The Battle Of The River Plate
[DVD]

Description

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION The Battle Of The River Plate tells of the pursuit of a German battleship in one of the most gripping episodes of the Second World War. November 1939, ten days before the start of World War II, Graf Spee--a famed German warship captained by Hans Langsdorff (Peter Finch)--wages a brutal attack on Allied merchant shipping vessels in the South Atlantic. After the last defeated Allied craft manages to radio its coordinates moments before sinking, British naval forces begin playing a cat-and-mouse game with the feared German warship, leading to Langsdorff and his crew's forced hide-out in Montevideo. Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, the film is notable for its amazing sea battles--made possible by, among others, the co-operation of the Admiralty, The Royal Navy and The US Navy--and for its non-stereotypical depiction of characters on both sides of the war. AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW Something of a swan song for the legendary Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger partnership, 1956's The Battle of the River Plate is their penultimate film together (the following year's Ill Met By Moonlight was the last). Shot in a semi-documentary style that stands apart from the "magical realism" of much of their previous work--Canterbury Tales, A Matter of Life and Death, The Red Shoes--the film tells the story of the pursuit of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee by three British cruisers off the River Plate in Uruguay during November 1939. Incorporating actual wartime footage adds to the authentic air, albeit one that sits uneasily with the obviously studio-bound look of the rest. Among the solid cast Peter Finch stands out as the beleaguered Captain Langsdorff of the Graf Spee, while John Gregson is his counterpart, the stalwart British hero type. Things get a bit odd when Christopher Lee pops up in the unlikely role of a Latin-American nightclub boss. It's an atypical Powell and Pressburger picture and not exactly their best, but still a fine World War II picture that documents an important incident in the opening salvos of the war. --Mark Walker

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