The Longest Day

Starring: John Wayne, Robert Ryan, Richard Burton, Henry Fonda, Eddie Albert, Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Richard Beymer, Hans Christian Bleoh, Red Buttons, Sean Connery, Ray Danton, Irina Demick, Fabian, Karl John, Roddy McDowall, Sal Mineo, Robert Mitchum, Edmond O'Brien, George Segal, Rod Steiger, Kenneth More
Directed by: Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, Gerd Oswald
Rating: G
Genre: Action, Drama, War
1962

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Allies prepare for the world-altering D-Day invasion against German forces.

Review:

Tim: I was blown away by The Longest Day, as it tells its World War II story in a way unlike most war movies. At this point, it feels like I've seen every possible way to tell a WWII story on screen. I've seen D-Day depicted before. However, The Longest Day takes a fascinating, unique approach to the story. The movie is basically a docudrama, focusing more on the events and perspectives surrounding D-Day than on any individual stories. This isn't something I have seen often before. Most movies about the second World War focus on the characters first. The characters definitely do not come first here. It can be frustrating at times, to only see glimpses into their stories. This film, however, makes it clear that it's intention isn't to showcase those individual stories, but to tell the story of the larger conflict. Once you settle into this unexpected direction, you can truly appreciate what was accomplished here.

I find it interesting that three directors are credited here- one for American exteriors, one for British/French exteriors, and one who did the German scenes. It's an intriguing way to set up the film. In some ways, it helps the movie to feel like a documentary- there's really not one unifying vision in every scene. The unifying vision is showing different perspectives to this conflict, so it makes sense that different directors would bring those to life. The movie does spend a lot of time showing these different viewpoints. We don't often see the German side depicted as much as it is here. Now, the film is certainly not sympathetic to the Nazi side- they are clearly the bad guys (appropriately) and fairly bumbling at times. But, we do get to see the invasion from their vantage point. That gives the film this 360-degree view of the famous invasion. As you might expect, it also creates an epic feel to the film. The movie is just under 3 hours long, so we spend a considerable amount of time viewing this conflict from multiple angles.

The scope of the movie is truly impressive. The battle sequences are oftentimes stunning. This is undoubtedly a well made film. The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It won 2- Best Cinematography, Black-and-White; and Best Effects. The film absolutely deserved both of these. The film is beautifully shot, from the close in shots of individual soldiers, to the grandeur and majesty of the bloody battles- each frame is carefully constructed to recreate this conflict and put us in the middle of the action. The explosions, the gunfire, it all feels brutally real as you watch the film. Undoubtedly, it was expertly crafted with a painstaking attention to detail. It's not surprising that so many former soldiers consulted on this film. It's a movie that wants to do things right.

One of the film's most audacious acts is to assemble one of the best casts I've ever seen and then barely use them. It's a tad disappointing, as much as it's brilliant. It's the clearest signal that this movie is putting the overall conflict first. It's not about any one man or woman- the movie is concerned with the big picture. So, you get many great actors used in basically cameos. A few get more to do, but many are limited. I ended up feeling okay with this- I understand why this decision was made, even though I wish we got more time with most of them.

John Wayne gets more than his fair share of scenes, which I thought was fine. He was a big movie star and it makes sense to get him a bit more screen time. He's not on screen for a long time, but it was fun seeing him in this role. I enjoyed the few scenes we got with Richard Burton. It felt like he was given the chance to actually act and his scenes are memorable. Henry Fonda doesn't get nearly enough to do, but it's hard to forget his entrance, walking toward the camera to have his conversation. Richard Beymer had a few nice moments and emerged as one of the better supporting characters. I loved seeing Sean Connery here, but he was sadly limited to just a few scenes. I really wish we had more time with him. Irina Demick added several nice scenes and definitely contributed to the film. I could keep going deeper, as there are many other recognizable actors in the cast, but they were mostly so limited that they were fairly un-noteworthy. Again, the movie isn't very concerned with them or their stories.

When you sit back and view The Longest Day from a big picture lens (which is fitting, as that's exactly what it attempts to do), you have to marvel at the accomplishment. This is a big war movie that shows multiple detailed views of a famous invasion. It's long, but it holds our attention, as it jumps from perspective-to-perspective, scene-to-scene. You understand something about the conflict that you can't get by focusing on individual stories. This is an expertly crafted docudrama that impresses with its size and scale. It's also a great film.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Saving Private Ryan, Patton, From Here to Eternity, The Bridge on the River Kwai