
Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Based on a true story, this Brian De Palma film casts Michael J. Fox as a soldier in Vietnam in a squad led by Sean Penn. While on patrol, in the wake of an ambush that has left friends dead, they kidnap and rape a Vietnamese woman--then murder her. But Fox, one of the soldiers who refused to participate in the rape, is so appalled by the killing that he reports it--and finds himself being treated as the villain. Penn is scarily tough as the vindictive soldier and De Palma does a solid job of re-creating the crime, making it a thing of horror. Yet this film never quite connects, despite a strong performance by Fox and a supporting cast that includes John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo. --Marshall Fine
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Burmese Harp - Criterion Collection
Starring: Rentaro Mikuni , Shôji Yasui , Jun Hamamura , Taketoshi Naitô , and Kô Nishimura Director: Kon Ichikawa Manufacturer: Criterion ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000M2E3FY Release Date: 2007-03-13 |
Amazon.com
Kon Ichikawa's Buddhist tale of peace, The Burmese Harp, is universally relevant in various eras and cultures, although it comments specifically on the destruction of Burma during World War II. Based on the novel by Michio Takeyama, The Burmese Harp stars a Japanese platoon stationed in Burma whose choir skills are inspired by their star musician, Private Mizushima (Rentaro Mikuni), who strums his harp to cheer the homesick soldiers. As the troop surrenders to the British and is interred in Mudon prison camp, Mizushima escapes to be faced with not only his imminent death, but also the deaths of thousands of other soldiers and civilians. Relinquishing his life as a military man, Mizushima retreats into a life of Buddhist prayer, dedicating himself to healing a wounded country. Filmed in black and white, strong visual contrasts heighten the divide between peace, war, life, and death in this highly symbolic film. Scenes in which the Japanese soldiers urge opposing forces to sing with them portray military men regardless of alliance as emotionally sensitive. Showing the humanistic aspects of war, such as the male bonding that occurs between soldiers, doesn't justify war as much as deepens its tragedy. This release includes interviews with the director and with Mikuni, further contextualizing its place in Japanese cinema. The Burmese Harp, with its lessons in compassion and selflessness, is so transformative that viewing it feels somewhat akin to a religious experience. --Trinie DaltonDescription
An Imperial Japanese Army regiment surrenders to British forces in Burma at the close World War II and finds harmony through song. A corporal, thought to be dead, disguises himself as a Buddhist monk and stumbles upon spiritual enlightenment. Magnificently shot in hushed black and white, Kon Ichikawa's The Burmese Harp is an eloquent meditation on beauty coexisting with death and remains one of Japanese cinema's most overwhelming antiwar statements, both tender and brutal in its grappling with Japan's wartime legacy.
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The Ground Truth
Starring: Herod Noel , Charles Anderson , Kelly Dougherty , Robert Acosta , and Aidan Delgado Director: Patricia Foulkrod Manufacturer: Universal Studios ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000HA4WSY Release Date: 2006-09-26 |
Amazon.com
Shocking and heartbreaking, The Ground Truth is an Iraq war documentary that is truly essential viewing. A story of the U.S. battle against an often-phantom insurgency, told from the perspective of ordinary Americans who found themselves participating in a daily slaughter of innocent Iraqi civilians, The Ground Truth is the view kept off American televisions since 2003. The bombings, shootings, scenes of mistreatment of civilians, and countless, bloodied bodies of children, women, and unarmed men specifically targeted by U.S. troops, should rattle anyone with eyes to see. But the film's many interviews with veterans, in which they describe an American war machine that chews up young people and abandons them to their physical and psychological wounds, are also stunning in their emotional clarity and intensity. --Tom Keogh
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Wing and a Prayer
Starring: Don Ameche , Dana Andrews , William Eythe , Charles Bickford , and Cedric Hardwicke Director: Henry Hathaway Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00005PJ8L Release Date: 2002-05-21 |
Description
Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, William Eythe and Richard Jaeckel star in this acclaimed film about newly-trained pilots assigned to an aircraft carrier immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Anticipating the battle of Midway, which will determine th
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Casualties of War (Unrated Extended Cut)
Starring: Michael J. Fox , Sean Penn , Don Harvey , John C. Reilly , and John Leguizamo Director: Brian De Palma Manufacturer: Sony Pictures ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000ELL1R6 Release Date: 2006-04-25 |
Amazon.com
