Overlord

I saw Stuart Cooper's 'Overlord' at Seattle's Grand Illusion Theater last summer (before it opened anywhere else in the US) having heard nothing about the movie, and was absolutely floored by it. Its simple story follows Thomas, a young recruit, through his army training until just before he hits the beaches on early morning D-Day, all the while haunted by the spectre of impending death which awaits on Normandy's beaches.

The archival footage which makes up much of the film's most stunning imagery is meticulously chosen and edited; it frequently becomes Tom's dreams and visions of the War as it unfolds, and for the viewer, it is a vision of what WWII was, seen from both German and British sides. Cooper so masterfully situates Tom, an everyman, in visions of the surrounding war, that by the end of this surprisingly short, yet incredibly rich film, the magnitude of the toll the war took on the individuals fighting it becomes overwhelmingly moving.

Many will notice the major influence this movie had on parts of 'Full Metal Jacket' (Kubrick's long time collaborator John Alcott shot 'Overlord,' and Kubrick once commented that the only thing wrong with this movie was that it should have been twice as long). However, 'Overlord' is unique; I've never seen another war movie quite like this. It's a masterpiece of cinematic war poetry, and that it's taken over 30 years to get a release of any kind in the US is really surprising. It certainly holds its own against any of the best movies made about WWII.

Fantastic little "war" gem this. Stands to reason why it won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Filmfestival once. We are offered visually very beautiful images of documentary footage from world war 2. In an extremely competent manner this material is mixed into a fictitious story about a young soldier´s life and death as a soldier participating in the famous D-Day invasion (Operation Overlord).Don't expect another Saving Private Ryan or The Longest Day.....Overlord is by far too "experimental" for that.Well, it's really impossible to compare these films, but rest assured Overlord will deliver a very unique war movie experience, like you´ve (probably) never seen it before.

I can safely assume that "Overlord" had an extremely minuscule budget. None of the actors look like professionals, it was all shot in black & white and the film uses lots and lots of stock footage from WWII. Despite my reservations, which I'll get to in a moment, it's awfully good considering the costs.

The film follows a typical sort of soldier, Tom Beddows, from his induction to his landing at the beaches of Normandy. Throughout his story, clips of the preparations for the landing as well as other war footage is inserted...often in the clumsiest and seemingly random manner. Despite this, the story of Tom IS compelling and sucks you in to his life. Worth seeing...especially if you would love to see a decent micro-budgeted picture.

When I heard that this film consisted of about 1/3 newsreel footage, I was expecting the worst. Stock footage blended with studio footage is something you'd find in an MST3k movie; three people in a car driving quickly away from a giant lizard and then cut to a different film grain shot of an iguana in a lab and then back to the car. Oh no, the Iguana is chasing us.

The effect can be jarring, to say the least.

But Cooper, so far as I have heard, actually wrote the screenplay for Overlord with the stock footage he was going to use already in mind, tailoring his script so that the footage actually made sense. The movie is shot so that the switch from studio to stock lighting and film quality is barely noticeable. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's seamless--it does take a little while to get used to, but after the first fifteen minutes or so you don't even notice it.

And that's a good sign, that you have to "get used to" the picture for a little while before you feel comfortable watching it. That's the sign of originality. This is a brooding and slow-paced war film, but unlike other such films it maintains a certain lightness in spite of its weighty subject and so avoids coming off as ponderous. No viewpoints are shoved in your face. Hard questions are asked, yes, but you're given plenty of time to try and sort them out for yourself.

This is a movie you have to be wide awake while watching--it demands your full attention, and if you're not willing to give that up then you're probably not going to enjoy it. Overlord is most certainly not mindless entertainment. It provokes thought, and if thought makes you uncomfortable it's simply not the movie for you.

If you watched Saving Private Ryan, go and see this film too. It's totally different, but it deals with the personal feelings of a private much better, no battle scenes, just the perfect backdrop about a normal soldier going off to war, knowing what will happen.