Classic Joseph Heller novel is being re done for television in this six part tv series that brings us back to WWII times exploring adventures and misadventures of Yossarian and his friends as American bomber crews in the heat of World War Two. What I love about this series is that all six episodes are greatly even written, there is absolutely no filler episodes and no boring parts that so many series have while you wait for the main storyline to come about. Well, Yossarian only wants to survive and come home again and finish the number of missions that Col. Cathcart only elevates all the time. He manages to fake sickness, get shot in testicles, survive jumping out of the plane, shagging General Scheisskopf s wife, lose friends and tries to stay sane in the horrors of war. Cast is excellent from Christopher Abbot as Yossarian to veterans like George Clooney, Hugh Laurie and Giancarlo Giannini. Best of all are characters. So many different colorful characters like Major Major Major Major to bootlegger Milo and dialogue is full of humor but serious at the same time and I love every single minute watching this series. Unfortunately I didn t read the book, but this series was a blast. I will also have to see the older movie with the same title anytime soon. Great one if you love war themed series!
I recently watched the five part series The Devil Next Door. It is a documentary about the arrest and prosectution of US citizen of Ukrainian descent John Demjanjuk for alleged war crimes. During WWII, Demjanjuk was an operator in gas chambers of infamous death camp Treblinka, called Ivan The Terrible by the inmates. He used to stab with his sword people on their way to death in gas chambers and cut off their body parts to make their deaths even more horrible. He worked in Ford factory in America, but was extradized to Israel to be processed there for his crimes. He defended himself that he was not that man, that he was framed for his Ukrainian anti Soviet movement sentiments. The crucial and almost only proof besides testimonies of the survivors was a photograph from the old ss identity card. This documentary series is heavy, heartbreaking when seeing actual survivors of Treblinka and other death camps stating their testimonies at the court in Israel. It is also a story of morality, ethics, how far could you sacrifice your ideals for money and what would you do for survival. Me personally wasn´t sure that the guy was Ivan The Terrible indeed, but as the series progressed and finished, now I am sure that the guy was a war criminal, whether that guy or some other ss camp killer it is not so important. Does war crime ever ends being important issue? Never! I have many old people in my neighbourhood, I often caught myself thinking while watching this series, how much do I know them? Maybe that smiling, old nice man was indeed a beast in human form killing thousands couple of decades ago. This is not light to watch, but it is important issue, never being out of importance.
KRAYKULLA-WEBZINE 