A BRIDGE TOO FAR Movie Review

1977 Richard Attenborough

Despite its reputation as the last of the dinosaurs, Richard Attenborough's epic examination of a military disaster is really a fine film. It's long, accurate, filled with sterling performances, long, demanding and, well … long. For anyone who appreciates the subject—a major European battle little known in America—the length is just fine; for anyone expecting conventional flagwaving, the film is an unwatchable bore.

In the fall of 1944, the Allied advance across Western Europe is progressing more swiftly than anyone had predicted. Competition is keen between Gen. Eisenhower's top commanders, Gen. Montgomery and Gen. Patton, to lead the attack into Germany. Montgomery comes up with a daring idea to leapfrog ahead through Holland, “Operation Market Garden.” As Lt. Gen. Browning (Dirk Bogarde) explains it, “Actually, the plan is really very simple. We're going to take 35,000 men 300 miles and drop them behind enemy lines.” American and Polish paratroopers are to take three strategic bridges while British armored units punch through the German lines and race up a road to solidify their hold on the bridges, thereby opening a way straight into Germany.

Everyone believes that the Germans have their best troops on the front, leaving the bridges lightly defended by teenagers and old men. An intelligence officer, Maj. Fuller (Frank Grimes) has contradictory information and photographs of tanks in the region, but his ideas are dismissed. Instead, Market Garden proceeds and begins with an impressive display of military organization as planes, gliders, and parachutes fill the skies and tanks line the road as far as the eye can see. Then, piece by piece, the plan slowly disintegrates.

The main players are Lt. Col. Frost (Anthony Hopkins), whose men actually manage to take one end of the bridge at Arnhem; Maj. Gen. Urquhart (Sean Connery), who lands in a glider and finds that he and his men cannot communicate with their base; Sgt. Dohun (James Caan), who refuses to believe that his Captain (Nicholas Campbell) is dead; Maj. Cook (Robert Redford), who leads an impromptu amphibious assault; and Col. Stout (Elliott Gould), who has to replace a bridge for Lt. Col. Vandeleur's (Michael Caine) tanks. On the other side, Field Marshal Model (Walter Kohut) and Lt. Gen. Bittrich (Maximilian Schell) don't believe what's happening, even when they stumble across the plans. Caught between the two forces is Dr. Spaander (Laurence Olivier) who turns Kate Ter Horst's (Liv Ullman) house into a hospital.

The sheer scope of the story, with key elements occurring in three different locations, leads to a curious structure. For example, Maj. Cook is first shown, asleep, at the beginning, but he doesn't reappear for two full hours. Even then, despite Redford's star billing, his heroics are brief. The central character turns out to be Col. Frost. Anthony Hopkins's performance has an effortless, off-hand believability that somehow stands out from the rest of the ensemble.

Director Attenborough handles the loud, flashy, explosive side of things with the right amount of excitement, but neither he nor writer William Goldman mean to glorify this mess. Important parts of the film are about large numbers of men and pieces of equipment standing around and waiting, and that, doubtless, is much more realistic than most Hollywood interpretations of combat. Finally, in the last hour of the film, when the dimensions of the debacle settle in, they are careful to focus in on the human costs. The final shot is a beautifully composed moment of sadness.

Cast: Sean Connery (Maj. Gen. Urquhart), Robert Redford (Maj. Cook), James Caan (Sgt. Dohun), Michael Caine (Lt. Col. Vandeleur), Elliott Gould (Col. Stout), Gene Hackman (Maj. Gen. Sosabowski), Laurence Olivier (Dr. Spaander), Ryan O'Neal (Brig. Gen. Gavin), Liv Ullmann (Kate Ter Horst), Dirk Bogarde (Lt. Gen. Browning), Hardy Kruger (Gen. Ludwig), Arthur Hill (Colonel), Edward Fox (Lt. Gen. Horrocks), Anthony Hopkins (Lt. Col. Frost), Maximilian Schell (Lt. Gen. Bittrich), Denholm Elliott (Met. Officer), Wolfgang Preiss (Field Marshal von Rundstedt), Nicholas Campbell (Capt. Glass), Christopher Good (Maj. Carlyle), John Ratzenberger (U.S. Lieutenant), Frank Grimes (Maj. Fuller), Walter Kohut (Field Marshal Model); Written by: William Goldman; Cinematography by: Geoffrey Unsworth; Music by: John Addison; Technical Advisor: J.D. Frost, James M. Gavin, Frank A. Gregg, Brian Horrocks, Col. John Waddy. Producer: United Artists, Joseph E. Levine, Richard P. Levine. British. Awards: British Academy Awards ‘77: Best Supporting Actor (Fox); National Society of Film Critics Awards ‘77: Best Supporting Actor (Fox). MPAA Rating: PG. Running Time: 175 minutes. Format: VHS, Beta, LV, Letterbox, Closed Caption, DVD.