Based on a true story, this Brian De Palma film casts Michael J. Fox as a soldier in Vietnam in a squad led by Sean Penn. While on patrol, in the wake of an ambush that has left friends dead, they kidnap and rape a Vietnamese woman--then murder her. But Fox, one of the soldiers who refused to participate in the rape, is so appalled by the killing that he reports it--and finds himself being treated as the villain. Penn is scarily tough as the vindictive soldier and De Palma does a solid job of re-creating the crime, making it a thing of horror. Yet this film never quite connects, despite a strong performance by Fox and a supporting cast that includes John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo. --Marshall Fine
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Casualties of War
Starring: Michael J. Fox , Sean Penn , Don Harvey , John C. Reilly , and John Leguizamo Director: Brian De Palma Manufacturer: Sony Pictures ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00005R23U Release Date: 2001-12-11 |
Amazon.com
Based on a true story, this Brian De Palma film casts Michael J. Fox as a soldier in Vietnam in a squad led by Sean Penn. While on patrol, in the wake of an ambush that has left friends dead, they kidnap and rape a Vietnamese woman--then murder her. But Fox, one of the soldiers who refused to participate in the rape, is so appalled by the killing that he reports it--and finds himself being treated as the villain. Penn is scarily tough as the vindictive soldier and De Palma does a solid job of re-creating the crime, making it a thing of horror. Yet this film never quite connects, despite a strong performance by Fox and a supporting cast that includes John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo. --Marshall Fine
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Life and Nothing But
Starring: Philippe Noiret , Sabine Azéma , Pascale Vignal , Maurice Barrier , and François Perrot Director: Bertrand Tavernier Manufacturer: Kino Video ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B0002Y4T06 Release Date: 2004-10-05 |
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Regret to Inform
Director: Xuan Ngoc Nguyen , Lucy Massie Phenix , and Ken Schneider Manufacturer: Docurama ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: 0767024427 Release Date: 2000-05-02 |
Amazon.com essential video
This beautiful, shattering documentary by photographer Barbara Sonneborn began production in 1992 but was spiritually born in 1968 with the death of her husband and high school sweetheart, Jeff Gurvitz. Eight weeks into his tour of duty in Vietnam, Gurvitz was killed during a mortar attack at Khe Sanh while attempting to rescue a comrade. A tape-recorded letter he had just sent to his wife appeared in Sonneborn's mailbox some time after his awful sacrifice. Sonnenborn put it away and did not listen to it until her decision to make this film, which concerns the losses and agonies endured by women on both sides of America's disastrous military campaign in Southeast Asia. Mixing archival combat footage and striking new cinematography highlighting Vietnam's green splendor, Sonneborn bridges the past and present. She visits the scene of her husband's death and interviews a number of Vietnamese women nearly broken by grief over horrendous family loss and personal suffering: forced prostitution, torture, the abandonment of wounded loved ones. Back in the U.S., Sonneborn turns to other widows of American soldiers lost in the war and hears their stories, as well as those of other women who reveal the prolonged, terminal misery of men exposed to Agent Orange. The film's anguish is palpable yet effectively subdued, the better to let its delicate workings evoke a deep reaction from its viewers. --Tom KeoghDescription
On January 1, 1968, Barbara Sonneborn's husband, Jeff Gurvitz, left to fight in Vietnam. Eight weeks later, on February 29, 1968, he crawled out of a foxhole during a mortar attack to rescue his radio operator and was killed. Sonneborn learned of her hu
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A Wing and a Prayer
Starring: Don Ameche , Dana Andrews , William Eythe , Charles Bickford , and Cedric Hardwicke Director: Henry Hathaway Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B00096S4CG Release Date: 2002-05-21 |
Description
Don Ameche, Dana Andrews, William Eythe and Richard Jaeckel star in this acclaimed film about newly-trained pilots assigned to an aircraft carrier immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Anticipating the battle of Midway, which will determine the future of the war in the Pacific, U.S. naval leaders attempt to lull the Japanese into a false sense of security by making it look like the American military is afraid to engage the enemy. Eager to fight, the young airmen aboard the carrier are not only confused and angered by their orders, but must also cope with a by-the-book officer (Ameche) who puts discipline and regulations above all else.
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People's Century: Total War 1939-1947
Starring: Alfre Woodard , Sean Barrett , and John Forsythe Director: Angus MacQueen Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000HEWH1E Release Date: 2006-09-19 |
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People's Century: Killing Fields 1914-1919
Starring: Alfre Woodard , Sean Barrett , and John Forsythe Director: Angus MacQueen Manufacturer: Wgbh Boston ProductGroup: DVD Binding: DVD Similar Items:
ASIN: B000HEWGXS Release Date: 2006-09-19 |
DVD:
DVD
Libetta In Lecce - The Art Of The Virtuoso