Band of Brothers: Currahee (2001)

The first episode of HBO's most expensive production ever, Band of Brothers, received great advance press and HBO promoted the series heavily, ensuring good ratings. Many TV critics cautioned viewers that the first episode of the WWII miniseries introduced so many characters that it might be awhile before they were individuated in viewers' minds. The filmmakers are clearly focused on maintaining verisimilitude, even at the expense of high drama. They are trusting the audience to stick with it, without the aid of expository dialogue or familiar faces in the major roles. The program is shot with handheld cameras, in washed-out color, much in the style of the Normandy Beach segment of Saving Private Ryan. This gives it a cinéma vérité flavor, which is enhanced by the authentic sounding barracks dialogue, and the straightforward performances of the cast. The biggest star in the first episode, "Currahee," is David Schwimmer, cast against type as the cruel commander of Easy Company, Lieutenant Sobel. Some critics questioned his casting, but Schwimmer does an admirable job with a challenging role. All the drama in the pilot episode hinges on how the men of Easy Company relate to Sobel. Audiences have seen cruel drill instructors in many films, like An Officer and a Gentleman and Full Metal Jacket, but this character transcends what has become a screen stereotype. The script does little to suggest what motivates him to abuse his troops, beyond a basic petty meanness, but Schwimmer has a soulfulness that lends the character a haunted quality, making him more of a tragic figure than a stock villain. The audience knows that the men Sobel trained went on to show great heroism in combat, in part because of his unrelenting severity. Thus, the end he meets seems just, but also sad. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide