 |
|
|
|
Hart's War |
 |
It’s late 1944. World War II is dragging on and
Lt. Hart, a staff officer who never expected to
go near the front lines, suddenly finds himself
a prisoner of war after stumbling upon the
German counterattack that came to be known
as the Battle of the Bulge. He’s sent to the
bleak Nazi Stalag VI "facility,"
where he meets two indomitable men who
play key roles throughout the story, one a
fellow prisoner (Col. McNamara, a
fourth-generation West Point graduate), the
other the camp commandant (German Col.
Visser). Then the Americans are thrown into
turmoil when two African-American POWs
arrive; both from the famed Tuskegee Airmen.
SSgt. Bedford, a vicious racist, harasses the
two black officers, refusing to recognize their
rank. One night Bedford is found murdered
outside the barracks. Naturally, Lt. Scott, one
of the Tuskegee pilots, is accused of the
murder, and Hart, a second-year law student,
finds himself Scott’s appointed defense
attorney for the upcoming court martial. But
everything is not as it first appears.
• positive
elements: Col. McNamara possesses a
strong spirit of duty and honor, as do many of
the Americans in the camp. Several times
soldiers offer to lay down their lives for the
good of others. Even though prisoners, the
Americans continue to fight the Nazis through
resistance and an act of sabotage. American
soldiers share their meager rations with
Russian POWs on the other side of the
compound, even under threat of death.
• spiritual
content: An American officer gives his
Bible to Lt. Scott, who is being held in solitary
confinement.
• nudity and
sexual content: No sexual content, but
moviegoers watch naked prisoners being
deloused and catch a glimpse of a naked and
beaten POW.
• violent
content: For a war movie, the action
sequences play only a minor role. Still, they
are extremely violent. An American is shot
pointblank in the head, splattering his brains
over another soldier. A soldier crashes a jeep
and winds up in a ditch full of frozen corpses.
American planes strafe a train station,
mistakenly attacking trains holding American
POWs. Bombs destroy nearby buildings, and
a train car explodes, sending bodies and body
parts flying through the air. Prisoners are
hanged. A German plane is shot down and
crashes in the middle of the POW camp,
plowing over several prisoners and igniting
several others in a fireball. A soldier is killed
by summary firing squad, and another is
executed with a shot to the forehead.
• crude or
profane language: Nearly two-dozen
obscenities and vulgarities including f- and
s-words. The Lord’s name is abused about
six times. The Tuskegee airmen are called
"n-gger" many times. Soldier refers
to a German officer as "a real
prick."
• drug and
alcohol content: Lt. Hart is delivering a
case of champagne when captured. The
German commandant shares a glass of
brandy with Col. McNamara. POWs make
homemade "hootch" with a bit of
turpentine thrown in "for better
flavor." Smoking is also
commonplace.
• other
negative elements: POWs engage in a
flatulence-lighting contest.
•
conclusion: Hart’s War is
a tense psychological thriller with World War II
playing a secondary role. You find yourself
with shifting allegiances as you learn more
about individual men, their motives and what
really happened to the murdered man. At one
point a character might be sympathetic, but
then you’re not sure. In the end, in one final act
of courage and honor, all is explained.
The pros: Hart’s War contains
strong messages of honor, duty and courage,
both physical and moral. The cons: Foul
language. Also, while the war violence takes
up only a few minutes in a two-hour film, it is
intense.
 eNewsletter
 Mobile
 Magazine
|
|
