"For Whom the Bell Tolls," A Must See Movie, Must Read Book
Updated somewhat January 21, 2020.
American author Ernest Hemingway's novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," was published in 1940, and the movie adaptation, highly faithful to the book, was released in 1943. The story is set during the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 until 1939. Hemingway served as a journalist in Spain during that war, and he favored the Spanish Republic against the fascist and rightist forces of General Francisco Franco, who received substantial aid, including troops and materials, from both Hitler and Mussolini, as well as aid, including troops, from neighboring Portugal, then led by Antonio Salazar, who was prime minister of the fascist inspired national government. The Republic primarily received aid from the Soviet Union, mainly in the form of weapons and munitions, but also some military advisers were sent, who helped to train air crews and other military personnel, but who also participated in the fighting.*
Thousands of volunteers from many countries, including a number from the the United States, went to Spain to fight against the fascists, serving in what were called the "International Brigades." Hemingway's story centers around one of the American volunteers, an anti-fascist named Robert Jordan (played by Gary Cooper). Jordan seems to have a basis in Hemingway's own beliefs of that time and at one point, Fernando, one of the Spanish anti-fascist fighters asks Jordan, "Why did you come so far to fight for our republic?" Jordan answers, "A man fights for what he believes in." Fernando then says, "Well, in his own country." Jordan goes on, "Maybe you feel I'm sticking my nose into other people's business, but I don't feel that way. It's not only Spain fighting here, is it? It's Germany and Italy on one side and Russia on the other, and the Spanish people are right in the middle of it all. The Nazis and the fascists are just as much against democracy as they are against the communists, and they're using your country as a proving ground for their war machinery like their tanks and dive bombers and stuff like that, so they can get the jump on the democracies and knock off England and France and my country (the United States), before we get armed and ready to fight." So the "Spanish Civil War" was a battle for democracy, no matter how imperfect, against fascism.
Jordan is an expert in explosives who is sent to join a small pro-Republic military outfit hiding in some mountainous terrain.** The American is instructed to blow up a particular railway bridge used by the fascists to transport men and equipment. The demolition is to take place in conjunction with a major Republican offensive against the Nationalist/fascist forces in the area, but the operation is fraught with danger, and death is a distinct possibility.
Jordan meets two women who are part of the pro-Republic group: Maria (played by Ingrid Bergman), who had previously suffered at the hands of the fascists, and with whom he falls in love, and the ever strong Pilar (played by Katina Paxinou***), the wife of Pablo (played by Akim Tamiroff****), and the driving force behind the move to get the group's support for Jordan's operation, a plan opposed by her husband. The tension builds in several ways throughout the story, as Jordan tries to convince Pablo and the group, and another pro-Republic group led by El Sordo (played by Joseph Calleia), to support his plan to blow up the bridge. Throughout, they struggle to remain undercover from the fascists who have patrols in the area and occasional aircraft overhead.
The title, of course, is from John Donne's poem from the 1600s, also famous for the line, "No man is an Iland" (a spelling then of "Island"). Hemingway and others saw the struggle of the Spanish Republic against fascism as a part of mankind being destroyed by evil, and thus diminishing all of mankind. The characters in the novel (and movie) must decide to resist the fascists, thus risking their lives, or to remain out of the conflict, allowing evil to grow, thus threatening more of mankind; "And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."
I will not tell more of the story, but if you have never seen this movie or read the book, please do so! You will be highly rewarded with a great story. For those who have read the book and/or seen the movie, nothing like doing so again ... and again. They're both that good!
* When the Spanish Civil War began, the main democratic nations, Britain, France and the United States, all remained neutral, and prohibited the sale of arms to either side. Put simply, by denying the elected democratic government of Spain their support, the Spanish Republic had nowhere else to turn for substantial assistance, except to the Soviet Union. Then by the Republic's acceptance of such aid, conservative elements within the democracies hardened their stance against the Spanish Republic, seeing the Republicans (nothing to do with the American Republican Party) as tools of the Soviets, a charge that had at least a little truth to it, if not more truth than some liberals and progressives were willing to admit, if they could even objectively see it, but much idealism reigned, although correctly so, as fascism proved to be the most immediate threat to mankind. On the other hand, some American businesses aided the Nationalist/fascist side, often by extending credit for purchases of vehicles, oil and gasoline. For great information and reading on the Spanish Civil War, see: "The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939," by Anthony Beevor, published in London, in 2006, as a reprint and update of the original release from 1982.
