From Here to Eternity reviews
Review by on 26 Sep 2010
In FROM HERE TO ETERNITY Alma ‘Lorene’ Burke tells Montgomery Clift’s character Robert Prewitt about an average ‘boy-meets-girl, they-fall-in-love, girl’s-heart-gets-broken’ romance that brought her to Hawaii. She notes that it could be written into a book, to which Prewitt informs her it already has, a lot. He’s correct of course; it’s a typical love story that seems to feature in almost all romantic novels or films, just with different characters. It could even be said about the plot of FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, same basic story that’s been done again and again. The only difference this time is that this is one of the originals that all the other copies are feebly based on.
The plot centres around two different love stories set to the backdrop of Pearl Harbour. One involves Sgt. Milton Warden, the glamorous Captain’s wife Karen Holmes, and that famous love scene on the beach, while the other shows Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt falling in love with Lorene, a hostess down at a local club.
Whilst films of today rely a lot on extravagant sets and special effects, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY didn’t have either of those. Instead it focused solely on the lives of its characters and their stories. This allowed me to actually care about them, laugh along with them and even shed a tear when things turned bad. And if you know of Pearl Harbour, you’ll know that things turned very bad very quickly.
Towards the end of the film, Prewitt says to Lorene “Don’t worry, I won’t die”, but I won’t spoil it for you by revealing if he kept his promise.
Chloe Davidson
The plot centres around two different love stories set to the backdrop of Pearl Harbour. One involves Sgt. Milton Warden, the glamorous Captain’s wife Karen Holmes, and that famous love scene on the beach, while the other shows Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt falling in love with Lorene, a hostess down at a local club.
Whilst films of today rely a lot on extravagant sets and special effects, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY didn’t have either of those. Instead it focused solely on the lives of its characters and their stories. This allowed me to actually care about them, laugh along with them and even shed a tear when things turned bad. And if you know of Pearl Harbour, you’ll know that things turned very bad very quickly.
Towards the end of the film, Prewitt says to Lorene “Don’t worry, I won’t die”, but I won’t spoil it for you by revealing if he kept his promise.
Chloe Davidson
Film details
From Here to Eternity
REVIVALS
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Actor: Deborah Kerr
Actor: Burt Lancaster
Actor: Frank Sinatra
Actor: Montgomery Clift
Actor: Deborah Kerr
Actor: Burt Lancaster
Actor: Frank Sinatra
Actor: Montgomery Clift
United States, 1953.
118 mins.
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