MNLU NAGPUR,2017

ENGLISH PROJECT
MOVIE REVIEW

MOVIE- GUNS OF NAVARONE( 1961)

NAME ROHIT DEBNATH

SEC- B
 INTRODUCTION

War is what happens when language fails.

-Margret Atwood

God created war so that the Americans would learn geography.

- Mark Twain

According to Merriam Webster dictionary war is defined as : A state of usually open and armed
hostile conflict between states or nations. These definitions make us understand the plain and
technical definition of a war but not the emotional consequences of it.
Known as the mother of all war,World War 2 hereafter referred as ww2 taught the human race a
lesson which will be remembered by generations to come. It taught us an important lesson that
hate is baggage. Nobody gains from a war. Soldiers die in both the winning and losing side but
sill countless number of wars has been fought in the course of human history. WW2 is generally
considered one of the most deadliest of them where the worlds major powers clashed to create a
havoc in this planet.

ww2 is a mystery. Even after more than 70 years after the Great War, its countless episodes and
untold stories lie buried inside the horrors of the war.

More than 3 million people died both including soldiers and civilians in a war of ruthless
aggression. A war which gave a new angle towards the term racism, holocaust, mindless
patriotism and never ending hatred.

Those millions of people who died in this maniac war never got a chance to see the outcome of
the war.

Even todays generation might have never come to know about this horrific events lest the
books, memoirs and parchments of the survivors who potray their agony and sufferings through
this works,

Guns of Navarone hereafter referred as GoN ,this movie has stood the test of time. Even after 70
years after the war with thousands of movies made on the subject, this movie stands out in its
own right. Counted as one of the greatest movies on the war.

This particular movie, though more than 50 years old is particularly relevant due to the
contemporary problems in Indian society and politics and also the world.

Right wing politics is a form of politics which opposes socialism and social democracy. Right
wingers include conservatives, religious groups, nationalists and on the far right racists and
fascists.

During 1930s-40s right wing politics was in its pinnacle of power with many important powers
of Europe under them, for example the Nazis of Germany, fascists of Italy, the ottomans of
Turkey etc. The rightists used particularly a few terms like patriotism, religion, race, language,
ethnicity etc.

These terms used with excessive negative propaganda on the general public fuelled extreme
hatred among people towards the other people.These propagandas ultimately led to ww2.

Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious

 - Oscar Wilde

There is no bad religion, there are only bad people

-Morgan Freeman

Today after 70 years after the ww2,these issues are once again burning in the contemporary
world. With the rise of rightist parties around the world and also in india, the dangerous aspects
of their policies are once again looming around.As in 1930s the right wing politicians led us to
ww2.Does this mean we are once again slowly moving towards another world war ?

Well the current project doesnt speculate anything about any forthcoming war but it was chosen
as the author believes that history teaches us to avoid catastrophe in future. So Guns of Navarone
perfectly fits his believes. By these comparisons we can understand what went wrong 70 years
back and are we on the same track?

But does the movie really support the war. Thats a subjective question. The production company
marketed the movie as a huge action and adventure flick. The production house wanted to
capitalize on the movie when anti German sentiments were high among the general masses. This
comes as a contradiction as Gregory Peck was a great antiwar supporter. The movie silently
highlights the personal tragedies suffered by the main characters but with that it maintains its
jovial and adventurous nature. This contradiction shows that even after a deadly war like ww2,
the genral population still believes in dominance and subversion. So the movie presents its
viewers two points, one of bloodshed and other of its implications which is the deeper and sad
point. The former point was more popular, it shows the hypocrisy of people.

What you choose?

Why?

What do you want to do in the project? (your purpose)

Highlight.. antiwar themes..

Consequences through subpolts

 LITERATURE REVIEW
Guns of Navarone is generally considered one of the finest movies in and ww2i and is generally
a favorite amongst audience and critics alike. The production of the movie was 6 million US
Dollars to complete it. To adjust with inflation and other costs, it would have cost more than 70
million US Dollars to make it. Though the direction of J Lee Thompson is praised by the critics ,
the author gives credit to the cinematographer for the razor sharp cinematography ,one of the
key aspects for the movies success .Not a single shot has been wasted by the prodigal
cinematographer to drag the movie. Thanks to the excellent work of Oswald Morris, one of
Hollywoods most recognized cinematographers.
Guns of Navarone is generally seen a box office hit in fact it was highest earning Hollywood
movie of 1961 but is not considered one of the benchmark movies of all time. Like coppolas
Apocalypse now, john waynes green berets and others have made it to the hall of fame of
Hollywood but guns of Navarone is generally seen as a mass entertainer. In fact, according to the
authors take, British movies were generally underrated in the 1960s and 70s. Also the star cast of
the movie made it a flashy affair with 3 of 1960s greatest stars , Gregory Peck, Anthony mills
and Stanley Baker.

