The green devils

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Movie
German title The green devils
Original title The Green Berets
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1968
length 141 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Ray Kellogg , John Wayne
script James Lee Barrett , Robin Moore
production Michael Wayne
music Miklós Rózsa
camera Winton C. High
cut Otho Lovering
occupation

The Green Devils is an American war film with propaganda tendencies by director Ray Kellogg from 1968. The main characters were John Wayne , George Takei , David Janssen , Jim Hutton and Aldo Ray . Wayne also directed. The film music was written by Miklós Rózsa . The film came out at the height of the Vietnam War . Wayne repelled the anti-Vietnam campaigns and demonstrations of the time, so he wanted to put a film against it. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Robin Moore , which was published in German translation in 1965.

action

The story took the real events of the Battle of Nam Dong as a model, in which a small unit of Special Forces (Green Berets) prevailed against the vastly outnumbered enemy. The main plot of the film is fictional.

After completing his training at the John F. Kennedy School for Special Warfare in Fort Bragg, Colonel Mike Kirby is transferred to Danang in Vietnam and is supposed to take up guerrilla activities against the Viet Cong . The unit is accompanied by war correspondent George Beckworth, who is critical of the war.

Kirby is confronted with the suspicion of having a traitor among his people with whom he is trying to set up a command post behind the lines of the enemy.

Comparison with other John Wayne films

The heroic narrative that made the western films by John Wayne successful seems to be repeated here against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, with the role of the Indians in the westerns now being taken over by the Viet Cong and the hero remaining above criticism.

The Vietnam War in the film

The film justifies America's intervention in Vietnam by what it calls "a global crusade against communist domination of the world."

The Green Devil can be interpreted as very patriotic, if not nationalist, advocating the Vietnam War . The film came out the year the conflict was at its height and the unexpected Tet offensive by the Viet Cong guerrillas resulted in great losses and a sizeable propaganda defeat for the Americans. The shooting time coincided with a time of growing protests against the war, with the aim of defending the war against these protests.

At the time, The Green Devils was the only Hollywood film that openly supported the Vietnam War. It stands in contrast to later anti-war films such as Born on July 4th , Apocalypse Now , Platoon , Full Metal Jacket and Back from Hell .

Reviews and Criticism

The propaganda intent of the film was not overlooked.

In the VideoWoche one read: Western hero John Wayne made this controversial propaganda film for the American troops in 1967 and mixed episodes from the Vietnam War in Western style. The final sunset on the eastern horizon became famous in its pure orange. Some of the Vietnamese villages that were recreated for the film were so realistic that they were left intact and were later actually used by US soldiers during exercises.

TV Spielfilm chose the words: The action is right, but the attitude is not: With this patriotic war spectacle, John Wayne finally came out as a political right-wing winger.

“All in all, the only thing that is interesting about the film, if it is worth talking about at all, is the openness with which a truly paleontological a priori morality is propagated here. The Americans are intelligent and always ready to help ... The enemy is devilishly cunning and does not even hesitate to disguise themselves in the uniforms of the other side. "

- Jaques Demeure, positive

Die Zeit , No. 36, of September 6, 1968:

... A disgusting document of American self-righteousness: John Wayne stages himself in the midst of noble rangers who fondle Vietnamese children and grudgingly but resolutely tidying up among the insidious Charlies, who in this film seem to be out to be the children of the To slash sympathetic Vietnamese.

Der Spiegel , No. 36 of September 16, 1968:

After three days of running, "The Green Devils" were canceled in the Mathäser Kino in Munich and after seven days in the Frankfurt Turm-Palast due to protests and actions by the Apo - despite the good cash register. The Ufa-Palast in Cologne postponed the premiere until further notice "to wait and see how things develop. In Hamburg, however, protests in front of the City Cinema were unsuccessful. On Monday of last week, the" German Peace Society - International of War Service Opponents "turned on to the Federal Minister of the Interior and called for the ban on the film, which "unequivocally calls for racial hatred and genocide ." "The Green Devils" are currently being shown in 16 cinemas in Germany. In West Berlin, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Continental Films Inc. . temporarily not used.

“One-sided US war propaganda film from the war in Vietnam. Manly and death-defying heroes successfully fight a faceless, brutal enemy. Ingredients: soldier joke and sentimentality. An inedible mixture, as a film without a recommendation. We are absolutely negative about politics. "

- Protestant film observer

The critic Roger Ebert , who called The Green Devils a propaganda film , gave the film zero out of four stars. In The New York Times wrote Renata Adler , the film is not only evil and sick, but in addition also boring. " Oliver Stone said later that his film Platoon also a response to the Green Berets had been.

Awards

Leading actor John Wayne took third place at the 1968 Laurel Awards for his portrayal . The film itself landed in fourth place.

Others

The theme song The Ballad of the Green Berets by Robin Moore was in the interpretation of Sgt.Barry Sadler in 1965 at number 1 in the charts for five weeks. With a German text, singer and actor Freddy Quinn and singer and actress Heidi Brühl had success with a cover version entitled Hundert Mann und ein Command .

Originally, some scenes were planned to show Kirby (Wayne) with his wife, played by Vera Miles. These scenes were also shot, but not used in the final version of the film.

See also

literature

  • Mark Ricci, Boris Zmijewsky, Steve Zmijewsky, Joe Hembus (Eds.): John Wayne and his films . 3. Edition. Goldmann, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-442-10202-2 .
  • Lawrence H. Suid: Guts & Glory. The making of the American military image in film , Lexington, KY (University of Kentucky Press) 2002, pp. 247-256. ISBN 0-8131-2225-2

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ prisma.de
  2. ↑ (ARD documentary about John Wayne)
  3. ↑ Joe Hembus (Ed.): John Wayne and his films . Goldmann, Munich 1979, ISBN 3-442-10202-2 , p. 242.
  4. ↑ Evangelical Press Association Munich, Review No. 420/1968
  5. ↑ The Green Berets - Roger Ebert's Review at rogerebert.com
  6. ↑ Renata Adler: Screen: 'Green Berets' as Viewed by John Wayne: War Movie Arrives at the Warner Theater . In: The New York Times , June 20, 1968. 
  7. ↑ Stone, Oliver. (2001). Platoon DVD commentary  [DVD]. MGM home entertainment.
  8. ↑ The great John Wayne DVD Collection, DeAgostini, Volume 4, p. 6