1. Synopsis

2. Production

3. Awards

4. Episodes

5. Critical reaction

6. References

7. External links

• Francis Ford Coppola
• Guillermo del Toro
• Paul Greengrass
• Lawrence Kasdan
• Steven Spielberg

• Steven Spielberg
• Scott Rudin
• Barry Diller
• Angus Wall
• Justin Falvey
• Darryl Frank
• Eli Bush
• Jason Sack
• Linda Carlson
• Jason Sterman
• Ben Cotner
• Adam Del Deo
• Lisa Nishimura

• Laurent Bouzereau
• John Battsek

• Amblin Television
• IACF Productions
• Passion Pictures
• Rock Paper Scissors Entertainment

The documentary focuses on five directors – John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens – whose war-related works are analysed by modern filmmakers, respectively Paul Greengrass, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, and Lawrence Kasdan. Meryl Streep, who serves as narrator, won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator for her performance.

Synopsis

Five Came Back explores the experiences of five U.S. film directors – John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens – and their frontline work during the Second World War.^[3] It draws on over 100 hours of archival footage and is narrated by Meryl Streep.^[4] Each modern director discusses the impact and legacies of one of the five earlier directors: Steven Spielberg (Wyler), Francis Ford Coppola (Huston), Guillermo del Toro (Capra), Paul Greengrass (Ford), and Lawrence Kasdan (Stevens).

Netflix is also streaming the 13 documentaries discussed in the film:^[5]

• The Battle of Midway (1942, John Ford)
• Prelude to War (1942, Frank Capra)
• The Battle of Russia (1943, Frank Capra)
• Undercover: How to Operate Behind Enemy Lines (1943, John Ford)
• Report from the Aleutians (1943, John Huston)
• A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944, William Wyler)
• The Negro Soldier (1944, Stuart Heisler; produced by Frank Capra)
• Tunisian Victory (1944, John Huston)
• Japan (1945, Frank Capra)
• The Battle of San Pietro (1945, John Huston)
• Nazi Concentration Camps (1945, George Stevens)
• Let There Be Light (1946, John Huston)
• Thunderbolt (1947, William Wyler)

Production

The film was based on the 2014 book of the same name by Mark Harris.^[6] The filmmakers studied more than 100 hours of newsreel and archival footage, and more than 40 documentaries and training films created by the five directors during the war. They also reviewed 50 studio films by the directors and more than 30 hours of raw footage from their war films.^[7] Director Laurent Bouzereau, who has extensive experience documenting films and directors, introduced the idea of interviewing five current directors for the project.^[8]

Meryl Streep recorded the narration for the documentary on January 17, 2017, the same day she received her 20th Oscar nomination (for Florence Foster Jenkins).^[8]

Awards

On July 13, 2017, Meryl Streep nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator (which she later won), and composer Jeremy Turner was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition For A Limited Series, Movie Or Special (Original Dramatic Score).^[9]

Episodes

Critical reaction

Allison Shoemaker, who reviewed each episode separately for The A.V. Club, gave "The Mission Begins" a B+ and graded both "Combat Zones" and "The Price of Victory" an A. Reviewing the final episode, she writes, "It comes as no surprise that the conclusion to this remarkable series packs a wallop—the previous episode ends with D-Day on the horizon, after all—but what is surprising is how gracefully Laurent Bouzereau and Mark Harris link these monstrous and stunning events and truths to the art which followed them. Does tying Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life to George Stevens' experiences at Dachau seem like a bit of a stretch? Sure, but somehow, it isn't. George Bailey's story is also Capra's, and Ford's, and Wyler's. There's much that this hour makes clear, but chief among that crowded group is this: the experiences of and footage captured by these men changed the United States, the world, and the directors themselves in irrevocable ways."^[13][14][15]

John Anderson in The Wall Street Journal writes: "Overall, the series is much like its story: mythic, adventurous, romantic. And real."^[16] Brian Tallerico, writing for RogerEbert.com, called it a "must-see" and a "cinephile and historian's dream come true."^[17]

In The New York Times, Ben Kenigsberg writes, "Above all, Five Came Back is an invitation to see more: It's hard to watch it without wanting to visit (or revisit) Wyler's Mrs. Miniver or Ford's They Were Expendable. It's further proof, if any were needed, that these men weren't simply creating propaganda, but art that would endure."^[18]

Kristin Hunt of Slashfilm questioned why the series did not address Ford's anti-semitism or Capra's admiration of Benito Mussolini, but was generally positive, writing, "Five Came Back is a testament to the power of cinema, and the moral implications that come with it. Was all this propaganda permissible? The documentary is sometimes afraid to truly grapple with that question. But when it does, it's gripping stuff."^[19] Peter Debruge, chief film critic for Variety, was less enthusiastic, criticizing the series for leaving out the rich original research in Harris' book for the thoughts of the five current Hollywood directors, whose purpose he felt was merely a promotional gag.^[20]

References

External links

• {{imdb title|6587094}}
• [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/five_came_back/s01/ Five Came Back] at Rotten Tomatoes

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