Murphy's War (DVD)

...the Orinoco River in Venezuela, Murphy's War is a 1971 film starring Peter O'Toole as Irishman Murphy, the only survivor of a German U-Boat attack on a merchant ship. It is set towards the end of World War 2.

Murphy is rescued by Louis Brezon (Philippe Noiret) and attended to by the lovely Dr Hayden (Sian Phillips), a Quaker who opposes the war and is working in a mission. Revenge is on Murphy's mind, and when he discovers an old abandoned ...
...U-Boat, and plans ways to destroy it, revenging the rest of his crew.

I find that war films either hit or miss, and it generally depends on the plot and how it is attacked. A good war film will have a lot of tension, I find, and this film, for me, was too much like going through the motions, like a routine. It is given a little less credence by the lack of tension exuded from the characters when the captain of the U-Boat comes ashore. ... more

Filmed in and around the stunning setting of the Orinoco River in Venezuela, Murphy's War is a 1971 film starring Peter O'Toole as Irishman Murphy, the only survivor of a German U-Boat attack on a merchant ship. It is set towards the end of World War 2.

Murphy is rescued by Louis Brezon (Philippe Noiret) and attended to by the lovely Dr Hayden (Sian Phillips), a Quaker who opposes the war and is working in a mission. Revenge is on Murphy's mind, and when he discovers an old abandoned seaplane, he sets about finding the whereabouts of the nearby U-Boat, and plans ways to destroy it, revenging the rest of his crew.

I find that war films either hit or miss, and it generally depends on the plot and how it is attacked. A good war film will have a lot of tension, I find, and this film, for me, was too much like going through the motions, like a routine. It is given a little less credence by the lack of tension exuded from the characters when the captain of the U-Boat comes ashore. I would have expected a bit more anticipation to build up. Instead, I was rather nonplussed by the episode.

Indeed, that is rather how I felt throughout the film. The overall aspect, and the way the plot itself was developed, was decent enough, but I felt that its essence from the beginning wasn't attacked with as much gusto by director Peter Yates as it could have been. The setting is beautiful - there is no denying that, and the acting is okay, too. Peter O'Toole is a fine actor, and indeed, in this he is very good, save one thing: the accent. His Irish accent is sloppy at times, and the ebb back into the more familiar and traditional English that we are used to from him comes through from time to time, and didn't convince me in the slightest.

The support cast is small, and rather ineffective, despite some decent acting. I rather think it was the attempt to capture an artistic feel to the visuals of the film, coupled with a weak attempt at dramatics that stopped it in its tracks. There are some good scenes wth the seaplane, particularly when Murphy is first trying to get it flying and then when he is teaching himself how to fly it. There are a few narrow misses, and here the tension does build up, working well with the stunning setting to produce some slow and tense scenes which are a nice break from a rather lacklustre general presentation.

I found it hard to get into this film. The final scenes do pick up, but it was too little, too late, for me. I can possibly appreciate how others would really enjoy its artistic and stunning setting, but the plot and the way the cast were handled in terms of timing throughout the film were disappointing aspects that prevented me from completely relaxing to enjoy the film. I don't think I'll be watching this one again. The DVD I have is one that came free with a newspaper, and contains no extras. 

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