The majority of audiences watch war movies for the history, action, special effects, and cinematography but the genre also boasts of some of the most impressive performances by movie stars. This is expected since the battlefield and the regions surrounding them are always guaranteed to trigger pain, desperation, and fury. And these are emotions that are known to highlight an actor’s skills much better than any other.
Over the years, numerous incredible performances have been witnessed in Hollywood releases, but the casts of foreign projects have also continued to demonstrate their acting chops. A good number of the characters are neither widely known historical figures nor iconic fictional war veterans, yet the actors still made them matter, and in the process, some of them collected a number of accolades for themselves.
10 Felix Kammerer as Paul Bäumer (All Quiet on the Western Front)
All Quiet on the Western Front is arguably one of the greatest war movies based on books as it plucks several good characters from Erich Maria Remarque’s novel and fleshes them out even more. Among them, Imperial German Army soldier Paul Bäumer stands out because he is depicted as a worried and disappointed man throughout the proceedings. Driven by dreams of grandeur, he joins the army hoping to one day be decorated as a war hero, but he faces the harsh realities of war, forcing him to regret his move. His only wish is for all of it to be over, and his hopelessness is very believable, thanks to Felix Kammerer’s incredible performance.:
Despite having only appeared in one other movie before, the German actor reacts appropriately to each situation, whether it’s making calculated steps to avoid the bombs on the World War I trenches, or sinking into grief when Bäumer’s close friend, Ludwig, gets killed. And he sure deserves credit for doing a much better job than the legendary Lewis Frederick Ayres III, who played the same character in the first-ever adaptation of the book.
9 Adrien Brody as Władysław Szpilman (The Pianist)
In recent years, Adrien Brody has become better known for playing the Peaky Blinders villain, Luca Changretta, but his finest performance is in The Pianist — a co-production by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Poland. Brody has a Best Actor Oscar to boast of for playing Władysław Szpilman, a Polish-Jewish musician, and it’s through the talented pianist’s lens that the German invasion of Poland is seen.
During Operation Reinhard — in which Nazis transported Jews from Poland into concentration camps — Szpilman is saved and eventually joins the resistance as more of a weapons supplier than an active fighter. Brody thus has to juggle between showcasing the determination of a character that is trying to make the enemy pay while still doing his best to ensure his music career doesn't end. And he keeps that up throughout the 150-minute running time.
8 Lee Je-hoon as Captain Shin Il-Young (The Front Line)
Events in The Front Line happen in the final days before ceasefire during the Korean War and one of the soldiers at the center of it is Captain Shin Il-Young. The young commander has the hard task of motivating his troops as the bloodshed gets intense, but he has to deal with his own demons, including an addiction to morphine.
From attending to his own wounds to calming down a soldier who is insisting on seeing friends who died, the character always has a lot to deal with and Lee Je-hoon plays him convincingly. The monologue the II-Young gives to his hallucinating colleague is especially heartwarming since Je-Hoon conveys all the emotions well. It’s one of the roles that convinced the world that he could truly act and since then, he has gone on to be a common face in both Korean big-screen and small-screen projects.
7 Heinz Hoenig as Hinrich (Das Boot)
Heinz Hoening only appears on-screen for about 20 minutes in the 210-minute Das Boot, but he outshines every other actor thanks to the manner in which he pushes his character to his physical and psychological limits. The movie chronicles the adventures of German U-boat crew members during World War II and Honeing plays Hinrich, who has the triple responsibility of being the combat medic, radioman, and sonar controller.
Hinrich proves to be particularly good at calculating the distance of targets, and so he plays a key role in warning fellow crew members as well as advising when to attack. Additionally, in a U-boat full of disharmony, Hinrich ends up being very likable because of his strong relationship with the captain. Their banter is also one of the key ingredients that make Das Boot stick out among highly-rated ‘80s World War II movies.
6 Sidharth Malhotra as Vicky and Vishy (Shershaah)
Playing a double-role requires more effort and dedication but as one of India’s finest talents, Sidharth Malhotra never struggles at all in Shershaah. The stakes are even higher because one of the characters he portrays (Lieutenant Captain Vikram Batra), is one of the nation’s greatest war heroes. Whenever such a major figure is involved, a bad performance usually triggers outrage, with the public feeling that a better act should have been cast.
