I am going to approach this entry from left field.
Actually the left field bullpen at Dodger Stadium.
Back after the glory years of closer Eric Gagne entering the game to the electrifying strains of "Welcome to the Jungle," Japanese reliever Takashi Saito ably took over the role. And his entrance was made almost as theatrical as Gagne's. Except that they could never find a suitable song for him. I think they're still looking. I had written the Dodgers' PR guy with a suggestion. Why not the "General Boogey March" from "Bridge on the River Kwai?" You know the tune. That wonderful whistling. You can hear it in this trailer.
Of course, my notion was dismissed, probably because the Dodgers thought I was making a social comment on Takashi's ethnicity. What they didn't realize is the connection that I was making is that the General's name in the movie is....Saito. I guess I can't make the assumption that everybody is the same film history geek that I am.
There had to be one WWII movie on my list and this is clearly the best. When I was a kid, my parents would divide up the movies that were required viewing for me. My mom took me to all Disney cartoons and Biblical epics. My father got stuck with escorting me to anything with Jerry Lewis. And a myriad of movies about the big war. Thanks to Dad, I saw them all. The Longest Day. The Guns of Navarone. Von Ryan's Express. The Train. Operation Petticoat (I never heard my father laugh as loudly as he did with that film). But, David Lean's epic bridge was the best. It had opened in 1957, but I think we saw it first years later when it was reissued. It also marked the first time that I really wrapped my head around a movie that had a message. Because, indeed, when compared to all of the movies mentioned above, "Bridge on the River Kwai" is certainly the darkest. In this film, just like in real war, there are no winners at the end, and it was, at the time, a very bold statement for director David Lean to make.
There was no better painter of a cinematic canvas than David Lean. He carefully maps out a grand story that slowly envelops you as opposed to the constant and relentless barrage of nonsense being crafted in Hollywood today. Over his long career, he has taken me to a variety of places that I would never ever have experienced in my life. The deserts of Arabia. The icy palaces of Russia. The mountains and forests of India. And, in the case of "Bridge," a Japanese-run POW camp. More than a filmmaker, Lean is a historian and "Bridge" is perhaps his finest compendium---the Best Picture of 1957. Additionally, Alec Guinness authors one of the most complex characters in film history, winning the Oscar for Best Actor at the same time.
After seeing "Bridge on the River Kwai" at the now-defunct RKO Proctor's in the now-defunct Mount Vernon, New York, I had what would be the only dialogue with my father about his involvement in World War II. Let's be clear. This wasn't a great retelling of military battles. My father didn't get any further than replacing a typewriter ribbon at some Army post in Japan. But, he never really shared his views about what went on during that tumultuous time in our country's history. He did that day. And, to his credit, my interest and appreciation of that World War has remained with me years later. I voraciously gobble up any or all books, documentaries, etc., on the subject.
War was hell. So said David Lean. So said my father.
Dinner last night: Barbecued pork ribs at Pig N' Whistle.
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