Review: Hollywood-ized WW2 Film 'Counterpoint' Isn't All Bad
It's December 1944 in Belgium, and the Battle of the Bulge is about to mark a turning point in the war. Nearby, a 70-member symphony orchestra is on a USO tour of Europe, led by their egocentric and temperamental Maestro Lionel Evans (Charlton Heston). After a concert is interrupted by the German counter-offensive, the orchestra members board a bus and are then tricked into capture and imprisoned in a medieval Belgian castle commanded by General Schiller (Maximilian Schell), who is quite aware of the renowned conductor and his work. Under orders to execute the musicians, Schiller asks Evans to give a recital. Evans refuses to buy time. It's a battle of wills. Who will win out?
One needs to contextualize watching "Counterpoint" today, a film I hadn't even heard of until Kino Classics announced it as a Blu-ray release. Apparently, it was dumped as a double-feature release by Universal in 1967, and received mediocre to poor reviews.
It's not a bad film, just an odd one, and a very Hollywood-ized version of what WWII was like. The premise is promising, but the execution is predictable and stale, except during the action-packed, wholly unbelievable climax. It is super fun watching Heston camping it up as an arrogant Maestro! You don't buy it for a second — well, you buy the arrogant part — but regardless, it's a hoot to see! And his hair is just a sight!
Schell can play these Nazi roles in his sleep, but he does it with such panache and, of course, he turns out to be a good Nazi (because it's a studio film, see?). Leslie Nielsen appears in a thankless part, and Kathryn Hays makes enough of an impression one wonders why she didn't make more films (she was a TV staple and became an "As the World Turns" vet).
Ralph Nelson ("Lilies of the Field," "Father Goose") directs with a knowledge that the script is convoluted, so he spends way too much time on action moments that go nowhere.
The film looks good on Blu-ray, with no noticeable blemishes, and the sound is terrific — a good thing, since much of the score includes the Los Angeles Philharmonic performing classics by Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Brahms, Wagner, and Schubert.
Filmmaker/historian Steve Mitchell and author Steven Jay Rubin discuss the offbeat nature of the film, and go into lots of war detail via the audio commentary.
If you're a WWII film fan and you've exhausted the canon, here's something quite strange and sometimes compelling. Oh, and you can't beat Moses as a pompous Maestro!
Blu-ray Extras Include:
"Counterpoint" is available on Blu-ray on November 2, 2021.