Guadalcanal Diary (1943)
Released just a year after the conflict it depicts and during World War 2 this propaganda film is based on the book of the same name by a journalist present on the island during the fighting. The plot focuses on the experience of a group of marines from enlisted men up to the captain and padre of the unit.
Given that this is a war time production you can expect a certain amount of pro war sentiment but the film is not over the top in this respect and remains a good snap shot of conditions at the time. What is very interesting is the attitudes of the time towards the Japanese enemy that at times is racist and would be sanitised from modern films about the Pacific theatre. While the characters included are not especially imaginative they manage to stay clear of being clichéd and the action sequences are well constructed thanks to the stock footage available at the time and hardware available.
While not revolutionary this is a solid genre entry 3/5.
No comments:
Post a Comment