The movie I watched this week was Hart’s War.
Lieutenant Thomas Hart hasn’t seen much battle, but he gets sent out on a mission of sorts and gets captured by Germans. He endures 3 days of interrogations, and he eventually breaks and gives out some information. He is later sent with other POW’s to a POW camp. There he meets Colonel McNamara, who makes him bunk with enlisted men instead of other officers.
After Hart has settled in, two African-American Second-Lieutenant pilots are brought into camp. They’d been shot down. McNamara has the men bunk in Hart’s barracks. The soldiers aren’t open to bunking with African-Americans so they show them no respect and tension is high. One soldier, Bedford, particularly doesn’t like Archer (one of the pilots).
One night, a tent spike is found under Archer’s mattress. He is shot by the Germans. Later, Bedford is found dead. Scott (the other pilot) is seen kneeling over him. Scott is accused of killing Bedford for planting the weapon in Archer’s bunk. Hart (formerly a law student), is assigned by McNamara to defend Scott in the upcoming murder trial. Hart struggles at first but gradually gets better and even questions the way court-martial McNamara is holding the trial.
One night, Hart notices one of the POW’s acting peculiar, so he follows him and discovers a secret tunnel being dug for an escape. He learns that Scott’s accusation and the whole trial is a lie. It is just a distraction to cover up the escape. When free, the POW’s are going to blow up a German ammunition factory that the Allies think is a shoe factory. We then find out it was McNamara who killed Bedford to keep him from telling the Germans about his plan.
On the last day of the trial (also the day of the escape), Hart tells the court that he killed Bedford (McNamara hears this before leaving). Visser (the German leader at the camp) orders everyone outside and is prepared to kill Hart. When the guards tell Visser that 35 men are missing, he finds the tunnel and decides to shoot everyone involved with the trial. Suddenly, McNamara returns to accept responsibility, just as the factory blows up in the distance. He is killed, and Hart and the other men are spared. Hart salutes McNamara’s body.
3 months after this, the Germans surrender to the Allies and the camp is closed.
Hart's War
First Lieutenant Thomas Hart (played by Colin Farrell)
I think Hart’s War is a pretty good movie. It has a nice mix of history and mystery. It keeps you interested. It combines all aspects of the war such as POW’s, African-Americans, and on a more internal note, honor and sacrifice.
Comments
Great summary!