Charming and brutal

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

As an alternative in the WWII POW genre, 'The Good War' ('TGW,' 2004)' provides a unique perspective on an Axis POW camp in the US (Texas). Shot in Bulgaria and Utah, 'TGW' likely will not win the hearts/minds of lovers of the genre; however, based on a true story, it provides an engaging, if not interesting, perspective that has been somewhat overlooked. Recommended mostly for the die-hard fans of the POW genre and the curious WWII genre viewer. For similar themes consider: 'The Mckenzie Break' (1970); 'Stalag 17' (1953); 'The Incident' (1990); 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' (1957); 'The Colditz Story' (1957); 'Escape To Athena' (1979); & 'The Great Escape' (1963). Also consider: 'A Man Escaped' (1957); 'So weit die Fusse tragen' (TV 1959); 'Paradise Road' (1997); 'What Did You Do During the War Daddy' (1966); 'Prisoner of War' (1954); 'Empire of the Sun' (1987); 'Blood Oath' (or 'Prisoners of the Sun', 1990); 'King Rat' (1965); 'Hart's War' (2002); 'Ivan, Marie og verdenshistorien' (1992); 'Victory' (1981); 'Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence' (1983); 'POW' (TV, 2003); 'As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me' (2003); 'The Secret of Blood Island' (1964); 'The Great Raid' (2005); & 'Von Ryan's Express' (1965).

Had some great dialog on propaganda vs truth. Is not the distribution of holocaust photos during WWII similar to right to life efforts today? Endng seemed depressing but probably representative of the futility of war. Raises good ethical questions about humane limits of persuasion. US prison camps did a lot better than German concentration camps but still had some abuses. A particular scene where a prisoner feigned illness but was treated anyway probably would have never happened in a German concentration camp. Amazing how much propaganda was fed to (and believed by) the German and Italian armies. The setting in TX was very realistic as I can verify from my time stationed in San Antonio when I was in the military. A "must see" movie.