Search - War and Remembrance - Volume 1 - Parts 1-7 on DVD

Imperfect - but compelling

Jon Warshawsky | San Diego, CA USA | 06/25/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"All the massive reviews here that point out bits of weak acting, regard the series as too long, bemoan the over-dramatization of Hitler (although honestly I have no idea - he obviously wasn't sane), cliched plot twists and some improbable plot elements are right. But they miss the point.





Despite its moments of dated narration, War and Remembrance really does transport you back to the 1940s. The length of the series precludes you from watching much else, so in a way you do participate in the war as an observer of the Henry clan. The main problem with history, in general, is that it happened to people we don't know. Through immersion, this film starts to erode that barrier. I.e., as Aaron and Natalie slip down the slope of Nazi persecution, you can't help but care about what happens. Ditto for the Henry men fighting in the Pacific - you want them to come home safe, because you've spent enough time with them to have felt like they were your siblings or children.





With regard to acting, Mitchum continues to be Pug Henry. I don't know how anyone else could have played that role. He's stoic, but in Wouk's books Pug isn't exactly a bubbly kind of guy. Jane Seymour is a much less obnoxious Natalie - I believe Ali McGraw would have been a distraction in this role, whereas Seymour conveys true fear and anxiety. John Gielgud, as others have mentioned, is riveting - just superb. Peter Graves looks out of date - somehow he has just always looked 1970s, and he doesn't quite fit here. You could argue that Polly Bergen (as Rhoda Henry) is superficial and that her romantic swings are trivial against the backdrop of world events. But Wouk probably knew this, and the truth is that even in desperate times a lot of us are more focused on our own heartbreak and loves, so even that soap opera -- poorly acted, in my opinion -- fits here.





Others have commented about how this series omits or glosses over the internment of Japanese Americans, the huge casualties in China and other aspects of the war. Honestly, I think this is ridiculous critique. What is amazing is how Wouk was able develop such a vast scope for his work and cover as much as he did -- Russian front, Pacific Theatre/Pearl Harbor, Italy, Poland, Turkey, the UK, the Desert War -- I mean, it's staggering. Someone will doubtless complain there wasn't enough emphasis on womens' role in the armed forces, and you could probably make that argument. But in the context of War and Remembrance it's a piffling complaint.





So now that I've written another massive review, and probably not as good as the others, I would set forth War and Remembrance as one of those films that everyone should see. With all its flaws, it succeeds brilliantly at animating an era slipping from out collective memories, in a way that has value as a history lesson and nonetheless pulls you in emotionally. Five stars, not because it's perfect, but because it's unrivalled in its effect.


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