The Longest Day (1999, DVD)

The Longest Day, based on Cornelius Ryan s book of the same title, is a brilliant rendition of the famous D-Day invasion of Normandy. The film is extremely accurate, depicting the perspectives of all sides of the war involved in the event: the Americans, the British, the French, and the Germans. Multiple viewpoints give the film an objective feel, as opposed to the over-glorified subjective views of most other war films. Although The Longest Day somewhat lacks character development and the typical movie plot that follows the plight of the hero , it still manages to enrapture the viewer into the cataclysmic events that surrounded D-Day.

The directors of The Longest Day (Darryl Zanuck, Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald, and Bernhard Wicki) went through great measures to ensure the accuracy of the film. Many of the scenes were filmed on the actual locations, the most notable being the beaches of Normandy and the French town of Sainte-M re- glise. In fact, the filming was so genuine that it caused several French locals to throw stones at the actors in German uniforms. In addition to that, much of movie was filmed in the exact weather conditions that characterized the events that took place more than a half of a century ago. Some of the actors were also actual veterans of the D-Day invasion, including Lt. Richard Todd, who portrayed Major John Howard in the movie.

Overall, the film s accuracy is noteworthy. The facts and the events are precise, although some of the details are a bit sketchy. The most notable are the watered-down accounts of the beach landings. The Longest Day lacked the deafening roar of artillery and machine gun fire. It neglected to show blood and gore and the horror that many soldiers experienced. Those who got shot had the privilege of dying instantly and painlessly, while in reality, most soldiers died a slow, agonizing death, crying out to their mothers while at the same time trying to hold in their intestines with their hands. In reality, the soldiers had a much more difficult time during the landings. The Longest Day gives the viewer the impression that the soldiers had a jolly good time stepping off the landing craft and walking knee-deep to shore. Realistically, many didn t even make it to shore. The water was high enough for them to drown. Some drowned because they were weighed down by their equipment; others were just too tired to run for cover by the time they reached the beach. The film also neglected to show the merciless shooting of enemy soldiers who had already surrendered. Some might compare these scenes to Saving Private Ryan s rendition of Omaha Beach, which had no problem showing the brutality that The Longest Day left out.

Despite these minor flaws, The Longest Day is still a magnificent film. By far, its imperfections are meaningless compared to the authenticity of the rest of the film. The purpose of The Longest Day is not to make the viewer nauseous or to invoke an outrageously strong emotional response from the viewer. The intention of this film is to inform its audience of one of the most significant events of World War II from an impartial view. By far, this film goes above and beyond that goal. An admirable quality of The Longest Day is its ability to successfully portray four different points of view. It makes the events understandable even to the individual who lacks any knowledge of World War II at all.

One of the most notable figures in this film is Brigadier General Norman Cota, played by Robert Mitchum. He is portrayed as a charismatic leader amidst the frenzy of Omaha Beach. The Allies had suffered severe casualties, including all of the engineers officers. All seems to have been lost as men lay helplessly on the beach while others from scattered companies are pinned against the sea wall. Cota quickly motivates the soldiers with a brief speech, ending with, I don t have to tell you the story, you all know it. Only two kinds of people are gonna stay on this beach those that are already dead and those that are gonna die. Now get off your butts. You guys are the Fighting 29th! With that, the soldiers proceeded to collect weapons and ammunition from the dead and wounded, and prepared to mount an attack.

If one were to present this movie, there are several clips that would be ideal to show the class. First, the film clip of Eisenhower's decision to execute the Normandy invasion shows the tremendous responsibility that he had to face. The Germans were fully capable of stopping the Allies right on the beaches, but only if they knew where to expect them. A great deal of resources had been expended to ensure that the Germans would not discover the location of the invasion. Operation Bodyguard and other top-secret operations were initiated. An army under General Patton that existed only on paper was strategically placed to fool the Germans into thinking that the main invasion force would be led in North Africa by the successful general. The body of a British officer floated to Spain, carrying papers of invasion plans through Pas de Calais. Despite all of these precautions, generals like Erwin Rommel still suspected an invasion through Normandy.

Another scene from the film was when General Blumentritt tried to call Hitler to request tank support. If the Panzers started rolling into Normandy, there'd be a very small chance of the Allies surviving for long in coastal France. However, the request did not go through because the aide refused to wake Hitler. Several days later, the tank battalion still had not received the order to deploy due to the fact that some generals still considered the Normandy invasion as diversionary feints. They believed that the main force would arrive at Pas de Calais. It was already too late by the time the Germans released the tanks.

The disastrous landing of the 82nd Airborne was a very powerful scene. Due to poor weather conditions and high winds, many of the aircraft failed to find their exact drop zones. And when the paratroopers jumped, high winds scattered them all over the town. Pvt. Steele (Red Buttons) was caught on the steeple of a church after he jumped. He hung there helplessly as he watched his comrades fall directly into German machine gun fire. The scattered paratroopers were lost and confused, but they also managed to confuse the Germans. Because the soldiers were spread so far apart, the Germans were unable to consolidate their forces to attack.

Overall, this film is very accurate, and you get a very enjoyable history lesson in less than three hours!

Academy Award:
Best Special Effects - Robert MacDonald (Visual), Jacques Maumont (Audible)
Best B/W Cinematography - Jean Bourgoin, Walter Wottitz
Academy Award Nomination:
Best Picture
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (B/W) - Ted Haworth, Leon Barsacq, Vincent Korda, Gabriel Bechir
Best Film Editing - Samuel E. Beetley