Sieben gegen die Hölle (1961)

Sieben gegen die Hölle: Directed by Leslie Norman. With Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris, Ronald Fraser. In 1942, a group of British soldiers is sent on a mission in the Malaysian jungle and gets lost into the Japanese controlled zone.

“u0026quot;The Long and the Short and the Tallu0026quot; is a 1961 war drama by director Leslie Norman. Dated and plodding, the film watches as a platoon of British soldiers apprehend a Japanese scout during WW2u0026#39;s Malayan Campaign. The platoon then wrestle over questions of ethics. Some soldiers abuse the prisoner, some want him executed, whilst others rush to his defence. Laurence Harvey, who plays a gruff private, becomes the platoonu0026#39;s voice of conscience.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026quot;Longu0026quot; was once renowned for its foul language and gritty tone, but such things are passé today. The filmu0026#39;s u0026quot;do unto others as youu0026#39;d have them do unto youu0026quot; plot ends with a handful of British soldiers captured by the Japanesese, a u0026quot;shockingu0026quot; twist which is meant to jolt us into contemplation. This, unfortunately, has little to do with contemporary warfare. Today the shoe is never on the other foot, and itu0026#39;s no longer an issue of populaces failing to u0026quot;empathise with the enemyu0026quot;, but rather, something far more toxic; the ability of men to rationalise war as something just, necessary and humane, the apathy of populaces, the designed distortion of history and the ability of leaders to remain at a state of perpetual war yet hide such conflicts from prying eyes. The philosophical questions u0026quot;Longu0026quot; poses have little bearing upon either modern warfare or WW2 itself. The film costars Richard Harris.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e4/10 – Slow and unconvincing. See u0026quot;The Burmese Harpu0026quot;.”