Low on jingoism, high on experiences. Review on Band of Brothers

The Band of Brothers is a HBO TV mini-series that follows the battles and travails of one American unit in WWII. What made this particular series stand out in my mind was that each episode begins with interviews of the men who actually sweated, fought, bled, killed, and saw their friends killed all over Europe, more than 60 years ago. Right from the start, you realize that is going to be an intimate journey and it lives up to the promise. There are no false heroics, blatant sentimentalism, or flag waving.

War is shown for what it really is; a confused, dark mess of killing and destruction. In fact, the actual battle scenes are shot brilliantly, bringing out the terror and chaos faced by the young soldiers. In fact, the style is very reminiscent of the harrowing opening sequences of Saving Private Ryan.

The first episode of BoB introduces us to the main characters as they train together for the 101st Airborne Division, an elite paratrooper force. We see them come together as a cohesive, well-trained force and develop into a “band of brothers”. From there, we begin a journey that takes another nine episodes, each covering some vital battle or aspect of warfare.

For example, Episode 4 (The Replacements) shows the soldiers’ feelings over losing close friends to death and their attitude towards the young, inexperienced reinforcements. Episode 10 (Points) ends with the unit survivors doing occupation duty in scenic Bavaria, after the European war had been won. This episode also has a great scene, where the American officers hear a defeated German general address his troops. His speech about years of living, fighting and surviving together clearly reflects the history of the American unit as well.

The script is also a refreshing change from most other WWII based shows or movies. Americans are not shown as clean-scrubbed do-gooders, while the Germans are not goose-stepping Nazis. There are a lot of gray areas covered in this mini-series, which helps to make it more authentic and believable. For instance, Episode 3 (Carentan) helps us understand how men can crack under the stress of war, without being cowards. BoB even touches upon executions of unarmed German troops, a historical reality avoided by others. In the last episode, we share the experiences of the soldiers as they realize that even after years of war and the defeat of Germany, they may yet be send to the Pacific front to fight the Japanese, instead of returning home.

At the end of the series, we are finally introduced to the anonymous veterans who talk about their real experiences at the start of each episode. To finally associate these real men with the characters I followed over 10 hours of gripping drama was the icing on the cake. Overall, BoB was an authentic, visceral look at the experience of war.