> There was a series recently called '10 days to war'; Kenneth Branagh
> played an Irish Colonel sending his regiment to war. His speech was
> thoughtful, warm, caring for his men, and strangely for his enemy.
> Mostly, the speech seemed thought-through and heeded the local
> conditions. I wish our leaders had done the same with their strategy.
>
> Roger
>
Rewatching it never gets easier to take--which is why I rarely look
again at Kubrick's forever horrifying *Paths of Glory*. The French
generals portrayed by Adolph Menjou and George McCready talk calmly of
sending their army against an impenetrable German-held position across
No Man's Land, and speak casually of losing 20% of their troops because
of their own artillery cover. But they expect it to be a glorious
victory nonetheless, if not on the field than in the Paris press, if I
recall this correctly. They are miles from the action. The character
Kirk Douglas played, a field Colonel who led his men over the top of the
trench into battle, had a somewhat different take on the assault and on
the men who planned it.
ken
Ken Wolman http://bestiaire.typepad.com
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"Stare. It is the way to educate your eye, and more.
Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something.
You are not here long." -- Walker Evans
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