“Grandpa, were you a hero in the war?” … “No… but I served in a company of heroes”.
For Christmas, and completely by accident, I got a blu-ray player, and, determined to experience its much vaunted qualities for myself, went on a shopping spree of epic (in a minor key) proportions. One of the boxsets that I picked up was ‘Band of Brothers’ and I realised, as I was peeling off the plastic, that it must be at least five years since I’d watched it in its entirety. Cue a whole series marathon, and a wonderfully satisfying, if deeply emotional, experience; out of curiosity, I asked friends who had watched it what they thought of the series, and the first reaction of most of them was, “Oh, I cried.”
When Band of Brothers first aired in 2001 (and can it really be that long?), it was the most expensive television miniseries made by any television network. It has a huge cast and is, in the best sense of the word, epic television viewing. It covers, in wonderfully accurate detail, the experience of E (Easy) Company, part of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army during World War Two, from their initial training through to the end of the war. At the beginning of each episode, the real life members of Easy Company talk about the events about to unfold, lending a credibility to the show that, as far as I’m aware, has not really been matched by any other television series covering the same events (although ‘The Pacific’, the follow-up to ‘Band of Brothers’, does much the same but approaching the war from a different angle entirely).
The fate of each soldier, whether they are killed or injured or just managed to get through the war, is what makes us, as viewers, invested in the show, and each death packs a proper emotional punch. Where ‘Band of Brothers’ truly succeeded was in its casting; each actor not only resembles the real life soldier, but embodies their varied personalities so well that we care for them as people. Damian Lewis, playing the good guy of Easy Company Richard Winters, was the star of the show; the relationship between him and his counterpart, Lewis Nixon, played by Ron Livingston, is one of the best friendships I think I’ve ever seen on any screen. David Schwimmer played the memorable role of Herbert Sobel, the completely unlikeable man in charge of training Easy Company before they left America, and his character was as far from dorky Ross in ‘Friends’ as it was possible to get. Simon Pegg, James McAvoy, Tom Hardy, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fassbender and Colin Hanks were just some of the actors playing roles in the series, and it wasn’t until recently, when they were all pointed out to me, that I realised who they were.
The enduring legacy of ‘Band of Brothers’ is one of a great television show that told a story and told it well. Ross Owen and BlackSky Radio began a series of interviews with the cast to mark the tenth anniversary of the show’s airing last year, and the project is still ongoing; each of them talk about the great experience they had while filming the show, and how proud they are to have been in it. ‘The Pacific’ never quite matched the heights of ‘Band of Brothers’, despite its best efforts; ‘Band of Brothers’ seemed to have that rare alchemy of writing, acting and directing that just made it work.
If you catch ‘Band of Brothers’ on another rerun on television, or feel the urge to dig the DVD’s out sometime, watch it; you won’t be disappointed.
