Les Ponts de Toko-Ri

At the very beginning of the film, there is a lengthy and extremely obsequious thank you to the United States armed forces for their comprehensive help in the production of the film. The film is set in the period after the McCarthy purges, when frightened heads of major studios tried to curry favor with the American government and demonstrate maximum loyalty to the system. Accordingly, this Cold War film looks like that too. The assistance of the Pentagon is actually the reason why the film is still usable to some extent, thanks to its beautiful shots of naval fleets, aircraft carriers, and combat aircraft in action. It is simply a spectacle for military technology enthusiasts, and it must be acknowledged that the technical quality was extraordinary for that time. On the other hand, the 70% of people who have praised Mark Robson's film to this day can only be justified by the high representation of gullible and pro-USA fans of this film. It is naturally soaked in patriotism with naive dialogues and is, overall, noticeably propagandistic. However, the film is interesting from another perspective: it is evidently intended for the middle-aged and older generation, for those old men who pay taxes and the film nods at them, implying that they are going in the right direction. The 1950s were the last time when a visit to the movie theater was still entertainment for more settled age groups. Then, television became dominant for these age categories, in the overwhelming majority. Therefore, the characters with carefully slicked-back hair, decent vocabulary, and older age correspond to that. 15-20 years later, propagandistic films were much more action-packed and, in a way, even more foolish because they were made for teenagers. Overall impression: 35%. (02/07/2010)