The movie just won one Academy Award in special effects, it reflects the cold hand it received
from the jury. One of the contradictions to the movies recognition is that it received many
nominations in the BAFTA awards in Britain but not many American awards. This reflects the
political outlook of the reviewers, since in the battle of Lerros which the movie depicts the
Americans played a huge part in winning the battle but the role of Americans was generally
ignored in the movie. The reasons could be the movie was generally marketed for Britain and the
commonwealth countries but its political flavor dented its chances in making itself a niche in
American audience and critics alike.

One of things that clicked for this movie is its simplicity. Even a layman in the subject of ww2
would enjoy the movie because each and every part is explained through dialogues in the movie
but it is not noticeable because of the flow and expressions of the actors in the scenes which
made it look like the part of the movie.

Also one of the points that many reviewers missed was the theme of the movie ,it is considered
as a action,adventure and war movie with all the ingredients of war movie.

But actually the movie is anti war which can be attributed to the few dialoges ,scenes and
expressions of the movie.

The protagonist in many lines is critical of the prime minister of the his own country for
dragging his country into a war with no end. Also when the group gets demoralized, they feel
why are doing this hardship when their leader is sitting in palace drinking wine.

These points were extremely critical in analyzing the movie but were generally missed by the
critics and audience alike.

PLOT
A group of battle hardened war veterans and experts are assembled by the Royal Army general to
neutralize two extremely powerful cannons in the island of Navarone. These islands occupied by
Nazi Germany is the only way to the island of kherros where 2000 British soldiers are marooned.
Tired and exhausted, the fate of this British soldiers lie in the hands of this group or else being
slaughtered by the German army.

The group begins their journey with a seat voyage to reach Navarone in a dilapidated fishing
boat in the disguise of Greek fishermen. The pleasant journey turns ugly when they encounter a
Nazi patrol ship which they destroy and an extremely violent sea storm. In late hours they reach
the cliff on Navarone where they are supposed to infiltrate the island. In the course of climbing,
the captain gets injured which neatly jeopardizes their mission. Mallory takes in charge of the
group and the captain is bed ridden and is stretcherd throughout the time he is with the group.
The captain tries to commit suicide but Mallory has other plans. He saves the captain from
committing suicide but lies him that the mission is aborted and the Royal Navy will attack the
island from the front side of the island and intentionally trace themselves to German army
leaving the captain in German medical care.

As the German officers administer truth speaking injections to the captain he spells out the
wrong plans to them. Making their defenses ready as per the wrong information by the captain,
the Germans make heavy military and defense arrangements on the front of the island and giving
minimal attention to the back of the island.

The group meet two partisan girls who help them mingle in the local community and geography.

When the day arrives for the attacks, they find that Anna, one of the local partisan girl is a traitor
sabotaging their bomb material and giving the Germans tip off of their location. She is shot down
heavy heartedly by them.

Mallory and Miller infiltrate the fort where the canons are located in disguise of Nazi officers.
They shut down the main steel door and plant the bombs in strategic areas where the Germans
couldn't locate them. As the Germans realizes that they have been double crossed, they attack the
fort but Mallory and Miller have already done their job and left . As the Germans prepare to
launch the cannons, a huge bomb blast destroys the whole fort and thus completing the mission
successfully.

OBSERVATIONS
The director treats the movie in an individualistic manner. Every character is focused upon.
Gregory peck as caption Mallory plays the main protagonist. An American battle hardened
soldier with a quick and military thinking . Pecks character evolvement is slowly handled out. As
the movie progresses we see that he is not only a shrewd military person but also an able leader.
When the commander in charge ( roy franklin) gets grievously hurt, he leads the group from the
most perilous booby traps.Pecks changing persona is always balanced by his on screen aura .
Pecks character is mystified. Nothing is known about his family.He falls for Anna but when
Anna turns out to be a traitor, he doesnt hesitate to shoot her .Overall peck justifies his part as
captain Mallory.

