Press ESC to close

[Hindsight] Brothers in Arms

The Second World War is a significant part of world history and, accordingly, culture. And it is extremely important to be able to convey to future generations how important this period was and what was happening at that time. At first, of course, this was reflected in literature, for example, we all remember very well “The Tale of a Real Man”, “And the Dawns Here Are Quiet” and “Vasily Terkin”. There are certainly more of them, but even the listed works are enough to understand the rather diverse approach. Then, of course, they started creating films and TV series. Mostly, of course, documentaries, but there were also plenty of artistic ones. They understood this not only here, but also abroad. And so, at the beginning of the 2000s, a 10-episode series “Band of Brothers” was released, filmed by American and British film industry workers.

If you look at it objectively, namely using the IMDB top, it turns out that we are now talking about the best series in history. His score is 9.5. Yes, some TV series also approached this mark, but apparently due to fewer votes, “Brothers” remain at the top. These are the mechanisms of operation of the top. And this series is absolutely deserved to be there. And I’ll try to explain why.

The first thing we gamblingsitesnotongamstop.co.uk/ see, including the series, is the HBO screensaver, and this, in my opinion, is a certain guarantor of quality, which has only strengthened its reputation in recent years. But, this is 2001, HBO is not so well known here, let alone the series.

The series tells us about the soldiers of the Easy Company of the 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States. It all begins in England, during the preparations for the Normandy landings, in which the 101st played a fairly important role. And the first episode doesn’t take off right off the bat. It introduces us to the characters, tells the story of how this company came to be, and reveals the conflict with the senior training officer.

And here I would like to stop and use this example to explain what is actually happening. Just by looking at any episode, you can understand the fairly clear and simple structure of the series. Each episode focuses on one specific character or several. But this does not mean that others disappear from view; on the contrary, they are always nearby. Today is just not their finest hour. Why do this? And in order to be able to show the war differently in each episode. And the series copes with this. It is difficult to name two absolutely identical series. In one episode we watch an officer who has to cope with the hell that is happening during the landing (formally, he is the main character of the series), in another we watch a soldier suffering from a disease that really prevents him from fighting, in another we watch a company medic who has to survive with his company in the forests of Bastogne with minimal supplies, respectively, including medical. I can continue the list for quite a long time, but the meaning is already clear. The series focuses on several characters in each episode and through them reveals some kind of military problem: the role of an officer, the work of doctors, returning to duty after injury and much more. That’s why the series is interesting to watch, it constantly gives you something new, you always get a new experience.
Moreover, all this abundance of characters and plots fits into ten one-hour episodes, which is quite short by modern standards, compared even with the flagships of the same HBO. Truly, brevity is the sister of talent. There are simply no weak, passable episodes in the series. You will remember each one of them, one way or another.

Last but not least, the actors will help. The cast doesn’t feature any very well-known names. I bet you are unlikely to remember any of their other works. But if you are a fan of some of the actors from the series, then congratulations, you have good taste. Acting at a good level. The actors behave like soldiers, you believe them. They do not have any hypertrophied reactions. They can laugh when the situation allows them (although it would seem that there is war all around), they are surprised just as much as the situation justifies (Episode 9, which takes place in Germany, is especially indicative in this regard), they are tense in battle, they change over the course of the series. That is, in the first episodes we sometimes see tough individualists, but gradually before our eyes they turn into a team that acts and even thinks together. We don’t see Uncle Sam’s conventional super-soldiers and democratizers of everything and everyone, we see ordinary people. And it’s captivating.

It is interesting to notice in the episodes actors who were not particularly famous in 2001, but they are famous now. For example, Simon Pegg, James McAvoy, Michael Fasbenderra or Tom Hardy. Said very offhand and approximately in the order in which they appeared on the screen. They don’t do anything particularly important, just episodes, but a nice little thing for the modern viewer.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *