Underplayed Gems

A Time to Love and a Time to Die (1958)

A Time to Love and a Time to Die poster
Directed by
Douglas Sirk
Genre
drama film, war film, romance film
Country
United States
Runtime
2h 12m
Rated
NR
Rating
7.2 of 10 from 101 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A young German soldier on the Eastern Front is sickened by the brutality of his own army and the Nazi regime at home. He returns to Germany on leave and tries to find love and meaning in a crumbling world.

melancholictenseslow-burnsomberreflectivebleakromanticwar-torn

What happens

A Time to Love and a Time to Die is a 1958 Eastmancolor CinemaScope drama war film directed by Douglas Sirk and starring John Gavin and Liselotte Pulver. Based on the book by German author Erich Maria Remarque and set on the Eastern Front and in Nazi Germany, it tells the story of a young German soldier who is revolted by the conduct of the German army in the Soviet Union and actions of the Nazi Party in the homefront. According to Variety magazine, the film "was regarded by the company's exec echelon, at the outset, as fine drama and [a] wham money-maker but the box office disappointment is now ascribed to [an] absence of names". (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

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