Quick Reaction: Mrs. Miniver

In terms of story or acting, I couldn't pick this movie out of a lineup. Even a couple days later, most of the details about the movie escape me. I watched this movie because it was a Best Picture winner. The reason I decided to catch up on all the Best Picture winners I hadn't seen isn't because I was looking for great films though. As I often argue, Best Picture is a great snapshot in time. They aren't all great movies, but they are examples of what people considered good movies at the time. Fair or not, until the mid-60s or so, I mostly think of winners by when they were released in relation to WWII. All Quiet on the Western Front is fascinating because it's a war movie before anyone even knew about Hitler. The Best Years of Our Lives is the immediate aftermath of the war. From Here to Eternity is a look back on WWII from people who remember it well. Patton has a little more distance. The Sound of Music just uses it as a backdrop. What makes Mrs. Miniver interesting is that it's very much during the war. It's a British film release in 1942 based on a 1940 book. This is a story written before the ending was known. How differently would this be viewed had Germany won the war? This is an intriguing bit of propaganda and it's understandable that this is what audiences were craving at the time. This was only a year after the U.S. got into the war. There wasn't room for complicated thoughts on the righteousness of the Allies' side of things

 

As I said though, the movie as a piece of art made little impression on me. It was a little dull and schmaltzy. I appreciate the more British perspective of the war, since I'm so used to the American exceptionalism take. Its importance is just much more as an artifact than as an ongoing discussion.

 

Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend