Cross of Iron

Sam Peckinpah, UK/West Germany, 1977, 133 minutes

"I believe... that God is a sadist - but probably doesn't even know it."

It is 1943, and the German army, ravaged and demoralised, are hastily retreating from the Russian front. In the midst of all this madness, conflict brews between the aristocratic yet ultimately pusillanimous Captain Stransky (Maximilian Schell) and the courageous Corporal Steiner. Stransky is the only man who believes that the Third Reich are still vastly superior to the Russian army; however within his pompous persona lies a quivering coward who longs for the Iron Cross so that he can return to Berlin a hero. Steiner (James Coburn), on the other hand is the archetypal Peckinpah protagonist; cynical, defiantly non-conformist and more concerned with the safety of his own men rather than the horde of military decorations offered to him by his superiors. Steiner’s “lack of respect” results in a growing animosity between the two, with Stransky resulting to murderous actions to achieve his goal.

Filmed on a low budget in Yugoslavia, the film’s theme portrays a wealth of anti-war material, especially the psychological damage war can inflict, blending scenes with the despairing officers (James Mason and David Warner included) and the hand-to hand carnage out on the battlefield with Steiner’s patrol. Stranded behind enemy lines, Steiner tries determinedly to bond his men together amongst the mud and slaughter of their conflicts, whilst secretly he does not care whether he lives or dies.

Surprisingly retrained in the violence department (with the exception of one scene of a sexual nature), the film effectively combines a feeling of humanising love and sensuality within the countless riveting and bone-shattering explosions. It is one of the bitterest, most truthful expositions of warfare ever to reach the screen. It is essential viewing.

Attributed to James Coburn (1928-2002)

Review by Chay Williamson
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2003

War film is a genre which does not allow many diversions from the dominant pattern which has been set up by anglo-american cinema. Especially as part of the Hollywood industry, it displays all these norms which characterise conventional film-making. However, Peckinpah's film avoids the pitfalls of being "just another" war film) Strangely enough it is at points reminiscent of Kiimov's Come and See, especially in terms of conveying the irrationality of being in a wartime situation, although one cannot possibly place the two films on the same level.

Based on the novel by Willi Heinrich, Cross of Iron - Peckinpah's only war film - emphasizes much more than what originally meeLs the eye. As with The Wild Bunch the director focuses on the actual process by which the individual is called to face events which he cannot control, this time as part of a German platoon somewhere in Russian during the Nazis' massive retreat in 1943. The threat of extinction places the lives of the men in precarious balance, while the alien environment brings a strong sense of disorientation which along with the blunt struggle for survival threaten to blow the group to pieces...

The ability of Peckinpah to provide a strong psychological basis for the unfolding of events, distinguishes Cross of Iron from the typically dull American war film. Despite a tacky dream sequence and the fact that the use of Eenglish language is out of context, the rest of the film is surprisingly gripping, includes a terrific performance by James Coburn, while the dim, funereal photography makes a perfect counterpart to the claustrophobic world of the soldiers.

Review by Spiros Gangas
Taken from EUFS Programme 1993-94