Hornets nest, 1970
Publicerat av lucas4you den juni 21, 2009
How about a review of a US Hollywood production? Well, this flick from 1970 represents an era in which there were a little more freedom in the American film industry. A film like ”Hornets nest” would never have been produced in the US today, but could well have been so in for example Italy or Spain. It´s a pity that the best films produced in the US today concerning anything about the genre of coming of age are films like for example ”Dog days of summer”, ”Hotel for dogs” and similar rather lame productions. I know that there are exceptions, but they are few. The story of the film takes place in Italy during the WWII. An American parachute soldier (Rock Hudson) is shoot down by the German troops and rescued by a group of orphaned boys (and one girl) of about 11-13 years old, and taken to their isolated camp in the forest. During the following night they force a female doctor (Sylva Koscina) to go to the camp and help the soldier. After he recovers he gets on with his mission to blow up a dam, thus intending to flood the German military base located downstreams. However this task isn´t so easy to accomplish without involving the kids in the operation, something the doctor is strongly against. Underneath the main story there is the psychological drama of the orphaned children having to have witnessed the shooting of their parents in the beginning of the film. This use of multiple layers in the story, makes it deeper than many US films, that many times have difficulties in getting a single thread going. The children in the film are beautifully acted by very talented boys.
Photo: *****(excellent)
Acting: ****(very good)
Story: ****(very good)
Soundtrack: **(below average)
Total: ****(very good)
The boys:
Aldo (Mark Colleano)
Carlo (Mauro Gravina)
Dino (John Fordyce)
Franco (Giuseppe Cassuto)
Tonio (Amedeo Castracane)
Romeo (Giancarlo Colombaioni)
Mikko (Ronald Colombaioni)
Arturo (Valerio Colombaioni)
Rico (Giuseppe Coppola)
Paolo (Luigi Criscuolo)
This review would not have been possible without the valuable support of CVMC. I would like to thank them for supporting my blog by providing the DVD of “Hornets nest” .
Check out lots of other coming of age films at cvmc.net, the oldest movie rental service on the internet – since 1998. Specializing in hard to find & rare films from around the world!
skykid sade
Not all Hollywood productions are bad – just most . But for a film made some time ago like Hornets nest I guess the general ” idea ” of a ”Hollywood film ” is not really applicable. I noticed that you rated really low the movie soundtrack – is it really that bad ? Its an interesting thing – most actors in this film seem to have Italian families . The plot remarkably reminds me of another film – but can`t recall it name atm – it had a Japanese soldier who was wounded and a group of youngsters was helping him out…
Hector sade
It is interesting to ponder why American film has degenerated into predictable feel-good stories. I think it has to do with religion and the new strength of the Christian right. It protests any film that is not in accordance with its idiosyncratic fascist values.
In any case, this film seems adorable. I note Rock Hudson’s presence with particular interest. The photage is impressive.