The Heroes of Telemark (1965)

During my holiday we stayed at a house very close to the town of Rjukan. It’s a very small town, but during the second world war it was very important. The town had a power station and the nazis took over the plant to produce heavy water. The allies feared that this heavy water would be used to create a nuclear bomb and decided to make sure they were not able to. The powerstation is still there and we payed it a visit. It is now a museum and tells in detail about the history of the town and what happened during the second world war. The events that took place were the inspiration for the Heroes of Telemark. When I saw that this movie was sold there and was also told it was shot on location I just had to get it. Continue reading

Paths of Glory (1957)

France, the first world war. Both the Germans and the French have dug themselves trenches and are in fierce fights to conquer just a few metres. With so little changing it’s bound to be a long trench war. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) of the French army receive order from his superiors to attack the “Ant Hill” and take it. Although Dax makes it clear that it is a suicide mission as more than half the soldiers will be killed before they are even near their target, his concerns are noted, but the attack still has to take place. Continue reading