American Cinema – Movie Analysis

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Putting the needs of others first
Propaganda
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

The essay is an analysis of American movie titled The Great Escape” released in 1963 directed and produced by Sturges John. It is based on the book written by Brickhill Paul having the same title as the movie.

The story line is about allied prisoners of war who are escaping from one of the German POW camp at the time World War II was taking place. To accomplish this task, a description of how the film reflects the following themes is done; placing the needs of a group before those of an individual, propaganda.

It is worth noting that the plan to escape was initiated by prisoners’ leaders (Royal Air Force Squadron Leader Bartlett among others) who are determined to free about 250 prisoners. The first part of the movie is full of comedy portrayed by prisoners in the quest of outwitting the warden.

For instance, the noise which came from digging the tunnel was dealt with by the efforts of the prison choir master. The other part is full of adventure as prisoners try to find their way out. Majority are killed, some are return to prison while a few managed to escape to safer grounds. It is the setting of the movie that gives it its popularity (Belton 57).

The film was created at Munich in rural Bavaria which had actual tunnels and interior barracks. Since the town had a railway station this gave the producer the capability of linking the escape and availability of such kind of transport.

Additionally since the area had forest, this ensured that the producer managed to link escape of the prisoners and using the forest as cover.

Putting the needs of others first

Throughout the movie, there is no doubt that the theme of sacrificing is dominant. In actual sense, in such a situation where individuals plan to escape from prison, there are extreme cases where individuals sacrifice a lot for the sake of others.

Some individuals might have gone to the extent of losing their lives for the sake of others. The sacrifices made by every individual is seen when each and every individual is assigned a particular task which included digging the tunnels, making civilian clothing, preventing guards from uncovering the plans to escape, forging documents among others (Nixon 73).

For instance through his efforts of developing forged documents, Flight Lieutenant Blythe spent most of his time using candles which threatened his eyesight capabilities. It is worth noting that he almost lost his sight from intricate work by candle light.

It is the desire to help the rest of the team that made Blythe to go an extra mile to risk losing his eyes. Indeed he had an option of not engaging in this task but he put aside his person desired in order to help other prisoners escape.

From film The Great Escape it is evident that when one tries to escape from the prison, it was made very clear that it will not be tolerated and the person trying that will be shot. Despite this warning, Virgil Hilts known as cooler king on numerous occasions irritated the guards by trying to escape several times.

He also exhibited weird behaviors. All these were done in order to confuse guards not to uncover the escape plan too early. Another incident which clearly demonstrated the desire to help others despite risking one live was when Ives tried to climb barbed wire while guards were watching.

He was gunned down while Hilts tried to stop him. The event leading to this was when their plan was uncovered. He solemnly did this to paint a picture that he was the one responsible for the plan.

This was a clever move since the guards will strongly believe that the master planner for the escape is dead hence there will be no more attempts to escape. Having in mind that there are other smart heads that can plan the escape, Ives sacrificed his live to ensure that the plan goes on (D’Este 82).

Another incident where an individual sacrificed for the sake of others is when Hilts agreed to escape from the camp. He did this solemnly to go and obtain vital data that will help them in their quest to escape from prison. He later allowed himself to be recaptured and brought back to prison.

The information he brought was helpful in determining the nearest transportation network, the railway station and forest cover. While escaping on of the prisoners, Danny is snapped by claustrophobia, this interfered with the time frame of escaping (The Great Escape).

However, instead of leaving him behind, Willie helped him. The sacrifice he made put him at risk of being recaptured but this did not deter him from saving and helping Danny. After escaping, Ashley-Pitt sacrificed his freedom by killing Kuhn who was Gestapo’s agent.

This was after he realized that Kuhn had noticed the presence of Barlett. As a result of this confusion, Ashley-Pitt is hot and both Barlett and MacDonald escaped. However they were later killed (Jenna par. 4).

While shooting the section where the prisoners were escaping, the producer managed to use zoom and camera movement to show how intense and real the whole plan of escaping was. For instance while running, the producer moved the camera so fact and in full extent of the escapees where viewers are capable of clearly seeing what is involved in escaping.

Additionally the use of sound and light helped in developing the major themes in this film. The ‘extreme drama, stunts, extended chase scenes, fights, escapes, non-stop motion and fast editing and pacing’ have been used to make viewers understand that the movie fall under the category of action (Belton 45).

Propaganda

Propaganda has been thought as a set of communication directed at influencing the attitudes and perception of a given group of individuals towards certain positions or causes. Ideally it makes individual remember images of dictatorship as well as wartime misinformation.

In this film, the audiences are made to understand that the Germans had the strongest army which could deal with any sort of criminal activities. This can be exemplified by the fact that out of the 70 who escaped, only three managed to escape successfully.

Since the film is based on novel with the same title, it tries to depict that it is not easy for one or even a group of prisoners to escape from the camp.

For instance in the beginning of the movie, Colonel Von Luger says “there will be no escapes from this camp” This is contrary to what the books writes where a large number of prisoners got there way out of a prison now Poland (Carroll 123).

Additionally the producer wanted to make the audience understand that any attempt for prisoners to escape is well planned and involves almost all of the prisoners. From the film, everyone had a responsibility however small it was.

It is also worth noting that the producer wanted the audience to know what really happens when people are behind bars and try to escape. It is made clear through numerous scenes where those who attempt to escape are brutally handled.

For instance, Ives was killed by a machine gun while he tried to escape by jumping over a barbed wire which surrounded the camp (Nixon 98).

Conclusion

From the review of the film The Great Escape, it is evident that the producer managed to clearly bring forth the themes of sacrificing for the sake of others and propaganda. Numerous techniques are used to attain this.

Works Cited

Belton, John. American Cinema, American Culture. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1993. Print

Carroll, Tim. The Great Escapers. London: Mainstream Publishing. 2004. Print

D’Este, Carlo. Bitter Victory. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1988. Print.

Jenna Richards. Movie analysis: The Great Escape. 2007. Web.

Nixon, Rob. Pop Culture 101: The Great Escape. New York: Turner Entertainment Networks, Inc. 2008. Print.

The Great Escape. Ex. Pro. John Sturges. United Artists. United States of America. 1963. DVD.

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