Mr Manifesto
Illuminator
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Kelly's Heroes (1970) d: Brian G Hutton w: Troy Kennedy Martin s: Clint Eastwood, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Carroll O'Connor
Kelly's Heroes opens with American capitalists engaging in typical wasteful saturation artillery bombarding upon innocent civilians in Nazi Germany during WWII. Kelly (Clint Eastwood), a force for captialism, captures a Nazi officer and uses poison to illicit information about the location of a cache of gold from the officer. This is against the Geneva convention.
Once the officer has provided the information and is no longer ofany use to Kelly, he is discarded and left to die. Kelly then recruits the help of Sgt Crapgame (Don Rickles), who is easily seduced by capitalist corruption. 'Craps', interestingly enough, is a popular American gambling pasttime and one of the revered symbols of capitalism. Crapgame abuses his position and places his fellow comrades in danger in the name of gold by redirecting artillery fire to help Kelly acheive his aims.
Donald Sutherland plays Oddball, a once-left-wing hippie who was brain washed by the capitalist facists to serve as a death merchant for the Americans. He completes his oath of fealty to capitalism by undertaking to help recover the gold. Like Crapgame, he is not afraid to endager the lives of his brothers by using tanks to help Kelly which should be fighting the Nazis.
Completing the circle is Sgt Big Joe (Telly Savalas). Big Joe tries as hard as he can to honorably stand by his brothers in combat, but the allure of capitalism, reinforced by American propoganda, is too strong for even his nigh-indomitable will. He uses his own men, risking their lives, for the sake of a few bars of gold.
One of these men is called Barbara, although his real name is 'Babra'- two tools of capitalism used to demean minorites (sexism and racism) employed with a single blow.
Kelly's heroes are trapped in a minefield at one point. Although they watch one of their comrades die from a mine blast, they seem unaware of the death and destruction they have waged upon the world by selling mines to so many countries. The dead comrade is buried on foreign soil: obviously the gold is more important than his family's mental well-being. The family will be traumatised for life.
In a scene all-too-familiar to anyone who has ever been an ally of the Americans, Kelly and his crew come under attack by their own planes. Fortunately, this time, they only lose a few trucks to friendly fire. In later wars, the casualties will be much more severe (by mid-April of the Iraqi war, four British soldiers died because of enemy fire, and four died because of American fire).
Eventually, Kelly and his 'heroes' arrive at the town which holds the gold, all the while being cheered along by a Major General Colt (Carroll O'Connor), who perhaps instinctively realises that Kelly is a true champion for capitalism. He berates his underlings that 'finally someone is doing something in this war'. Obviously, saving the Jews is not a true aim of the Americans. It's all about the money. Kelly shows no regards for civilian safety in the town, sending his troops and tanks in to secure the vault.
The climax of the movie features a scene that could easily have been in a Sergio Leone western- another clear example of American racism. The Americans are facing off against a single Nazi tank. Although they out-number the Nazi, they offer him a deal- a share of the gold for his cooperation. The evil Nazi does not take long to reconsider. The irony of this situation is lost on the Americans.
Clearly, Kelly's Heroes is a celebration of the orgiastic acquisition of capital at the expense of duty, honour, and the lives of civilians. It does for capitalism what "Triumph of the Will" did for facisim. There can be no better insight into the mind of an American capitalist than "Kelly's Heroes".
Kelly's Heroes opens with American capitalists engaging in typical wasteful saturation artillery bombarding upon innocent civilians in Nazi Germany during WWII. Kelly (Clint Eastwood), a force for captialism, captures a Nazi officer and uses poison to illicit information about the location of a cache of gold from the officer. This is against the Geneva convention.
Once the officer has provided the information and is no longer ofany use to Kelly, he is discarded and left to die. Kelly then recruits the help of Sgt Crapgame (Don Rickles), who is easily seduced by capitalist corruption. 'Craps', interestingly enough, is a popular American gambling pasttime and one of the revered symbols of capitalism. Crapgame abuses his position and places his fellow comrades in danger in the name of gold by redirecting artillery fire to help Kelly acheive his aims.
Donald Sutherland plays Oddball, a once-left-wing hippie who was brain washed by the capitalist facists to serve as a death merchant for the Americans. He completes his oath of fealty to capitalism by undertaking to help recover the gold. Like Crapgame, he is not afraid to endager the lives of his brothers by using tanks to help Kelly which should be fighting the Nazis.
Completing the circle is Sgt Big Joe (Telly Savalas). Big Joe tries as hard as he can to honorably stand by his brothers in combat, but the allure of capitalism, reinforced by American propoganda, is too strong for even his nigh-indomitable will. He uses his own men, risking their lives, for the sake of a few bars of gold.
One of these men is called Barbara, although his real name is 'Babra'- two tools of capitalism used to demean minorites (sexism and racism) employed with a single blow.
Kelly's heroes are trapped in a minefield at one point. Although they watch one of their comrades die from a mine blast, they seem unaware of the death and destruction they have waged upon the world by selling mines to so many countries. The dead comrade is buried on foreign soil: obviously the gold is more important than his family's mental well-being. The family will be traumatised for life.
In a scene all-too-familiar to anyone who has ever been an ally of the Americans, Kelly and his crew come under attack by their own planes. Fortunately, this time, they only lose a few trucks to friendly fire. In later wars, the casualties will be much more severe (by mid-April of the Iraqi war, four British soldiers died because of enemy fire, and four died because of American fire).
Eventually, Kelly and his 'heroes' arrive at the town which holds the gold, all the while being cheered along by a Major General Colt (Carroll O'Connor), who perhaps instinctively realises that Kelly is a true champion for capitalism. He berates his underlings that 'finally someone is doing something in this war'. Obviously, saving the Jews is not a true aim of the Americans. It's all about the money. Kelly shows no regards for civilian safety in the town, sending his troops and tanks in to secure the vault.
The climax of the movie features a scene that could easily have been in a Sergio Leone western- another clear example of American racism. The Americans are facing off against a single Nazi tank. Although they out-number the Nazi, they offer him a deal- a share of the gold for his cooperation. The evil Nazi does not take long to reconsider. The irony of this situation is lost on the Americans.
Clearly, Kelly's Heroes is a celebration of the orgiastic acquisition of capital at the expense of duty, honour, and the lives of civilians. It does for capitalism what "Triumph of the Will" did for facisim. There can be no better insight into the mind of an American capitalist than "Kelly's Heroes".
