Voor de gelegenheid een korte recensie in het Engels.  – I just watched “The Final Sacrifice”. A war movie (2016, Ari Taub) which depicts the end fase of WWII in Italy. From the German side this time. Such an interesting difference with Hollywood war movies. There is heroism; sense of duty; Bravery, like in American movies. But like in real war, we see fear, treachery, crazy desperation… on both sides. We are shown how certain citizens abuse war situations for personal enrichment. Partisans appear, with their powerful, idealistic side and their abuses. We see the difference between frontline infantry soldiers and (lazy, looting) logistic troops. We moreover get an insight in the personal moral struggles the men from every side try to come to terms with.

We see how some soldiers take their chances with girls while comrads under fire are waiting for their direly needed help and support materials. We learn how lieutenants think. How they must find solutions for a complex range of problems and challenges. We are shown how WAR brings bloody death in the end to men, personalities that we have come to know; a sad thing indeed.

This is a deepening war movie. It has a layer of martial courage and tactical skill, a layer about the importance of good weapons and soldiering skills. A layer about what soldiers do when they are tired, hungry, on the losing side, and how they sometimes start a silly scuffle when they are bored.

Above all this I was interested to notice a convincing layer of Melancholy. Of ugliness. How Warfare has a murky side to it. The picture we receive here is a rich and detailed one. Like a painting by a maestro: Rubens, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Van Gogh or Caravaggio.

I hope to watch more German made war movies.

Illustraties: screenshots van film in persoonlijk bezit.