I’ve never been a great student of military history. In fact, if you asked me to explain who was fighting whom in World War I, I would inevitably get it wrong. I just looked at the Wikipedia page to get my bearings, and after the second paragraph, my brain just begins to fog up. 
I thought Franz Ferdinand was a great name for a band, but who knew? On the other hand, a good story – one with real personal or societal stakes – will captivate me every time. But the logistics of international massacre (when this particular offensive took place, how this front moved, which strategies were successful, etc. etc.) just doesn’t interest me. In other words, I would have been an ideal candidate for an undersecretary position in the Bush White House.
For the militarily disinclined (as well as the enthusiast), the story compiled and told by Bruce Bendinger and John Iltis (who were at the Siskel Film Center tonight for the second of two screenings of the film) is truly captivating. There is an aspect of World War I the Russians have tried to erase for the history books, apparently: that the Czechs and Slovak P.O.W.s in World War I switched sides and became a formidable military force for the Allies in exchange for the establishment of their own country, should the allied forces prevail. With a strong American (and Chicago) connection, employing the talents of unlikely leaders and an uncannily skilled group of soldiers, the Czechoslovak Legion prevailed under conditions that seem too impossible to be true. In the space of 47 minutes, Bendinger’s warm narration, along with the Ken Burns-like exposition of a marvelous collection of photographs, provides a history lesson that feels more like wishfully told entertainment. While the film suffered slightly for assuming a base knowledge of the War that I did not possess, anyone who has the chance to see this film will be amazed by the human drama that faced those responsible for the formative development of Czechoslovakia. While I hope screenings will continued around Chicago and the rest of the country, DVDs of the film can be purchased at the film’s website.
Here are this morning’s Oscar-nominated films, alphabetically. The nominees for foreign language film and documentary feature are compiled at the end of the list. (Short format nominees are listed in a 
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet... Leave one in the space below.
Leave a Comment