Yanks

The film works for me because it concentrates on the three relationships and lets the war get on with itself. It was written from a British viewpoint and reflects the experiences of many people in war-torn Britain who came in to contact with American servicemen. The impact of the arrival of so many hearty, healthy and relatively wealthy young men was massive. The film struck a chord with many people in the UK, both of my parent's generation - who lived through the war, and my generation - who had heard all about it. The fact that the film was set in the north of England accentuated the gulf which existed in our common language. Many a GI must have been baffled by our slang. The three relationships in the film worked quite well because each one was different. How many times must these events have happened for real? The film isn't as good as THE WAY TO THE STARS of 1945, but it did recreate the war-time atmosphere quite well and evokes a period of history which is still vivid in the minds of many who lived near US bases in the UK in WW2.