Yanks

A sweet, sad movie about people in wartime
My husband and I have watched Yanks many times on VHS. I am glad to see that it is finally available on DVD. Every time I watch this movie I marvel at the small touches that bring this era to life, from the tiny grocers shop with lines to the boredom of the men in the barracks.

All the actors have a freshness in their roles. I don't know if Richard Gere every played a more grounded, real character. Vanessa Redgrave has a bittersweet role as the married woman who enjoys a dalliance with dashing American William Devane.

From the arrival of the soldiers until their departure for the the D-day invasion, the movie sweeps through the changes wrought on the lives of English and Americans. The stories of the various characters intertwine, and it is not until the end that we realize how interconnected they hae become.

IN LOVE AND WAR
John Schleshinger's YANKS is more a slice of life, character study. Heavy on atmosphere, which is done quite nicely, and buoyed by good performances, the movie is low key, but resilient with the feelings of the British and the Yanks during this crucial time in WWII. Richard Gere is very good as Matt, the sensitive, polite soldier who finds himself falling for English shopkeeper Lisa Eichhorn, but is afraid of the commitment once the relationship becomes serious. Eichhorn is beautiful and parlays that fragile beauty into a sympathetic and engaging character. The movie's other romantic duo isn't given as much screen time, but Vanessa Redgrave does a marvelous job as the Red Cross volunteer who is becoming close to dashing William Devane. Redgrave's skills as a character actress enable her to bring more depth into the role than was written. Two other performances of note are Rachel Roberts as Eichhorn's mother and Wendy Morgan as the bus steward who ends up marrying one of the...

View the Power of the essence of Love.......
Wow, I don't know where to begin. I always wondered where the days went, when a man would kiss a woman and she would lift her leg behind her. As a man who is married with two young kids, I found this movie to be beyond romantic. I pursued my wife in college with the same vigor as Matt (Richard Gere) pursued Jean (Lisa Eichhorn). In an odd kind of way my wife resembles Jean, a naive beautiful woman whom I decided that I could not live without. As a self-proclaimed romantic and one regularly read Frost, this movie captured my heart. I can't stop talking about the subtlness of the love between Matt and Jean. Also, I found Helen (Vanessa Redgrave) and John (William Devane) to be absoulety devine, their story touched my soul. Specifically, toward the end while she was in the church. The ending of this movie is a marvel, I can only hope that it is nominated or re-nominated for an Oscar... Thank you Matt, Jean, Helen, and John, thank you for allowing Love to be so...

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