Does anyone hear think that scene where the one British solider loses'es it and starts shouting WHY! was moving and shows the madness of war where the camera pans across the battlefield but what makes it more moving is that just 99 years later around the corner from the battlefield Britan would be doing all over again with more suffuring, loss and bloodshed.
shareI agree. It really is something that the process of war always is going on with no end in sight. Britain was fighting in this area a hundred years before Waterloo and like you said would be fighting there a hundred years later.
I also find it more moving when the Duke of Wellington surveys the waste and carnage of the battlefield and sees the bagpiper and the remnant of the square where the Scots where wiped out, the area were the Old Guard was wiped out, and eventually sees the dead young soldier and hears the reprise of "WHY". The Duke of Wellington was right , "Next to a battle lost the saddest thing is a battle won."
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.
A moving scene perhaps, but also a highly unlikely one. British soldiers were well-trained and highly disciplined and they would not have "lost it" so easily. Any British soldier who acted like that would probably be shot by one of the officers. Well, perhaps that was how he died.
shareIt seemed like a scene that was a reference to the Vietnam war going on at the time and the ongoing futility of war. I've really never read of a soldier losing it quite like that. It was a 'Hollywood' scene for dramatic effect.
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.
You are right. The scene would have been much better if he had shouted that "War is the human raceses greatest achivement".
share"Totalitarian regime"? Are you aware that the Napoleonic Wars were a continuation of the Revolutionary War in the 1790s, which resulted because the monarchs in Europe (i.e., Britain's allies) feared that the Revolution might spread to their own countries and so wanted to destroy the Republic and put Louis XVI back on the throne?
shareHe is obviously unaware of that because he is a narrow-minded beast.
share[deleted]
Well, although I agree with the sentiment generally, I thought the scene was pretty cringe-worthy and ham-fisted - surprised to see so many others agreeing with you actually. It was also pretty unnecessary, as the film's portrayal of the destruction and chaos of the battlefield was much more disturbing.
shareInterestingly, the scene in question is cut out of some versions of the film, at least in the U.S. I saw "Waterloo" theatrically here in NYC when it was first released and the scene wasn't there. It's not on my VHS copy, nor was it in any version I've ever seen on television. I only recently became aware of it when I got a DVD which had a little bit more extra footage in it. Small stuff, just a few seconds here and there. No, I did not discover the lost 4 hour version :)
By the way, here's the scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZm__ILOdyU
"Arguing here is like arguing with a donkey. It makes you angry and confuses the donkey."
The only versions I have seen of 'Waterloo' I have on VHS and DVD so that is interesting that the "Why?" scene was missing from what you saw in theaters. I have been familiar with this scene since I picked up 'Waterloo' on VHS in 2002. This is a movie that is absolutely never shown on television it seems.
I think the scene of Wellington surveying the carnage of the aftermath of the battle is even more moving, though.
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.
Torchecul said:
"Interestingly, the scene in question is cut out of some versions of the film, at least in the U.S."
Oh, man, I was wondering about that! I just saw "Waterloo" only yesterday evening on what seems to be some sort of European release, with a version in the Russian language, but you can also watch it with the English language track. I actually remembered that character from viewings of the movie many years ago, because he stood out from most of the other soldiers with his blond hair, and, of course, I also remembered the scene of the French cavalry attacking the British squares, but I had no memory of the bit where he's shouting "Why?!" So, at least I know that I didn't just have a hole in my memory.
Yeah, that was probably the most sophomoric (and archetypical) anti-war inclusion from the time. Every movie had to have some anti-Vietnam message in it. Pathetic and distractive from a good attempt to blend history with romance.
shareI thought it was a cheesey scene and a more moving moment was the scene where Wellington is disgusted at the aftermath of the battle. Nothing was more moving than the scene where Napoleon looks at his men who stare back, with a kind of hatred, and there is the narration about Prometheus.
"You're going to cross Sinai?"
"Moses did"
Yes, those are great scenes. I also love the look in his eyes when he hears that the Old Guard has broken.
Frank: Just a man.
Harmonica: An ancient race.
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