The Longest Day

Because today is Remembrance Day, I felt it appropriate to review a movie that was fitting.  No, the movie I chose was not Rambo: First Blood Part 2, or any other 80s action film.  The movie that I did choose was The Longest Day (available on Netflix), a movie that revolves around the moments leading to, and the day of, the invasion of Normandy.  It is a film that follows no protagonist or antagonist in particular, but rather looks to present the setting, moods, and reactions to the events on both sides of the war.  It does not aim to sway our minds or thoughts one way or another, but instead share the stories of the people who were unfortunate enough to be involved.  It is a long film with a running time of 178 minutes, but it is a movie that fills those minutes well and is worth the time invested.

Normally, I would give a bit of a plot synopsis, but such a thing is hard to do with The Longest Day.  It follows so many different people, from the strategists to the underlings, from the mansions to the bunkers, from the soldiers on the boats to the paratroopers.  It includes all of those elements as it chronologically progresses through a 24 hour time frame around that day.  With such a wide scope, it is hard to feel a lot of connection to different characters, but it is more about witnessing the entirety of the event that this movie aims to do.  It does not look to vilify people, but rather revolves around the strategies and events of the day.

The Longest Day is able to draw the viewer in, both from a visceral standpoint, but also an emotional one.  There are moments where we find laughter in some of the situations.  There are times where we start to feel the anticipation that is brewing in the hearts of the soldiers on both sides as the reality of what is about to happen sinks in.  We feel admiration towards heroic acts of leadership and sacrifice.  And, most powerfully, we find the fear that many of the soldiers faced in a situation where their fate seemed utterly random and unfair.

There were a few scant moments where the visuals seemed not so great, but this film was made in 1962, so that needs to be taken into consideration.  And while one might be able to pick at a few seconds of poor visuals, it is easily trumped by everything else we see.  I got the feeling that no expense was sparred while making this film.  Some of the landing sequences were done in a way that could rival the visuals of many of today's movies.  What made this one that good was the fact that they used real effects.  Real tanks, real boats, real people storming the beach.  At some moments we do not gain a full appreciation of the scope, but there was a scene from the perspective of a strafing Luftwaffe plane that allows us to get a feel for the size of this landing, as it flies up the beach, passing more and more and more landing craft and soldiers.

One scene that still has me in absolute awe is when French resistance fighters were attempting to take a village.  What we get is a long continuous shot that follows their progress through the entire town while engaging the enemy, and explosions all around.  This sort of scene does so much to make the audience start to feel like we are actually watching this unravel, because it feels beyond the realm of choreography.  While some movies, such as Children of Men, do this sort of shot from street level, The Longest Day took an aerial view, which meant we got to see absolutely everything.  It could be one of the best choreographed scenes I have ever witnessed, and the emotional impact of this was huge.

While it focuses in an unbiased way at the events that unfolded, it seems to me a beautifully designed reminder of what people went through, and what they sacrificed.  It is not about blood and guts, it is not about propaganda, it is about the individuals who made it happen.  From the brass to the grunts.  It shows how bravery can inspire others, and maybe digs a bit at ourselves to question if we could have held it together in such circumstances.  It is a movie without a message but with a story to tell, and that it is an incredibly powerful story that hopefully never becomes forgotten.

Rating - 4 out of 4 stars