Daily Movie Rec 8/21/2023
This Land Is Mine (1943)
"I must go not because I am harmful to society, which is you, but because I am harmful to tyranny."
Directed by: Jean Renoir
Cinematography by: Frank Redman
Country: United States
Plot:
A cowardly man-child teacher with a co-dependent relationship with his mother has his loyalty tested when he's implicated in a sabotage plot against occupying Nazi forces.
Reasons to watch:
The Renoir/Charles Laughton team-up is just as fantastic in practice as it looks on paper. Like the best WWII dramas, the monologues in This Land Is Mine will take your breath away, and Laughton delivers two powerhouse courtroom speeches late in the film - the latter of which nearly had me choking up. Though never the formalist, always serving the characters and story first and foremost, Renoir's direction was never unworthy of his reputation, and even when constrained by Hollywood convention, his masterfully polished craft was passionately effective. This Land Is Mine is an unsung gem of 40s cinema and a humblingly powerful wartime drama about courage, resistance, and sacrifice in the face of corruption.
Where to watch:
Available to buy or rent
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