Objective, Burma!
This is my WWII movie. I've heard that what this movie presents is very similar to what actually happened. Anyway, this is the story. A group of commandos parachuted into a jungle in Burma. Their mission was to locate and blow up a Japanese radar station. The group's leader was Captain Nelson (played by Errol Flynn. Yeah! Finally, I get to see the great Errol Flynn.) Also coming along with them was an aging journalist named Williams, who was looking to present a realistic story of war to common people.
Their actual mission, which was to bomb the radar station, went extremely smooth and easy. But it was afterwards that their troubles began. When they got to their appointed place (an old air-strip) in order to be taken back to their base, they found out that the Japanese were hot on their trial. So Captain Nelson signalled a message by the radio to pick them up some days later at a different place instead. After that, he split the group into two units.
The group sans Captain Nelson met an ugly end; butchered in a deserted village. Captain Nelson took their name tags, had them buried, and went on. The remaining group finally made it to the meeting place. But there they got ambushed by the Japanese, forcing them to flee without even taking their supplies. Captain Nelson's radio was broken during this attack.
Soon, there was only one option left for Captain Nelson and his men. They had to make it to where the last plane told them to wait next. The jungle was swarming with enemies, and not only that, the men had no supplies. There was also the disease scare. Along the way, they saw a passing plane that they recognized to be one of theirs, but without the radio, the plane just passed by without noticing them while they yelled and waved their arms. But another time, they got lucky, because one plane recognized Captain Nelson's siganal sent out by his mirror. They sent down supplies.
Finally they arrived at the place. Now the question was would the men survive until they could be taken back. Tragically, at this time, the reporter Williams died, either from exhaustion or disease. They also had another suprise attack from the japanese. But this time, they were able to fight back. And in the end, they met up with some higher position soldiers who had also come into Burma. They were glad to see Nelson still alive and the entire group of commandos was honoured.
Characteristics
Lots of men leave their homes and families to join the army. During the time away from home, they were not always faithful to their women. I remember a part in that movie where the men were joking about women. One said his girlfriend sent him an angry letter demanding what this new girl of his had that she didn't. And he replied with "Nothing, honey. Only she has it here!"
Many, many soldiers died while doing what was important for the army. Bombing the radar stations was obviously extremely important. In this mission, a lot of lives were taken. Captain Nelson, at the end of the movie, held up the name tags of the people who had died and said, "But how many lives had to pay for it?"
The importance of leadership is another big part of this war movie. The people trusted their leader, and followed his every command. He was always the one making decisions and giving orders. The rest, while they may be a bit uncertain, were always won over by his reasoning. Nelson, on his part, was also following the orders of his leaders. For example, when the leaders asked him to go to a new meeting place, he, just like every one else, didn't like the idea much. But he made immediate moves towards the appointed place. Another questioned, "But when we get there, where will we be?" to which Nelson sharply responded "How about where we are told to be?"
My thoughts
There was a scene in the movie where the group ran into some Burmese. The guide/translater and the Burmese had a conversation, which of course, Captain Nelson and the others didn't understand a word of. But I have to say, neither do I! I really don't know what kind of Burmese they were speaking or if it was even really Burmese. But it was obviously not the standard Burmese. But that's weird... why would a foreigner want to learn a non-standard variety?
Their actual mission, which was to bomb the radar station, went extremely smooth and easy. But it was afterwards that their troubles began. When they got to their appointed place (an old air-strip) in order to be taken back to their base, they found out that the Japanese were hot on their trial. So Captain Nelson signalled a message by the radio to pick them up some days later at a different place instead. After that, he split the group into two units.
The group sans Captain Nelson met an ugly end; butchered in a deserted village. Captain Nelson took their name tags, had them buried, and went on. The remaining group finally made it to the meeting place. But there they got ambushed by the Japanese, forcing them to flee without even taking their supplies. Captain Nelson's radio was broken during this attack.
Soon, there was only one option left for Captain Nelson and his men. They had to make it to where the last plane told them to wait next. The jungle was swarming with enemies, and not only that, the men had no supplies. There was also the disease scare. Along the way, they saw a passing plane that they recognized to be one of theirs, but without the radio, the plane just passed by without noticing them while they yelled and waved their arms. But another time, they got lucky, because one plane recognized Captain Nelson's siganal sent out by his mirror. They sent down supplies.
Finally they arrived at the place. Now the question was would the men survive until they could be taken back. Tragically, at this time, the reporter Williams died, either from exhaustion or disease. They also had another suprise attack from the japanese. But this time, they were able to fight back. And in the end, they met up with some higher position soldiers who had also come into Burma. They were glad to see Nelson still alive and the entire group of commandos was honoured.
Characteristics
Lots of men leave their homes and families to join the army. During the time away from home, they were not always faithful to their women. I remember a part in that movie where the men were joking about women. One said his girlfriend sent him an angry letter demanding what this new girl of his had that she didn't. And he replied with "Nothing, honey. Only she has it here!"
Many, many soldiers died while doing what was important for the army. Bombing the radar stations was obviously extremely important. In this mission, a lot of lives were taken. Captain Nelson, at the end of the movie, held up the name tags of the people who had died and said, "But how many lives had to pay for it?"
The importance of leadership is another big part of this war movie. The people trusted their leader, and followed his every command. He was always the one making decisions and giving orders. The rest, while they may be a bit uncertain, were always won over by his reasoning. Nelson, on his part, was also following the orders of his leaders. For example, when the leaders asked him to go to a new meeting place, he, just like every one else, didn't like the idea much. But he made immediate moves towards the appointed place. Another questioned, "But when we get there, where will we be?" to which Nelson sharply responded "How about where we are told to be?"
My thoughts
There was a scene in the movie where the group ran into some Burmese. The guide/translater and the Burmese had a conversation, which of course, Captain Nelson and the others didn't understand a word of. But I have to say, neither do I! I really don't know what kind of Burmese they were speaking or if it was even really Burmese. But it was obviously not the standard Burmese. But that's weird... why would a foreigner want to learn a non-standard variety?
posted by vicky @ 9:44 PM
1 Comments:
At 3:47 AM,
The Ajarn said…
Great summary. I especially liked the part where you caught them speaking Burmese but not really Burmese. I thought it was Burmese and probably everyone else did as well.
This movie is supposed to be really accurate. I thought it might have been a little over acted but other than that I did enjoy watching it very much.
A great blog.
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