For Whom the Bell Tolls (Full Screen)

 

 

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American viewers like the preceding reviewer might miss much of the point of this film due to lack of historical background due in part to lingering Mc Carthyist distortion of the realities of the Spanish Civil War. The Republic for which Jordan (Gary Cooper) was fighting was a government elected in the face of the great feudal landlords and the unreconstructed and dominant Spanish Catholic Church of that period. The fact that the Republicans received support from the USSR doesn't make them "commies"; they represented every aspect of the political spectrum from liberal to socialist to communist to people who might have been labeled conservative, but still believed in democracy and religious freedom.

They were opposed by the Nationalists, led by Generalissimo (later fascist dictator) Francisco Franco, who was supported by Hitler and Mussolini in their first test run as the Axis Powers. Their atrocities at Guernica and elsewhere, including aerial terror bombing of civilian populations, were very influential in scaring French PM Daladier and British PM Neville Chamberlain into their disastrous Munich appeasement of Hitler two years later.

The complexities of the plot derive in part from the complications that Jordan encounters due to the miscellaneous nature of the side he's fighting for. The often-conflicting motivations of anarchists, socialists, liberal democrats, communists, possible fifth columnists (the term was coined in the Spanish Civil War), opportunists, and people simply wanting to throw off medievalism in order to enjoy democracy and modernism are what provide the dramatic tension in this movie. Distrust was a fatal flaw for the Republican side. This isn't Bushie "with us or against us" "mission accomplished" brainless bravado, or a John Wayne "us good, Mexicans bad" Alamo rendition. It's about a man risking his life to fight the palpable evil of fascism that Franco, Mussolini and Hitler (NOT "Italians and Germans") represented, while doubting that all of his supposed allies share the values he's prepared to die for. The love story isn't the main theme here, except as it makes it easy for one to understand and identify with the anguish of choosing between the personal and the political. It's Jordan's decisions about the need for principled self-sacrifice in the face of doubt that drive the plot and make him a compelling Christ-figure.

The acting is excellent, and the technical work is top quality. This is a significant film not only because of the events it portrays, but because of the Mc Carthyite backlash gainst the people who went to Spain to fight fascism five years before the Japanese finally woke up the rest of America at Pearl Harbor. It records history, and is a piece of history itself.

Given the fact this film was made in 1943 and widescreen came out in the fifties I'm sure this film was shoot in full frame to begin with. And if so, if they do release it in widescreen, they will have to "Chop" the top and bottom parts of the movie out. By the way, it's an excellent movie.

"Because I am involved in mankind;

and therefore send to know

for who the bell tolls.

It tolls for thee."

Spain 1937. Robert Jordan (Gary Cooper) came to Spain o fight for "The Republic" (a nice way to say for the commies) and against nationalists. He also had a dislike for Germans and Italians. His assignment was to go behind the nationalist lines and blow up a bridge at a strategic moment. There this stoic hero meets a peasant girl (a much too young for Gary, Ingrid Bergman) with a bad haircut and that barely escaped a train ride. They naturally fall in love which complicates things. Will this jeopardize the mission? Do we care?

Along with this we have the classic mixture of characters that you can not tell if they are the good guys or the bad guys. The two that stand out besides the hero and his girl are Katina Paxinou (sort of a female Antony Quinn) as the doyenne, and Akim Tamiroff as the once good guerilla who may be bad or just self-centered. Who they were and how the acted was quite a predicable formula.

The story is an adoption from the Ernest Hemingway novel. Of course they could not put everything in the story and too a few liberties. We also miss the dialog that people read Hemmingway for.

The initial credits are in some annoying script (Parchment) make it hard to read at a glance.

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5.0 out of 5 stars GREAT... but...
... why these complaints about a widescreen-version? 20th Century-Fox released the first CinemaScope film in 1953(The Robe) in order to outdo TV.... Read more

Published on July 12 2004 by Henning Sebastian Jahre

4.0 out of 5 stars Full screen - are you kidding me?
I cannot believe this film is released on DVD in full screen format only, and not in a widescreen format. Read more

Published on July 2 2004 by Aramis

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Film: Not Deserving of "Full Screen" treatment
Read all other reviews of this film for film's brilliance, Gary Cooper's performance, etc. . However, what is bothersome, as good a reproduction this film is, is that it's... Read more

Published on Jun 15 2004

2.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Pinpoint
The most annoying part of the mvie is the casting. Robert Jordan is supposed to be a young blonde man, in his late 20's about, and Maria is supposed to be a 19 year old Spanish... Read more

Published on Feb 1 2004 by Henry Jones

4.0 out of 5 stars Music score is superb
If you enjoyed A Farewell to Arms as a movie, you'll no doubt enjoy this gem. Although quite long, this movie is a true and solid adaptation of the amazing and extraordinary... Read more

Published on Mar 27 2003 by Chris Salzer

5.0 out of 5 stars A Love Story and An Anti-War Film
The more I watch FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS the more I appreciate it. Although the movie drags a bit in places - especially in the beginning - the suspense and action eventually... Read more

Published on Nov 12 2002 by Rosemary Brunschwyler

5.0 out of 5 stars A Classic!
It's excellent. The movie has the best acted and scripted characterization that I've seen in a movie. It's set in the Spanish civil war in 1937. Read more

Published on July 14 2002 by Stephen M. Bauer

5.0 out of 5 stars a great Hemingway adaptation
When Hemingway picked Cooper and Bergman for this 1943 film, he couldn't have done better. They're heavenly to look at, and the chemistry between them is palpable. Read more

Published on Jan 13 2002 by Alejandra Vernon

4.0 out of 5 stars Gary Cooper plays a good Hemingway Hero!
A very young Cooper stared with Helen Hayes in " A Farewell to Arms". In this film he does even better! Read more

Published on Aug 5 2001 by R. Bagula

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice color, oddly multicultural cast, pure Hollywood.
I've never seen a movie based on Hemingway that came anywhere close to the miracles he achieved in prose. Read more

Published on Jan 10 2001 by inframan

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