THE SILENT VILLAGE {Short} (Humphrey Jennings, 1943) ***

British documentarist Jennings was perhaps the most renowned exponent of his field, especially for the 'poetic' depiction of his homeland's noble contribution to WWII. A number of his major films have been released on DVD, of which I had acquired Image's LISTEN TO Britain AND OTHER FILMS BY HUMPHREY JENNINGS; at the time, I was somewhat underwhelmed by the experience, though I also recall that the imperfect audio was partly to blame! 

Anyway, the movie under review is another well-regarded effort of his and, interestingly, not quite documentary despite its matter-of-fact presentation and non-professional cast. The fact is that it tells of the real-life events that occurred in the Czech town of Lidice, which was razed to the ground by the Nazis following the townsfolk's assassination of SS chief Reinhard Heydrich; curiously enough, Fritz Lang made HANGMEN ALSO DIE! (1943) – a Hollywoodized account of just this tragic case – around this same time! 

Jennings found a Welsh mining town with a similar landscape and way-of- life and recreated the heinous incident there – still, he did not try to pass it off as Lidice but rather theorized what could have been, which I am sure hit the British viewers that much more. Incidentally, this was possibly the first but certainly not the last time that such a hypothetical viewpoint would be undertaken by documentarists: Kevin Brownlow and Andrew Mollo's IT HAPPENED HERE (1965) – which I will be checking out presently, since it tells of Britain's capitulation to the Nazi onslaught! – and Peter Watkins' harrowing, Oscar-winning THE WAR GAME (1965) – detailing the country's reaction to nuclear holocaust.

The true story of the massacre of a small Czech village by the Nazis is retold as if it happened in Wales.

These modern women are killing the horror game.

21st Century Scream Queens

1999 was an absurdly good year for movies. IMDb staff weigh in on the films in the "Class of '99," and how they hold up 25 years later.

The Films That Defined 1999

1999 was an absurdly good year for movies. IMDb staff weigh in on the films in the &quot;Class of &#39;99,&quot; and how they hold up 25 years later.

Take a look at the 15 movies you'll be hearing about in fall 2024.

15 Fall Movies You Need to Know About

Take a look at the 15 movies you&#39;ll be hearing about in fall 2024.

Themselves

Self

Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain

The Silent Village

Photos5

Top cast2

Storyline

Did you know

User reviews5

Top picks

Details

Technical specs

Related news

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed