From Here to Eternity
1953 Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Synopsis
The setting is an army base in Hawaii in 1941. Montgomery Clift, in a superb performance, plays a bugler who refuses to fight for the company boxing team; he has reasons for giving up the sport. His refusal results in harsh treatment from the company commander, whose bored wife (Deborah Kerr) is having an affair with the tough-but-fair sergeant (Burt Lancaster). You remember--the scene with the two of them embracing on the beach, as the surf crashes in. The supporting players are as good as the leads: Frank Sinatra and Donna Reed won Oscars (and Sinatra revitalized his entire career), and Ernest Borgnine entered the gallery of all-time movie villains, as the stockade sergeant who makes Sinatra miserable. Zinnemann's work is efficient but also evocative, capturing the time and place beautifully, the tropical breezes as well as the lazy prewar indulgence. This one is deservedly a classic. --Robert Horton
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**Part of the Best Picture Project**
Sometimes the worst things a soldier has to face isn't the war but his own country preparing him for it.
From Here to Eternity is a fantastic drama filled with conflict not from the action of war (the film is set a short time before Pearl Harbor), but the heat between men who hate each other. It is seething with both dramatic irony, and powerful commentary on life within the military and its often harsh consequences.
It should be noted that From Here to Eternity deals with big mature themes that are almost unheard of in this era of Hollywood. A soldier falls in love with an army escort, an officer has an affair…
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The last film I watched that looked at Pearl Harbour and romance was pretty poor to say the least. Snide dig at Ben Affleck over From Here to Eternity is different class altogether.
Burt Lancaster was awesome, he's definitely one of my all time favourites. He's not the greatest actor that ever lived but he had such a presence, there was an aura about him and he literally filled the screen with his persona.
Old Burt headed an unbelievably good cast that included Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, Montgomery Clift and Ernest Borgnine, who between them provided me with almost 2 hours of pure escapism.
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This won Best Picture? Aside from the Frank Sinatra subplot, absolutely nothing in this movie drew me in. I was unimpressed and bored by the romances, and everything seemed very scattered, with too many stories wandering around. I think the final few scenes were probably supposed to tie everything together, but it was too little, too late for me. This was just one of those movies that did nothing for me. Disappointing.
How it entered my Flickchart:
From Here to Eternity < Martian Child
From Here to Eternity < Get Shorty
From Here to Eternity > Oklahoma! (1999)
From Here to Eternity > American Graffiti
From Here to Eternity > Father of the Bride (1950)
From Here to Eternity > Neighbors
From Here to Eternity < Metropolis…
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Hollywood melodrama done right.
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A story of a young transfer who simply wants to change his history. This is a gripping tale set in a beautiful place with harsh realities. Fantastic movie. Wonderful acting.
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The last film I watched that looked at Pearl Harbour and romance was pretty poor to say the least. Snide dig at Ben Affleck over From Here to Eternity is different class altogether.
Burt Lancaster was awesome, he's definitely one of my all time favourites. He's not the greatest actor that ever lived but he had such a presence, there was an aura about him and he literally filled the screen with his persona.
Old Burt headed an unbelievably good cast that included Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, Donna Reed, Montgomery Clift and Ernest Borgnine, who between them provided me with almost 2 hours of pure escapism.
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A masterpiece. Beautifully directed, and acting beyond a level of superb. One of the best movies I have ever seen, I see why after 60 years its still a classic in the war, drama, and romance genres. One of the bet ensembles in a movie I have seen.
"Nobody ever lies about being lonely." - Robert E. Lee "Prew" Prewitt
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Zinnemann's wartime masterpiece is a sweeping, powerful romance that made history in 1953. The ensemble is terrific, and some of the images Zinnemann conveys are truly powerful even today.
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**Part of the Best Picture Project**
Sometimes the worst things a soldier has to face isn't the war but his own country preparing him for it.
From Here to Eternity is a fantastic drama filled with conflict not from the action of war (the film is set a short time before Pearl Harbor), but the heat between men who hate each other. It is seething with both dramatic irony, and powerful commentary on life within the military and its often harsh consequences.
It should be noted that From Here to Eternity deals with big mature themes that are almost unheard of in this era of Hollywood. A soldier falls in love with an army escort, an officer has an affair…
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Why It’s Essential — An Oscar favorite that was considered daring at the time and which features one of the most memorable sequences in American film.
Why You’ll Want to Skip It — If you’re a fan of melodrama — and the material would typically attract those fans — you’ll be disappointed. Director Fred Zinnemann sticks to a naturalistic approach when the story would benefit from a more feverish, over-the-top style. At the very least, it would go a long way in making it more fun.
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I don't know how that kiss-in-the-sand scene became so memorable, since they are not even the main couple in the movie. But hey, pop-culture works in a mysterious way. I can't say that I liked it, but I certainly wasn't bored.
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Out running your past.
Ensuring your future.
The re-enlistment blues.
Choices. Nothing but choices.