[2011, on
Matadero cinco (1972)] I was only around for our section of that movie, the prisoner-of-war section. The Dresden section, the bombing of Dresden. Like the novel, the movie's in different parts, and part of it's on the planet Tralfamadore, and part of it's back in Minneapolis. What I remember is that we were playing prisoners of war, we actors, and we were in Prague, which was then run by Russians. The Soviet Union was in control of Czechoslovakia then, so we were in an occupied country playing prisoners of war. For us actors, it added a reality that you never could make up, because there were Russian troops around, watching, and despised by the locals. That was the atmosphere of making the film, and it was very sad to be around the people of Prague. If you know the history of Czechoslovakia, it was probably one of the more liberal Eastern European countries, and still is. I don't know if you've ever been to Prague, but if you ever have the chance, go. It's an extraordinarily beautiful city. The reason why
George Roy Hill, the director, used Prague, is because it was a sister city, architecturally, to Dresden. Because there was no Dresden anymore. It was wiped out. So we used Prague as Dresden. It was, for me, quite an education, I'll tell you.
