49th Parallel
1942 Directed by Michael Powell
Synopsis
A damaged U-boat is stranded in a Canadian bay in the early years of World War II. The Fanatical Nazi captain and his crew must reach the neutral United States or be captured. Along the way they meet a variety of characters each with their own views on the war and nationalism. In this film Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger show their ideas of why the United States should join the Allied fight
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**Part of the Best Picture Project**
As I have stated before, I have a fascination with propaganda. Art after all is the act of manipulating into an intellectual and/or emotional state. In order to succeed, propaganda must look forward to being excellent examples of art.
The third Powell and Pressburger film, 49th Parallel, (and the first to be introduced in the Best Picture Project), does something that makes it comparatively unique from all the other propaganda films. It does not focus on an ally friendly hero fighting against the faceless enemy. Instead, we get to follow the enemy as the main characters, and we see their personalities.
Ultimately, this is what allows the film to succeed. The film is about…
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A superb piece of wartime propaganda, as well shot and well acted as any of the type I've ever seen – but then what do you expect from the Archers?
My favorite segment is the second one, about the Hutterites. I feel like it's the most interesting; and in a lot of ways it's the most tragic. Plus, I always enjoy the work of Anton Walbrook.
Expect lots of speeches and debates about the Nazi philosophy versus western democracy and freedom. The movie makes no apologies for what it is. And sometimes the Nazis get a little carried away, even burning books and destroying art just because it amuses them. But that's the whole point: Canadians (and Americans) are being…
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The following review can also be found at: everypowellandpressburgermovie.blogspot.ca/2013/04/49th-parallel-1941.html
49th Parallel Or: How Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Went To Canada and Made One Of the Best Propaganda Films of All Time.
When one thinks of propaganda, we most likely focus on "evil" propaganda, such as Nazi films or Soviet films. Perhaps we even think of more modern, biased "impartial" news broadcasts, or productions. When people think of England's propaganda films of the WWII era, most of them think of them as more of "movies" than "propaganda". While that may be true, they were made to try and bolster a nation's waning confidence in a losing war. While it is remarkable that many of these films still stand up today,…
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Notable mostly for its intriguing refusal to provide a conventional protagonist; as the stranded Nazis make their way across the Great White North, it turns the entire nation of Canada into its hero. Sure, it's wartime propaganda, but it's also kind of a quirky celebration of a heterogenous people, still unified despite not being pureblood Aryan blah blah blah. That doesn't make it any less plodding at times, missing opportunities to build a bit more depth into the characters (the sympathetic Nazi bread-maker seems to appear out of nowhere). Mostly an abstractly interesting curiosity, though there are still a few terrific details, like the well-worn Nazi flag that flies on the U-boat. And let us never underestimate the chance to see Laurence Olivier put on a crazy French Canadian accent.
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Where have you been all my life. An espace film about Nazis trying to make it home and then the end is something that we had all seen coming. There is so many good things going on like how a Nazi doesn't agree with their ideas and then he gets killed because he doesn't want to be part of them. There is very few films out there like it and I love the way it ends, " I'll take my pants back now. Priceless.
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Okay, so I'm in absolutely no position to discuss this film objectively, except to say I was deliriously happy while watching it. The best way to describe it is 'One Week' if Joshua Jackson had been in the Waffen SS. See, in the early days of World War 2, the Royal Canadian Air Force blows the shit out of a German U-boat in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, stranding its landing party in MOTHERFUCKING CANADA, BITCHES. Now, Canada could of course at any time use its infinite powers to crush these Nazis like the insects they are, but instead, our great nation decides to fuck with them like a kid burning ants with a magnifying glass, and the results are…
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The following review can also be found at: everypowellandpressburgermovie.blogspot.ca/2013/04/49th-parallel-1941.html
49th Parallel Or: How Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger Went To Canada and Made One Of the Best Propaganda Films of All Time.