As the movie progresses we see conflicts between their mission and personnel
sentiments. The director clearly gains this point when the Nazis capture the group ,the greek
colonel (Andrea Strovou) pretends to betray them. His American and british counterparts get
enraged by it. Although they being part of the same mission for many days but when betrayal
arises everyone tries to kill the other.

Colonel stavrou is an anguished man. He lost his wife and child partly due to captain Mallory
who he swores to kill after the war,though no further reason and information is provided by the
director.Always a grump and a master sniper ,Anthony Quinn flows in the character of the
colonel.Although Quinn mostly known for his romantic performances plays a perfect part in this
film.His real life troubles is well exploited by the director who took the liberty to express his
disturbances for making is part well illustrated .

Corporal Miller is an engineer and a bomb expert.Portrayed by ace british comedian david niven
,he brings the much needed comedic relief in the long and suspenseful movie.When the team
voyage for the sea ,he firstly says that he cant swim,thats his main concern. His character is
developed in the most beautiful manner. He is not the patritic soldier who I swilling to die for his
motherland. He thinks everything as his job. He loves his bombs more than his wife because as
he says that atleast a bombs pain is instant than a wifes pain which is lifelong.This character is
one my favorite character.

Another noatable characters include Anna,she is perceived as a victim of tourture from Nazi
Germany and cant speakdue to the trauma,later she is discoved as a traitor who is passing their
information to the germans ,she is also responsible for the theft of their explosives,she is later
killed.The movie captures a personel blend of professional lives of military men and their
challenges.It describes WW2 in the most raw sense as possible.

The turning point of the movie comes when the group discovers that Anna the love interest of the
protagonist is the traitor. It is one of the most crucial point of the movie.

The Germans are displayed in a way worse than animals.

Torture is one of main ingredients of the film. The movie shows extreme gore and violence. This
makes it unsutable for for children under 18.

The music screams that it is of 1960s. The Jazz in regal style makes it extremely war like. The
background choir paces with the movie and the frequency increases when the germans approach
the group. Overall it doesn't disappoint but do not offer anything new or exiting that has already
been seen in other movies in the previous decade like The man who knew too much, The
problem with Harry etc.

The editing has been the weakest part of the movie as many of the final blasting scenes of the
movie were edited out in in DVD version but were included in the unseen parts in the
anniversary edition of the movie.
ANALYSIS & DISCUSSION
Guns of Navarone is a fast paced war movie .It is entertaining as well as adventurous . The razor
sharp direction with the enigmatic cinematography further energizes the film. The scores movie
high in its character development, every character has a story behind him but the most relevant
part of their life is used to create a sub plot which gives the movie a suspense making look. The
remaining story of each character is not revealed but discussed. Gregory peck gives one of his
career best performance in the film. His on screen persona and gritty expressions puts up a
thrilling movie which doesnt get monotonous for its long running time .As with any other great
movie it suffers from a few setbacks as many directorial goof ups are seen in the movie. In the
torture scene the majors plaster looks more cleaned than the previous one and few other
mistakes. Casting is one aspect where the movie scores very high. Every character shines in his
respective role. Editing as pointed out earlier could have been improved .Pivotal scenes were
edited out in the theatrical release to shorten the already long running time but sacrificing
important scenes. The dialogues like, I cant swim in salt water, I am yours boss, I know
everything are catchy enough to be remembered.WW2 movies generally tend to have less
budget but this constraint cant be seen in this movie as it had a budget of 6 million which was
huge at that time. The movie maintains a fine balance between suspense and comedy to make it a
wholesome entertainment. This movie is another point of perfection in a cinematic history.

CONCLUSION

War doesnt benefit anyone it increases destruction. The movie though keeps its view through
the allied point of view but it shows that the nazi soldiers were also fed up with the war. Guns of
navorene is one of the few movie which correctly chronicles the war in a factual manner. The
movie won the academic award for special effects is a testimony of its perfectness .But still a
movie of this caliber winning just one academy award raises a few eyebrows; either it could the
politics that the American contribution is neglected or other reasons but this doesnt diminish its
legacy. More than 50 years have passed but still the movie remains one of the favorite amongst
the critics as well as the audience. And will continue for the coming generations.

WAR IS VICTORY WITH NO SURVIVORS

REFERENCES

Inteviews
Internet movie database
Rotten tomatoes
Metacritics
Old newspapers clippings
Youtube

i
New York times ,1961