WATCH AS HE TEARS THEM APART, LIKE A TIGER WITH PREY BETWEEN ITS FRIGHTFUL JAWS!
Review of Route 181 (2003)
Still from Route 181
Route 181, recorded in 2002 in Palestine, is an important documentary for anyone who wishes to understand the psychology of the perpetrators and victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Filmed by Michel Khleifi and Eyal Sivan, the premise of the documentary is to travel along the borders outlined in UN Resolution 181, attempting to locate the destroyed Arab villages marked on the map upon which the resolution was drawn. The documentary itself is structured as a series of interviews, interspersed with some scenes recorded on camcorder provided with no commentary. The documentary utilizes no archival footage and provides no narrative, allowing the watcher to simply perceive the scenes and dialogue for themselves, placing the emphasis on the lives of the people in the present and their memories of the past. In this, the film allows the perpetrators of these crimes to indict themselves in their own words.
Review of The Battle of Stalingrad (1949)
The Battle of Stalingrad portrays the Eastern Front of World War 2 in a charming operatic style, centering the drama of the battle upon the key personalities of Stalin, Chuikov, Hitler, and Paulus, along with an array of supporting characters. The main focus is, of course, put on Stalin, endearingly called Josef Vissarionovich by his officers throughout the film.
The pacing of the film is fantastic. I particularly enjoyed how they portrayed the outset of Operation Uranus, with fast cuts between intense artillery barrages, the valiantly advancing Soviet army, the shattered German and Romanian forces, and the tense scenes of the German and Russian headquarters. The German headquarters are frantic and the officers worried, while the Russian officers are cool headed, foreseeing the German response in advance. The Russian officers are shown to be quick thinking and cunning, working to make sure that the German troops meet their doom in Stalingrad, cutting off every attempt they make to withdraw.