my Movie

Movie Details

Title:   The Hill
Director:   Sydney Lumet
Year:   1965
Genre:   Prison
Times Seen:   1
Last Seen:   08.11.07

Other Movies Seen By This Director (0)

Notes History
Date Viewed Venue Note
08.11.07Netflix Sean Connery goes to WWI-era British military prison in the middle of a desert where punishment is doled out as trips up and down this man-made hill of sand. Of course, by the end it's Connery screaming that the rule book doesn't make sense... blah blah blah... war is evil... this guard is evil... black people are evil. OK so Connery doesn't say that bit, which is good because Ossie Davis is also in prison and freaks out when the main guard dude says that.

It's a pretty heavy movie, and not really one I'm in a hurry again (not because it's bad just because it's two hours of people being broken down), but Lumet shoots in high-contrast black and white and since there's so much light in the desert, he gets some phenomenal depth of field so his compositions are really great. The way he shoots the hill itself is great. And we're always really close on sweaty yelling faces; it's great.

I also thought it was interesting that they shot outside of Almeria Spain in 1965. They must've been sharing base camp with about a hundred Italian western crews... I wonder if there are any stories there.