Mrs. Miniver
1942
Directed by William Wyler
I think I have seen all the Best Picture winners to date, with the exception of Green Book. I really don't like a lot of the movies on that List, though, Mrs. Miniver included.
Mrs. Miniver tells the story of a British housewife whose life is touched by World War II. Her son, Vin, falls in love with Carol and enlists in the Royal Air Force. This can only end in tears.
Can propaganda ever be art? It's not an easy question to answer. There is a manipulative element inherent in propaganda that doesn't allow for much personal interpretation. Also, all of these characters had such a stiff upper lip that I had trouble relating to them. It just felt like everybody was supposed to be the ideal English person. Like if we had a movie now about a family who all wear masks and limited their social gatherings to five people. Actually, I'd probably watch that too.
A true classic, but not one I want to revisit again and again.
RATING: ***--
Interesting Facts:
Winston Churchill said that this film had done more for the war effort than a flotilla of destroyers.
First movie to be nominated for five acting Oscars.
It's a bit of a bum movie, in that there's nothing good about it, really. But there's not too much bad about it either. Laughable that it won the best picture Oscar. But lucky us, I suppose, for living in times when films don't have to be chosen to support morale in a war which may kill us all.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very maudlin way of thinking, isn't it?
As you say, very rare that propaganda films are great in their own right, but they can be fascinating time capsules to examine. I can imagine it striking a chord at the time.
Good grief, is this on the list somewhere?
ReplyDeleteGood old Hollywood, what the Brits need right now is film about posh Brits being terribly terribly stoical, and still going to church even if it has no roof.
Go on then, do you Americans really think this is us .. or was even us, then?
OK, fair enough.. I guess a fair stab at a certain small section of society, in small small, excessively cute, picturesque and privileged village somewhere in the home counties.. but..
Is it any worse than Mary Poppins??
Do/did Americans really think this is/was us?
DeleteMore notably, most Brits think/thought that it's us. (Which contributes towards Brexit)
I suppose the idea was to picture an England under siege in a way the average American middle classe could relate to. This would be by transplanting an American middle class family to the English countryside and call them English.
ReplyDeleteIf that's the case, I don't think they succeeded. They felt very British to me.
DeleteOhh.. nice observation Dessie... & TS.... I feel both comments sum a lot up...
ReplyDelete