Why is The Longest Day such a good D-Day film?
TONY: It is the most appropriate D-Day film because it encapsulates the entire picture. It’s a three hour film and covers the D-Day invasion from the British, American, French and German perspective. It’s shot with an eye on a documentary feel and is in black and white. It was made only 15 years after the war and everything is still vivid in peoples’ minds. It was shot in the original languages so the French speak French and the Germans speak German. All the actors are from those nationalities. It is based on arguably the best book on D-Day – The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan and it’s extremely believable. Is it the sort of film that will attract audiences brought up on computer games where you can actually take part? TONY:Whether it will attract younger audiences depends on whether they’re film literate. Anyone expecting to see something like Saving Private Ryan will be disappointed because it’s not that type of film. It tips its hat to veterans by not showing people getting blown up.
