The Battle of the Rails (La Bataille du Rail) (French, Subtitled in English) / Somewhere in Europe (Valahol Europaban) (Hungarian, Subtitled in English) (2-DVD)

This double feature presents two WWII-era dramas. From the mind of French director Rene Clement (GERVAISE) comes LE BATAILLE DU RAIL, a tale of heroic struggle by members of the French Resistance. Created during the last years of World War II, this part-documentary feature required bravery and risk-taking just to be made. A moving portrait of the men and women who transported illegal mail, participated in sabotage, and did everything in between in protest of Nazi occupation, LA BATAILLE DU RAIL features cinematography by Henri Alekan, the man behind such classics as ROMAN HOLIDAY. Meanwhile, the groundbreaking and powerful postwar Hungarian film SOMEWHERE IN EUROPE, from director Geza Radvani, captured the painful plight of Hungary's desperate war orphans. Co-written by renowned film theorist Bela Balazs, this bleak film follows a group of young street scavengers who settle into a seemingly abandoned castle and bond with the traumatized conductor who's been living there--only to have their fragile peace destroyed once again by the "civilized" world.

lives of ordinary men, women, and children in ways
that Americans never dreamed of. These two classic
films from the era offer a look at the brave souls who
struggled against occupation, war, and the ugly
aftermath.

LA BATAILLE DU RAIL chronicles the
struggles and victories of French railway workers who
bravely worked against the Nazi cause, doing
everything from carrying forbidden mail to committing
sabotage. Rene Clement (Forbidden Games) directed
this remarkable film at the close of World War II,
using a cast of non-professionals. Shot by legendary
cameraman Henri Alekan, himself a resistance fighter
who had escaped the Nazi POW camps, the film uses a
gritty semi-documentary style to capture the reality of
the times.

In SOMEWHERE IN EUROPEN, the chaos
and violence of post-WWII Europe is revealed and
examined. A band of wild, roving children?homeless
in the aftermath of WWII?wander into the crumbling
castle of a famous musician, who teaches them a more
positive attitude about society.

1940s | War