** The pro-Republic forces are really in two groups, the principal one led by Pablo (played by Akim Tamiroff) and the other led by El Sordo (played by Joseph Calleia).
*** Katina Paxinou was born in Greece and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in this movie.
**** Akim Tamiroff was born in the Caucasus area of the then Russian (Tsarist) Empire. He was of Armenian descent. Tamiroff won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in this film.
Photo is from the 1998 Universal Home Video DVD
WORD HISTORY:
An-This little word, which, along with "a," are known as indefinite articles,^ is really a form of "one." It goes back to Indo European "oinos,," which meant "one, individual, single." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "ainaz," with the same meanings, and this was then passed down to Old English (Anglo-Saxon) as "an," with a long "a" sound. English differentiates in spelling an pronunciation between "one, an, and a," but its close relatives tend to use one for all. Further, English did not always use an indefinite article, and close relative German still does not always use an indefinite article, as for example, "Ich bin Deutscher," where in English we would say, "I am a German." The other Germanic languages have: German "ein," Low German Saxon "en," Dutch "een," West Frisian "in," Danish, Swedish and Norwegian all have "en," and Icelandic "einn" (while I'm not totally certain, Icelandic may not use an indefinite article, "einn" seems to simply mean "one").
^ The indefinite article means just that, it does not specify the exact item (noun), it is more general in meaning. Example: "If you are looking for a book, there is a book on the table." "But that is not the book I'm looking for." "The" is called the definite article, with obvious reason.
American author Ernest Hemingway's novel, "For Whom the Bell Tolls," was published in 1940, and the movie adaptation, highly faithful to the book, was released in 1943. The story is set during the Spanish Civil War, which lasted from 1936 until 1939. Hemingway served as a journalist in Spain during that war, and he favored the Spanish Republic against the fascist and rightist forces of General Francisco Franco, who received substantial aid, including troops and materials, from both Hitler and Mussolini, as well as aid, including troops, from neighboring Portugal, then led by Antonio Salazar, who was prime minister of the fascist inspired national government. The Republic primarily received aid from the Soviet Union, mainly in the form of weapons and munitions, but also some military advisers were sent, who helped to train air crews and other military personnel, but who also participated in the fighting.*
Thousands of volunteers from many countries, including a number from the the United States, went to Spain to fight against the fascists, serving in what were called the "International Brigades." Hemingway's story centers around one of the American volunteers, an anti-fascist named Robert Jordan (played by Gary Cooper). Jordan seems to have a basis in Hemingway's own beliefs of that time and at one point, Fernando, one of the Spanish anti-fascist fighters asks Jordan, "Why did you come so far to fight for our republic?" Jordan answers, "A man fights for what he believes in." Fernando then says, "Well, in his own country." Jordan goes on, "Maybe you feel I'm sticking my nose into other people's business, but I don't feel that way. It's not only Spain fighting here, is it? It's Germany and Italy on one side and Russia on the other, and the Spanish people are right in the middle of it all. The Nazis and the fascists are just as much against democracy as they are against the communists, and they're using your country as a proving ground for their war machinery like their tanks and dive bombers and stuff like that, so they can get the jump on the democracies and knock off England and France and my country (the United States), before we get armed and ready to fight." So the "Spanish Civil War" was a battle for democracy, no matter how imperfect, against fascism.
Jordan is an expert in explosives who is sent to join a small pro-Republic military outfit hiding in some mountainous terrain.** The American is instructed to blow up a particular railway bridge used by the fascists to transport men and equipment. The demolition is to take place in conjunction with a major Republican offensive against the Nationalist/fascist forces in the area, but the operation is fraught with danger, and death is a distinct possibility.
