Archive of films Big Red One: The Reconstruction / The Big Red One: The Reconstruction
USA
2004, 159 min
Section:
Tribute to Samuel Fuller
Year: 2011
In his legendary autobiographical war drama assembled from vignettes, Fuller introduces a 1st Infantry Division sergeant (Lee Marvin) who leads four young men on an odyssey across North Africa, Sicily, infamous Omaha Beach, and on to Czechoslovakia. Although severely edited for its original release, the picture was reconstructed in 2004.
Synopsis
One of the activities planned for this year’s KVIFF will take place in the town of Sokolov: a commemorative ceremony dedicated to Sam Fuller, veteran of the American army’s 1st Infantry Division. Fuller’s advance during the Second World War came to a climax in Czechoslovakia’s Sokolov region (once bearing the German name Falkenau), and it would be more than 30 years before he realized the film version of the horrific events he lived through in the first week of May 1945. The Big Red One, one of the most celebrated war films of the 20th century, was drastically cut at the time of its creation, and unfortunately Fuller didn’t live to see its well-deserved reconstruction in 2004. An assemblage of vignettes, Fuller’s work exposes the absurdity of war and resoundingly rejects the myth of heroism at any price. Lee Marvin portrays a sergeant of the 1st Infantry Division (the red numeral on the division’s shoulder patch lent the film its title) who leads the four young men entrusted to him on an odyssey across North Africa, Sicily, infamous Omaha Beach, and on to Czechoslovakia. Although the geographic sweep signals an epic blockbuster, Fuller constructed his story on precisely drawn characters and their reactions to events that would cause many a man to lose his mind.
Contacts
Hollywood Classics
Suite 31, Beaufort Court, Admirals Way, E14 9XL, London
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 517 7525
E-mail: [email protected]
www: www.hollywoodclassics.com
About the film
Color, 35 mm
Section: | Tribute to Samuel Fuller |
---|---|
Director: | Samuel Fuller |
Screenplay: | Samuel Fuller |
Dir. of Photography: | Adam Greenberg |
Music: | Dana Kaproff |
Editor: | Bryan McKenzie, Morton Tubor |
Producer: | Richard Schickel |
Production: | Lorac Productions |
Cast: | Lee Marvin, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Stéphane Audran |
Contact: | Hollywood Classics |