This Land Of Mine DVD (1943)

This Land Of Mine details

Format:	PG DVD
Starring:	Charles Laughton, Philip Merivale, Una O'Connor, Walter Slezak, Nancy Gates, George Coulouris, George Sanders, John Donat, Thurston Hall, Ivan F. Simpson, Kent Smith, Maureen O'Hara
Director:	Jean Renoir
Genre:	Drama
Studio:	ORBIT MEDIA
Original title	This Land is Mine

DVD 1 disc

Name	Discs
This Land Of Mine	PG Feature

DVD Information

Run time:	1 hour 36 minutes
Rental release:	02 Jul 2007
Main languages:	English

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Most helpful review This Land Of Mine

Black and White (but not)

By a customer from London, UK , 17 Aug 2007

[Highly rated reviewer]

Anything with Charles Laughton is always worth watching, and this is no exception.

A remarkable film! Considering it was made in 1943, while the war was still raging, it does not descend into pure stereotype. Of course it has its mainline propaganda message (keep up the 'good fight' against tyranny - also try to forgive all the signs written in English in occupied France, including the 'buy war bonds' poster), but it touches on many issues of France's occupation with a surprisingly broad minded view for its time. Despite the German commandant's very dodgy prosthetic hand, the occupiers are portrayed as a bit more than just 'nasty nazis'. The French are given a little human understanding for their reasons for co-operation (although we see that valliant sacrifice is the better moral route to take in the end).

Reccommend viewing in conjunction with Marcel Ophuls 'The Sorrow and The Pity' for factual historic context.
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Laughton Classic

By OscarFreak (423 reviews) from London , 18 Jan 2013

This film is worth a rental for the performance of Charles Laughton, but I do wonder for which audience the film was made, the local US or the rest of the world?
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courage

By duke51 (142 reviews) from Peterlee , 29 Mar 2008

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide

This film is about courage not the courage of soldiers running up a hill or taking a pill box but of ordinary people living under Nazi occupation.The story involves the local school who are dictated by the Nazis as to what subjects they can teach,A cowardly teacher played by Charles Laughton who lives with his aged mother just goes along with it.An act of sabotage by the local resistance brings heat on everyone, and one of the locals grasses up a resistance leader.Laughton is blamed for killing the traitor in court he stands up and finds courage to speak about freedom and standing up to tyranny.What I liked about this dvd was the acting of Laughton truly a great actor of a long time ago, giving a real emotional speak at the end of the film.This a dvd for older veiwers please rent as its a dvd to think along with while you watch.
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A non-canonical Renoir war film

By rpere008 (20 reviews) from Bangor , 27 Oct 2007

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS Show review anywayHide

Non-canonical maybe, but you will not fail to recognize some vintage renoir in some scenes, e.g. the opening scene or the chase in the rooftops, which is lifted off its more famous predecessor, 'La grande illusion'.

The good: the central theme is unusual for a war propaganda film. Collaboration vs. resistance. No heroes or villains, just regular people trying to survive a truly awful situation. Anybody who berates the French for surrendering should see this little eye-opener.

The bad: The female characters are particularly two-dimensional, but at least the teacher played by Charles Laughton gets some character development. The German kommandant played by Walter Slezak is definitely in schizophrenic mode, turning from Tacitus to cold blooded murderer to Shakespeare buff. Makes him more interesting than, say, the Nazis in the Indiana Jones films.

The ugly: What was with the girlfriend of the railyard worker played by George Sanders? Goes from loving to hating the guy without transition. I think someone dropped that side story on the floor of the editing room and forgot to pick it up.

It's worth seeing only for the two final speeches on freedom and sacrifice. Uplifting material which, for better or for worse, is still relevant to the times we live in. If you are looking for a film that makes you think, rent this one.
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Black and White (but not)

By a customer from London, UK , 17 Aug 2007

[Highly rated reviewer]

Anything with Charles Laughton is always worth watching, and this is no exception.

A remarkable film! Considering it was made in 1943, while the war was still raging, it does not descend into pure stereotype. Of course it has its mainline propaganda message (keep up the 'good fight' against tyranny - also try to forgive all the signs written in English in occupied France, including the 'buy war bonds' poster), but it touches on many issues of France's occupation with a surprisingly broad minded view for its time. Despite the German commandant's very dodgy prosthetic hand, the occupiers are portrayed as a bit more than just 'nasty nazis'. The French are given a little human understanding for their reasons for co-operation (although we see that valliant sacrifice is the better moral route to take in the end).

Reccommend viewing in conjunction with Marcel Ophuls 'The Sorrow and The Pity' for factual historic context.
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