Mum's Monday: The Longest Day

Thursday the sixth of June marks the 75-year anniversary of D Day. Although this film cannot capture the whole day hour by hour, this 3 hour plus film can portray the essence of what happened throughout the day and the lead up.

The start of the film, the lead up to D Day is well done, the attention to detail is very good. In amongst the horrors of war and bad weather, it is nice to see the script include an amusing part. I think the soldier should be allowed to write home to his wife, even if the baby isn’t his and the reaction of the other soldier is fun to watch as well, it helps to make and adds to the light-heartedness of the scene.

However, much it is lovely to win all that money, sadly money cannot buy your safety in a war. Also in a war it high-lights you should be careful who you lend your boots to.

When the Padre loses something it is nice to see he gets help to find it, in amongst all the chaos. The padre’s processions are very important to him above everything else.

With the large building on fire it sadly, looks like using the equipment of the day they were fighting a losing battle in putting the fire out.

The boats and troops have arrived on the beaches, again the attention to detail is well done for its day. We have seen in films made in modern times like ‘Saving Private Ryan’ a more detailed approach. In this film ‘The Longest Day’ these scenes seem shorter but work for what is being portrayed and within the confines of film making of the day when this was made.

It is lovely to see the Nuns taking care of the wounded, they put themselves at risk but there is a job to be done.

Despite an injured ankle Lt. Col. Benjamin Vandervoort (John Wayne) has a job to do, as foolhardy as it seems it is ultimately nice to see some compassion when he arrives in a town to find casualties still where they landed after parachuting out of the D Day planes.

The end of this film sums up the whole day and the hope that no shots would be taken. An injured soldier Flying Officer David Campbell (Richard Burton) with his leg safety pinned together. A German soldier with his shoes on the wrong feet, and the hope a soldier who hasn’t fired his gun all day, showing some positive on ‘The Longest Day’ out of ‘Dead, Crippled and Lost’.