Favorite Films: Cross of Iron (1977)
Whenever a filmmaker has a distinct style, there is always the possibility that their work will be reduced to a series of tropes by the public. There are still people who associate Martin Scorsese as the director who only makes mob films, even though many of his best films have nothing to do with gangsters. Sam Peckinpah has long been a controversial figure in cinema; both with studios and audiences. He made a habit of antagonizing everyone. To this day he is still seen as merely a purveyor of slow-motion brutality. He certainly did utilize violence more so than most in Hollywood at the time but dismissing the man’s work because of his tendency to shock is reductive.
Underneath the bloodshed and chaos is a world-weary melancholy that his imitators fail to capture, a romantic yearning for a bygone era in the eyes of his characters. Cross of Iron captures this profound sadness, unlike most other films. The startling opening credits show a hint of the terror to come. We are shown a montage of archive footage from WW2 with a German folk song in the background sung by children. This contrast of sweet nursery rhyme contrasted with the real-life horrors of war is a haunting way to start the film. Towards the end of the opening credits, the archive footage is interspersed with moments from the first scene.
Here we are introduced to Corporal Rolf Steiner (James Coburn,) a veteran soldier of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front. This is a WW2 film from the German perspective. Some may be understandably uncomfortable with that idea, but in no way does the film portray the Nazis in a positive light. The only Nazi party character is a complete scumbag. It takes an interesting approach to showing German soldiers. They do not exist to uphold the horrific Nazi ideology. They are just trying to survive the most horrendous circumstances imaginable. The Eastern Front is rarely shown in films, despite how much of the fighting happened there.
Cross of Iron paints the Eastern front as an apocalyptic wasteland, a desperate struggle for survival where any kind of political ideology is irrelevant when you can be shot down any second. Most of the soldiers in the film view the Nazis with scorn. Especially Captain Stransky (Maximillian Schell). He is brought in to command Steiner’s battalion. Stransky is a vain and power-hungry man who yearns to achieve the Iron Cross. Part of what makes him an engrossing antagonist is his background. Stransky is a Prussian aristocrat who disdains the Nazis. He bristles in anger when Steiner associates him with them. Those without knowledge of the historical context may see this as a way to make a Nazi character more palatable.
In actuality, the Prussians did hate the Nazis. Before Hitler took over, the Prussians were the wealthy elite. Many of them were forced out of government and replaced with Nazi loyalists. They saw Hitler and his party as low-class thugs. By this period of the war, those in charge of the army were questioning Hitler’s tactical decisions. In the film, the regiment’s commander Colonel Brandt (James Mason) understands they are losing the war. There is a somber moment when he asks his comrade and friend, Captain Kiesel (David Warner), what they will do when they lose the war. Kiesel responds with “prepare for the next one.” Both men are beaten down and exhausted. Kiesel is openly resentful of the war and living with the constant fear of death.
It is difficult to pinpoint how accurate these characters are to real German soldiers. The film does not mention the atrocities of the holocaust. Historically speaking, Nazi soldiers were aware of the antisemitic rhetoric and the horrors of the concentration camps. Hitler made sure to desensitize the public to what was happening in the camps. This was done on purpose in order to dehumanize the victims so he would face minimal pushback from Germans. Cross of Iron has a moment where a tormented Steiner says to his men, "Do you think they'll ever forgive us for what we've done? Or forget us?”
There is a palpable air of dread that permeates every frame. These men know that each moment could be their last. They savor every second of camaraderie they can grasp. In terms of casting, every actor here is tremendous. There is a bit of an inconsistency with the German accents. James Coburn is fantastic as Steiner, though he does just sound like an American. Meanwhile, you have the brilliant Maximillian Schell whose real accent fits his character perfectly. Contrast that with James Mason who just sounds like James Mason, and David Warner who sounds like a cranky Brit. This smorgasbord of accents is a bit perplexing, but I found it easy to get used to since all the performances are so great. All the actors just speak in the ways they would normally, which makes their roles feel natural.
Steiner’s gradual disconnect from reality and his constant clashes with Stransky for the focus of the film. He is a good man at heart who cannot escape from the hell he is dragged into. There are hints of a former life when he has a romantic liaison with a nurse, Eva (Senta Berger.) He is injured in combat and the film hints at a history between him and this nurse. She tries to convince him to find peace and solitude with her, but he pushes her away in favor of returning to fight with his men. In these snapshot moments with her we see the life Steiner could have had if he walked away from the world that is destroying him. This is the somber and tragic power of Peckinpah’s films that is often overlooked. He is a master at showcasing a man’s slow walk to the gallows. Their fate is sealed and all we can do is watch their descent into oblivion.
The film was a box office flop when it came out and received mixed reviews. Thankfully, its critical reception has changed over the years. Quentin Tarantino is a fan of the film and cited it as an inspiration for Inglorious Bastards. You can see the influence of the well-spoken and vain Stransky on Christoph Waltz’ character Hans Landa. Orson Welles even contacted Peckinpah and called Cross of iron, "the best war film he had seen about the ordinary enlisted man since All Quiet on the Western Front."
Despite my love for this film, I can admit it has rough patches. Peckinpah’s alcoholism was escalating during this period. His unstable and unpredictable nature came close to compromising the production. Sadly, this would be his last great work. His lifestyle would end up being his eventual downfall. The film’s abrupt ending is thanks to the production running out of money, so they had to scrape together whatever they could from the rubble. The result is a strange and anticlimactic conclusion that leaves the fate of the characters up in the air.
That does feel suitable considering the chaos of the Eastern front. We do not need to know what happens to these people because there is no glimmer of hope for them. There is only a never-ending fight to stay alive. The only character who is shown some degree of light in the darkness is Captain Kiesel. He is jaded and bitter, but his contempt for the ruling party is a sign there may be a way for the country to move forward after this madness has ended. The final scene is a brutal and uncompromising assault. It becomes impossible to differentiate the Germans from the Russians, partially because their uniform colors are a similar shade. At this point, who is fighting who becomes just a vague blur of blood and suffering. There are no heroes and villains, only survivors.
