More Foreign Film Perspectives

As evinced in earlier posts, I have quite a fascination for foreign cinematic interpretations of UK history.  They present an outsider's view of what we in the UK like to think is set-in-stone fact, evidence that history is far from monolithic and 'truth' is very much dependent upon where you are standing.  British versions of British history are generally based upon the perspective of a 'winner', particularly with regard to wars.  Unlike the French, the low countries, Poland, Greece or most of Scandinavia, (to name but a few), we didn't have to suffer the trauma of occupation by a foreign power.  Nor did we have to suffer our national integrity being compromised by territorial invasions and seizures, like the USSR, for instance.  Consequently, the way in which World War Two is depicted by the film industries of these countries differs significantly from the way in which it is depicted by the UK's.  Likewise, Germany and Italy, being on the losing end of the war, have even more diverging cinematic depictions of the war.  While the former has tended to focus on downbeat films with a strong anti-war message, the latter, in the sixties and seventies, seemed to be trying to write its own part in the war out completely, with a series of lurid action movies, often set in the desert, with the British or Americans (played by Italians) as the heroes and the Germans as the villains, with the Italians relegated to a minor supporting role (if depicted at all).

The exception, as I've discussed before, lies in Italian depictions of the Battle of El Alamein.  From the British perspective, a huge victory and vital turning point of the war, for the Italians, it was a crushing defeat which saw their elite units shattered and their whole army in disarray.  Consequently, their cinematic versions of the battle have the plucky Italians, facing overwhelming British forces, as the heroes, with both the British and the Germans, (who notoriously co-opted much of the Italian motorised transport for their own retreat, leaving their allies high and dry), very much the bad guys.  But World War Two isn't the only bit of British history that continental film makers have produced their own versions of, with the whole Colonial era being a favourite, with various depictions of British rule in India and Africa, for instance.  Going back further, the Tudor and Stuart periods, most specifically the era of pirates and privateers, has also been popular, perhaps not surprisingly, as it is a history we share with the Spanish and Portuguese, (it was their ships being sunk and captured by British pirates and privateers), giving it wide appeal.  (The Anglo-Dutch wars, also from this period, neglected by British film makers, perhaps because the Dutch gave us a kicking, have been depicted in Dutch cinema, with some interesting portrayals of Charles II). 

All of which brings us, finally, to the trailer above, for Seven Seas to Calais (1962), an Italian made epic about the life and times of our very own Sir Francis Drake.  I remember from my childhood, that Drake, along with his contemporary Sir Walter Raleigh, was always depicted as a dashing adventurer, making far off foreign places safe for us Brits and defeating those beastly Spanish.  The reality, of course, is that he was a rogue and a pirate, (a 'privateer' for part of his career courtesy of the fact that he was operating under licence from the English crown), ruthlessly and brutally exploiting the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and Americas in the name of 'exploration'.  Not that you would have learned any of this from the Lasybird book about him that I had as a child.  I've recently found an English language copy of the film and I'm hoping to be able to watch it before it vanishes (as these things tend to).  I'm intrigued to see how the Italians tackle Drake - straightforward hero or imperialist bastard?  The film itself has several points of interest in its own right, notably an early starring role for Rod Taylor and a supporting role for 'Terence Hill', billed under his real name of Mario Girotti and the fact that it was co-director Rudolph Mate's last film.  It has also been claimed by some sources that Riccardo Freda was involved in editing some of the battle sequences, although he always denied this).  So hopefully, at some point, I'll be able to give a fuller assessment of this Italian interpretation of British history.