If you are into war films, the Second World War is definitely a safe bet. And in this sure value, there is another sure value: the Landing. Literature, comics, films and series have already explored the subject extensively, with varying degrees of success. To complete this special “D-Day” week, we have prepared a small selection of films and series for you to binge from your sofa, far from the bombardments.
The longest day
What is it about ?
A long film (2h52 anyway) which retraces the final preparations and the start of the fighting on June 6, 1944. THE great classic to get the basics.
Why is this worth watching?
Because The longest day, it’s a D-Day for Dummies and sexier. And because it has a crazy cast. Instead, aim for: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Sean Connery, Richard Burton, Paul Anka, Bourvil and many others.
The images have aged, as has the rhythm, but hearing “The long sobs of the violins of autumn… Wound my heart with a monotonous languor” still gives you shivers.
Band of Brothers
What is it about ?
From Easy Company, a group of American paratroopers. Ten episodes to accompany them from their training to the German capitulation, including of course D-Day in Normandy.
Why is this worth watching?
Because there is everything. The horror of combat, the bonds of friendship, the doubts, the fears, the simple joys, the absurdity of orders from above. Winters (Damian Lewis) of course serves as a common thread, but it is above all the gallery of characters who surround him which makes the story rich. Note that a few “small” names appear in the credits: Tom Hardy, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg and Michael Fassebender. Go there with your eyes closed (well, not for too long, your shift is in 2 hours).
PS: don’t forget the following, The Pacific And Masters of the airwhich are worth the detour.
We have to save the soldier Ryan
What is it about ?
In the days following the Landing, Captain Miller and his men had to go further inland to retrieve Private Ryan, whose three brothers had fallen in combat.
Why is this worth watching?
Because anyone who saw the first half hour of Private Ryan in a movie theater in 1998 remembers the state of his stomach that day. The cold of the Normandy waters, the vomit in the landing craft, the whistling bullets, the screams of soldiers torn to pieces after three steps on the beach…
We have to save the soldier Ryanit’s a bit of the anti-Longest day and his romantic plans. Or when Steven Spielberg wanted to show the “real” war on screen. Founder.
Women in the shadows
What is it about ?
Ok, let’s cheat a little. Because the Shadow women takes place before the Landing. We follow Louise and her group of resistance fighters struggling with the German occupiers, who sense that something is afoot in Normandy.
Why is this worth watching?
Because beyond the adventures and the suspense (in short, it’s a film), the Shadow women highlights the essential role that women had in the Resistance. And, by extension, in the success of the Allied landings in June 1944. All with a top-of-the-range cast: Sophie Marceau, Marie Gillain, Julie Depardieu, Déborah François…
Dunkirk
What is it about ?
Yes, that’s cheating too. Dunkirk does not deal with D-Day, but takes place four years earlier, in 1940. It follows the rescue of 400,000 British soldiers trapped by the advance of German troops in the north of France.
Why is this worth watching?
Because Christophe Nolan. (We could stop our argument there, but we will still elaborate a little). Dunkirk, this is the history lesson you never had on Operation Dynamo. An hour in the air, a day at sea, a week on land… Nolan interweaves temporalities to tell the story of this race against time (and death) which will ultimately be the cement of the Landing – the real one – on June 6, 1944.