Thankfully, Malhotra delivers by making sure the character shows strength at all times, whether he is on the battlefield during the Kargil War or pursuing a challenging relationship with the lovely, Dimple. So good is his chemistry with Kiara Davni (who plays Dimple), that the two became a couple after wrapping up production
5 Michael Caine as Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead (Zulu)
Technically, Michael Caine doesn’t qualify as one of the actors who found success later in life but most of his earlier roles remain unknown. One of those is that of Lieutenant Gonville Bromhead in Zulu. The character is despicable compared to others that the British actor has played in recent years and that’s because he is the stereotypical arrogant military superior who doesn’t think the Zulus will win, yet they outnumber the British by more than 3000 men.
Despite his naivety, Bromhead shines on the battlefield. He puts up a great fight when his fellow soldiers get slaughtered during the Rorke’s Drift battle at the height of the Anglo-Zulu war. Since it’s his first major role, Caine puts a lot of effort into his performance and so his villainous character comes off as strong. For newer fans of the actor, it’s definitely a performance worth checking out because he no longer takes on such kinds of action-heavy roles.
4 Anna Magnani as Pina (Rome, Open City)
The fear of Nazis is what mostly drives the plots in World War II movies and in Rome, Open City, Giorgo Manfredi, a resistance leader, attempts to flee the city, with German soldiers on his tail. However, it’s the woman that helps him that wows audiences the most. Manfredi’s neighbor, Pina, is portrayed by Anna Magnani who channels the character’s concern and bravery marvelously throughout the movie.
Rome, Open City is credited with launching Italian neorealism, and Magnani’s character is the one that’s accurately used as a symbol for the challenges of the poor and working class. The role might have not earned Magnani any major accolades, but it sure did set her on the path to becoming a star. A couple of years later, she would become the first non-English woman to win an Oscar for Best Actress.
3 Tadanobu Asano as Temüjin, aka, Genghis Khan (Mongol)
Not enough cinematic stories have been told about one of the greatest conquerors of all time, but a very captivating one can be found in Mongol. Here, the character's legendary exploits are brought to life by Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano, better known for his role as Hogun in the MCU. Asano’s role isn’t limited to the battlefield only since Khan happens to be a polygamist and a very effective ruler too.
Audiences, therefore, get to see some relationship drama as well as a display of benevolent dictatorship. Through powerful monologues, Asano makes the conqueror as intimidating as possible. Whether it's his ordering that women and children ought not to be killed during an invasion or his speaking about betrayal using parables, Khan remains a strong character throughout the proceedings.
2 Aleksei Kravchenko as Flyora (Come And See)
Come And See is a harrowing examination of the effects of war on children. Events revolve around the teenager, Floryra, who witnesses all kinds of horrors and goes through extreme suffering as the Nazis occupy Belarusia during World War II. Director Elem Klimov based the character on his own experiences as a child during the war and Aleksei Kravchenko’s performance is the reason the teenager is so easy to sympathize with.
As the events unfold, Floryra goes through a wide range of emotions, all of which Kravenchenko nails. First, it’s curiosity after he finds an SVT-40 rifle. Second is overenthusiasm, which makes him join the Belorussian resistance movement against his mother’s wishes. Third is grief and despair, which causes him to attempt suicide after learning that his family might have been killed.
1 Tatsuya Nakadai as Ichimonji Hidetora (Ran)
Celebrated Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, has plenty of war movies on his resume, but there is none better than Ran, which is actually a retelling of William Shakespeare’s King Lear tale. The aging Sengoku-period warlord, Hidetora Ichimonji, is the version of King Lear in his story and is portrayed convincingly by Tatsuya Nakadai.
Things go south for the warlord when he decides to abdicate his throne in favor of his sons. As chaos unfolds, Nakadai never struggles in any scene, and that’s partly because he and Kurosawa’s great working relationship. The pair collaborated on a total of five movies together
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July 09, 2023 at 02:42AM
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The 10 Finest Performances in Non-American War Movies - MovieWeb
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