When one thinks of propaganda, we most likely focus on "evil" propaganda, such as Nazi films or Soviet films. Perhaps we even think of more modern, biased "impartial" news broadcasts, or productions. When people think of England's propaganda films of the WWII era, most of them think of them as more of "movies" than "propaganda". While that may be true, they were made to try and bolster a nation's waning confidence in a losing war. While it is remarkable that many of these films still stand up today,…
-
Notable mostly for its intriguing refusal to provide a conventional protagonist; as the stranded Nazis make their way across the Great White North, it turns the entire nation of Canada into its hero. Sure, it's wartime propaganda, but it's also kind of a quirky celebration of a heterogenous people, still unified despite not being pureblood Aryan blah blah blah. That doesn't make it any less plodding at times, missing opportunities to build a bit more depth into the characters (the sympathetic Nazi bread-maker seems to appear out of nowhere). Mostly an abstractly interesting curiosity, though there are still a few terrific details, like the well-worn Nazi flag that flies on the U-boat. And let us never underestimate the chance to see Laurence Olivier put on a crazy French Canadian accent.
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This is, ostensibly, an anti-isolationist propaganda film but mostly it feels like a Canadian tourism ad.
Of the many anti-tenets of Naziism presented in the film, bread-making was probably my favorite.
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I began to watch Powell and Pressburger's 49th Parallel a long time ago. However, I could not finish as I was struck by the foolish stereotypes used to represent Canadians. I decided to watch some more and found that those generally vanished and the film did demonstrate the fact that Canadians have an essential role to play in World War II. It was an entertaining thriller, but a flawed one. If you ask me, it accomplished it's goal.
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Where have you been all my life. An espace film about Nazis trying to make it home and then the end is something that we had all seen coming. There is so many good things going on like how a Nazi doesn't agree with their ideas and then he gets killed because he doesn't want to be part of them. There is very few films out there like it and I love the way it ends, " I'll take my pants back now. Priceless.
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A superb piece of wartime propaganda, as well shot and well acted as any of the type I've ever seen – but then what do you expect from the Archers?
My favorite segment is the second one, about the Hutterites. I feel like it's the most interesting; and in a lot of ways it's the most tragic. Plus, I always enjoy the work of Anton Walbrook.
Expect lots of speeches and debates about the Nazi philosophy versus western democracy and freedom. The movie makes no apologies for what it is. And sometimes the Nazis get a little carried away, even burning books and destroying art just because it amuses them. But that's the whole point: Canadians (and Americans) are being…
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"A rather brave film to make in 1941, the tale of German u-boaters trapped in Canada who attempt to make their way to the still-neutral USA, as the Germans weren't all depicted as caricature Nazis, although one was not expected to have any sympathies for them. the film did its propaganda job well nonetheless."
-
**Part of the Best Picture Project**
As I have stated before, I have a fascination with propaganda. Art after all is the act of manipulating into an intellectual and/or emotional state. In order to succeed, propaganda must look forward to being excellent examples of art.
The third Powell and Pressburger film, 49th Parallel, (and the first to be introduced in the Best Picture Project), does something that makes it comparatively unique from all the other propaganda films. It does not focus on an ally friendly hero fighting against the faceless enemy. Instead, we get to follow the enemy as the main characters, and we see their personalities.
Ultimately, this is what allows the film to succeed. The film is about…
-
The bold choice to make the doomed Nazis the main characters gives the film something of a melodramatic, badge-on-your-sleeve rah-rah, as their forced out of safe house after safe house. And it should. It was originally conceived as straight up propaganda meant to incite U.S. involvement in World War II. And as its brand of cinema, it's impeccable, drawing in famous names - Laurence Olivier (as the trapper with a broad, hilarious French accent), Raymond Massey (as the lazy soldier), Leslie Howard (as a writer called a coward), Anton Walbrook (as the religious figure), Glynis Johns (the innocence of a child) - who toss heroism into our laps like an electric coil of enthusiasm as they attempt to kill, out-moralize, kill, kill and kill. Beyond its political means, 49th Parallel is also a great work of entertainment, skipping along at a snap-quick pace, wearing both the adventure hat and the war hat but, also, staging some fine ironies.