Monday, August 13, 2012

A tale of two movies

Objective, Burma! (1945)

It was about... How the USA drove Japan from Burma during World War 2.

Except... The USA had very little to do with the real life events, it was a British operation.

The reaction was... Outrage in British newspapers and censure from PM Winston Churchill.

Therefore, ultimately... The film was pulled from theaters in the UK. When it did return to the UK, it came packaged with a apologetic opening message. It was nominated for 3 Academy Awards, but didn't win any. Decades later it found a new life on VHS & DVD.

U-571 (2000)

It was about... How the USA captured an Enigma machine from a German submarine during World War 2.

Except... The USA had nothing to do with the real life events, it was a British operation.

The reaction was... Outrage in international newspapers and censure from PM Tony Blair.

Therefore, ultimately... The film remained in theaters with a post-script disclaimer explaining the truth about the events. It was nominated for 2 Academy Awards and won one; it also won a BMI award, among many other nominations. It quickly found a new life on the soon-obsolete VHS, then DVD, then the quickly-abandoned HD-DVD and now Blu-Ray.

I think in about 45 years we can expect a film about how the USA won the Battle of Britain. I imagine with the right disclaimer, it could sweep the Oscars!

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