MovieChat Forums > Saints and Soldiers (2005) Discussion > Instead of discussing details perhaps tr...

Instead of discussing details perhaps try to get historical facts

posted 10 years ago by jvdesuit1
3 replies | jump to latest

What is the point of making such a movie?

The point is to have people remember some of the events that took place at the end of the war and that other simultaneous events like D-day may have occulted.

The Massacre of Malmedy is one of them not forgotten for sure by those whose relatives were the victims of such an atrocity and not forgotten by the inhabitants who were at a few kms of the place where this horror took place. In the USA and probably in most of the European countries today this is forgotten. Ouradour sur Glane in the memory of my compatriots is always vivid that's for sure. But although I'm very interested in history in general and have had part of my family murdered in Budapest at the end of the war, I did not know of this event.

I went to read about it on Wikipedia and discovered the participation in this horror of the 6th SS Panzer Army, commanded by General Sepp Dietrich.This sinister "gentleman" participated in the murder of Hitler's political opponents during the Night of the Long Knives. The massacre of Malmedy was committed on December 17, 1944, by members of Kampfgruppe Peiper (part of the 1st SS Panzer Division)which was one of the units of the 6th Panzer army: we have a say in french: "Qui se ressemble s'assemble" ie "Birds of a feather flock together"!

There has been at the end of the war a trial which had huge publicity and was the set up of the real beginning of the scandals of McCarthy's behaviors which lead to the famous communists chases later on. It is certain that the way the trials were done threw a very bad impression on US judges and US justice system as a whole. The so called international court consisted of only US judges for example. There were rumors and testimonials founded or not of pressures done on the convicts. All these events are obliterated in the movie.

This is the negative aspect of the movie which in a makes the subject treated as a banal event in WWII although it should not have been. This is what should be the principal point to be discussed here and nothing else. All the rest is marginal details.

[–] BuddyLove63 10 years ago

What is the point of making such a movie?

The point is to have people remember some of the events that took place at the end of the war and that other simultaneous events like D-day may have occulted.

The Massacre of Malmedy is one of them not forgotten for sure by those whose relatives were the victims of such an atrocity and not forgotten by the inhabitants who were at a few kms of the place where this horror took place. In the USA and probably in most of the European countries today this is forgotten. Ouradour sur Glane in the memory of my compatriots is always vivid that's for sure. But although I'm very interested in history in general and have had part of my family murdered in Budapest at the end of the war, I did not know of this event.

I think the Malmedy Massacre is quite well remembered and it always comes up in documentaries on the Battle of The Bulge. It was even depicted in the famous 1960s film of the same name. Compare it to the Chenogne Massacre (perpetuated by US troops against German POWs shortly after) which is almost forgotten/not even known.

[–] benman46 10 years ago

A long tedious post that says very little.

[–] davidwile 9 years ago

Hey folks,

The Original Poster asked, "What is the point of making such a movie?"

I would suggest the point was to tell a good story. For me, it is always the story. This was a good story and the acting was also great. What more "point" does one need?

Best wishes,
Dave Wile