Jordan meets two women who are part of the pro-Republic group: Maria (played by Ingrid Bergman), who had previously suffered at the hands of the fascists, and with whom he falls in love, and the ever strong Pilar (played by Katina Paxinou***), the wife of Pablo (played by Akim Tamiroff****), and the driving force behind the move to get the group's support for Jordan's operation, a plan opposed by her husband. The tension builds in several ways throughout the story, as Jordan tries to convince Pablo and the group, and another pro-Republic group led by El Sordo (played by Joseph Calleia), to support his plan to blow up the bridge. Throughout, they struggle to remain undercover from the fascists who have patrols in the area and occasional aircraft overhead.
The title, of course, is from John Donne's poem from the 1600s, also famous for the line, "No man is an Iland" (a spelling then of "Island"). Hemingway and others saw the struggle of the Spanish Republic against fascism as a part of mankind being destroyed by evil, and thus diminishing all of mankind. The characters in the novel (and movie) must decide to resist the fascists, thus risking their lives, or to remain out of the conflict, allowing evil to grow, thus threatening more of mankind; "And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee."
I will not tell more of the story, but if you have never seen this movie or read the book, please do so! You will be highly rewarded with a great story. For those who have read the book and/or seen the movie, nothing like doing so again ... and again. They're both that good!
* When the Spanish Civil War began, the main democratic nations, Britain, France and the United States, all remained neutral, and prohibited the sale of arms to either side. Put simply, by denying the elected democratic government of Spain their support, the Spanish Republic had nowhere else to turn for substantial assistance, except to the Soviet Union. Then by the Republic's acceptance of such aid, conservative elements within the democracies hardened their stance against the Spanish Republic, seeing the Republicans (nothing to do with the American Republican Party) as tools of the Soviets, a charge that had at least a little truth to it, if not more truth than some liberals and progressives were willing to admit, if they could even objectively see it, but much idealism reigned, although correctly so, as fascism proved to be the most immediate threat to mankind. On the other hand, some American businesses aided the Nationalist/fascist side, often by extending credit for purchases of vehicles, oil and gasoline. For great information and reading on the Spanish Civil War, see: "The Battle For Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939," by Anthony Beevor, published in London, in 2006, as a reprint and update of the original release from 1982.
** The pro-Republic forces are really in two groups, the principal one led by Pablo (played by Akim Tamiroff) and the other led by El Sordo (played by Joseph Calleia).
*** Katina Paxinou was born in Greece and she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in this movie.
**** Akim Tamiroff was born in the Caucasus area of the then Russian (Tsarist) Empire. He was of Armenian descent. Tamiroff won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in this film.
Photo is from the 1998 Universal Home Video DVD
An-This little word, which, along with "a," are known as indefinite articles,^ is really a form of "one." It goes back to Indo European "oinos,," which meant "one, individual, single." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "ainaz," with the same meanings, and this was then passed down to Old English (Anglo-Saxon) as "an," with a long "a" sound. English differentiates in spelling an pronunciation between "one, an, and a," but its close relatives tend to use one for all. Further, English did not always use an indefinite article, and close relative German still does not always use an indefinite article, as for example, "Ich bin Deutscher," where in English we would say, "I am a German." The other Germanic languages have: German "ein," Low German Saxon "en," Dutch "een," West Frisian "in," Danish, Swedish and Norwegian all have "en," and Icelandic "einn" (while I'm not totally certain, Icelandic may not use an indefinite article, "einn" seems to simply mean "one").
^ The indefinite article means just that, it does not specify the exact item (noun), it is more general in meaning. Example: "If you are looking for a book, there is a book on the table." "But that is not the book I'm looking for." "The" is called the definite article, with obvious reason.
Labels: books, English, Ernest Hemingway, etymology, Fascism, films, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Gary Cooper, Germanic languages, idealism, Ingrid Bergman, movies, Spain, Spanish Civil War, Spanish Republic
posted by Randy at 12:09 PM
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