Description: First shown on terrestrial TV, "The Second World War In Colour" is even more spectacular on DVD. Containing extra footage that was never broadcast, this collection of stunning films tracks World War II from the rise of Nazism to the devastating nuclear attack on Japan, featuring diary extracts from participants ranging from average housewives to German propagandist Josef Goebbels along the way. The colour footage, backed up by John Thaw's gritty narration, brings astounding realism to a conflict that has previously only been viewed in black and white; film of Adolf Hitler and several co-horts relaxing at their Bavarian retreat is disturbingly intimate, with the camera never straying more than a few yards from the infamous German Chancellor. Gruesome images of piled corpses piled in concentration camps are also included, but the exposure of such distressing material is never gratuitous. In addition, it must be pointed out that scenes of frontline battle and the formation of the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima are most definitely not for the weak-at-heart.
The story of WWII told through colour film clips, often accompanied by the letters and journal entries of those present. This documentary is a showcase for the original colour film; it is done with color film only: actual film from a variety of sources, both professional and amateur. The dates shown start as early as 1936, and end up covering 1941 through 1945 fairly thoroughly in many different locales. This show is impeccably researched. Each clip is paired with the appropriate journal entry or letter penned by someone closely related to what is being shown. I found the choices of voice talent superb as they nearly always got the voice acting right, right down to the correct accent to suit the original writer.
There are home movies shot at Hitler's mountain retreat by Eva Braun, amateur movies of marches in Moscow, the coronation in London, Franco in Spain. The collection of footage is in short, staggering, and boggles my mind. Most of it is of such beauty and crisp reality that I can hardly believe it exists, but I am glad to have seen it. The film provides a stark window into the distant past, so clear that it seems like yesterday that these events took place, which is quite an achievement given how far we really are from it.
The point-of-view of the documentary narrative is politically agnostic, depending on whose letter is being read: a Russian soldier, a German Luftwaffe pilot, an American Marine or a Japanese General, they relay their thoughts as they were written at the time. This works to the advantage of telling the story of the war stripped of its nationalist clothing embedded in older singular creations. The films don't shy away from violence, death and carnage either. The realization of the death toll grows greater and greater toward later in the doc, as we view with our own eyes what kinds of casualties were suffered on the many fronts of the war. It becomes rather grim, tarnishing the glory of war nostalgia that is held by we who are so far from its horrors now that the memories of the piles of bodies and gutted friends have faded from our minds.
This programme also benefits from being researched, written, narrated and scored superbly. I found myself completely dumbstruck several times. Much of the footage is truly a sight to behold: 5 out of 5.
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no pass
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