Sergeant York

As someone who watches quite a bit of Chinese cinema I come across a lot of propaganda discussions. I tend to be relatively lenient, but some films do cross a line. And it's not just Chinese ones. Take a film like Sergeant York for example. Fair enough, it was made during wartime, but this was just near impossible to sit through.

Alvin York is a small-time farmer who struggles to become an upstanding citizen. When he plans to marry one of the girls in town, his life is thrown upside down as he is drafted into the army. At first he resists, but when he is forced to become a soldier, his life turns around and he becomes a true war hero.

So yeah, if you want to give meaning to your life, become an army man and they'll turn you into veritable heroes. The performances are grotesque, the drama is cheesy and the with a runtime of two hours plus, the film greatly outstays its welcome. I think this is a film best left forgotten.