Morituri (1965)

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Siskoid
From the title, I thought Morituri would be a gladiator flick. Nope, it's a World War II movie. Marlon Brando stars as a German draft dodger/millionaire sent on a mission against his will by the British lest he be sent home, tasked with preventing precious cargo from sinking when the ship's captain (Yul Brynner) scuttles the boat before it falls into enemy hands, by posing as an S.S. officer. Almost immediately, things start to go wrong, as in the best "suicide mission" scenarios, and Brando's character has to use his charm and wits to manipulate the situation. It's a pretty good nail biter, and well realized on the production side of things. But what puts this movie over the top is that there isn't just one kind of German. It's not a case of Nazis being Nazis. Not everyone agrees with Hitler, or the war, and the web of motivations given to characters who might be allies if they just stopped working at cross-purposes, is very well constructed. No stock characters, it's all much more believable than that, and so you're never sure where it's heading. 5 years ago