As today is the anniversary of that famous battle in Belgium I thought a little Bondarchuk is in order. This great Russian moviemaker seemed to specialise in these great helicopter shots - showing the thousands of extras from an almost God-like distance - extras in this case that were soldiers from the Red Army... 15,000 infantry and 2,000 cavalry in all - it was said that during filming Bondarchuk commanded the seventh largest army in the world - some of them were cossack cavalrymen doing their business - though if you watch this clip to the end you will see the British squares breaking up - quite bizarre as if that had really happened Napster would have won the battle. I do love big battle movies - even if these days we have to put up with digital manipulation which sort of spoils it a little. I really want to see the 4 hour version of this film...maybe it should come out in 2015... watch the 'Why? Why?' sequence - cut from later versions.
Ralphadeus. Music movies comics feature in this look at life from Somerset.
