Someone recommended "The Green Devils of Monte Casino" to me and I was happy I found an English language version (though I wouldn't have minded captions) on YouTube. It's interesting because it shows the famous Italian battle from the viewpoint of the German defenders...and what's more interesting is that it came out only a baker's dozen years after the war ended.
Considering that the film was made by post-war Germans, I expected the film to soften the German characters in the movie...and that certainly was the case. No mention was made of the evils of the Third Reich and the whole context for the war was omitted. Additionally, much of the film focused on the good German commander who worked hard to save the precious works of art in the monastery. In addition, the Allies broadcasted what seemed like lies in the film...that the Germans were not moving the art to protect it but to steal it. Well, I hate to break it to you but the Germans DID steal much of the art throughout Europe during the war. So, whether the film was accurate in all respects or not, making it sound as if the Allies were lying just to get the locals upset was disingenuous. There WAS precedent for the Allies saying this...the Germans had done it in the Louvre and many other museums and private collections throughout the continent and many pieces of art still have not been repatriated.
If you look past all this, the film is decent but not great. I say this because the acting was very good and the story well constructed. But an overreliance on grainy stock footage and the odd way that sometimes images were superimposed on the stock footage just looked cheap. All in all, a flawed but watchable film...worth seeing but don't take it to be Gospel.
Considering that the film was made by post-war Germans, I expected the film to soften the German characters in the movie...and that certainly was the case. No mention was made of the evils of the Third Reich and the whole context for the war was omitted. Additionally, much of the film focused on the good German commander who worked hard to save the precious works of art in the monastery. In addition, the Allies broadcasted what seemed like lies in the film...that the Germans were not moving the art to protect it but to steal it. Well, I hate to break it to you but the Germans DID steal much of the art throughout Europe during the war. So, whether the film was accurate in all respects or not, making it sound as if the Allies were lying just to get the locals upset was disingenuous. There WAS precedent for the Allies saying this...the Germans had done it in the Louvre and many other museums and private collections throughout the continent and many pieces of art still have not been repatriated.
If you look past all this, the film is decent but not great. I say this because the acting was very good and the story well constructed. But an overreliance on grainy stock footage and the odd way that sometimes images were superimposed on the stock footage just looked cheap. All in all, a flawed but watchable film...worth seeing but don't take it to be Gospel.