Jack Hawkins as General
Picton,
Virginia McKenna as the Duchess of Richmond and
Dan O'Herlihy as
Marshal Ney.
The film includes some 15,000 Soviet foot soldiers and 2,000 cavalrymen as extras – it was said that, during its making, director Sergei Bondarchuk was in command of the seventh largest army in the world.
[1] Fifty circus stunt riders were used to perform the dangerous horse falls. These numbers brought an epic quality to the battle scenes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterloo_%281970_film%29
הערה אישית:
לראשונה נתקלתי בסרט ווטרלו במהלך שיעור של ד"ר שמעון נוה שעסק באמנות המערכה. קטעים מהסרט הוקרנו בשיעור כדי להמחיש את מאפייני המערכה שהלכו והתהוו באותה תקופה והדילמות שניצבו בפני המצביאים (נפוליאון והדוכס מוולינגטון).
ראשי
צ'אט
22-03-2009, 16:46
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