Birthday Blitz: The Cuckoo (dir. Aleksandr Rogozhkin, 2002)

Day 10, Movie 10 – The Cuckoo – A Case Of WWII Movie Fatigue

I read a plot summary for The Cuckoo and immediately thought, “Not another one.”

The Cuckoo is not a Kate Hudson romantic comedy or a vampire movie or the latest superhero flick. Those all usually make me want to gauge my eyes out. The Cuckoo, a 2002 Russian film, is yet another run-of-the-mill World War II movie.

And I’m bored with them too.

Alright. So it is unfair for me to lump The Cuckoo with all the movies that infuriate me, especially the Kate Hudson ones. The Cuckoo, which centers on a Finnish soldier and a Russian soldier who take refuge at a Sami woman’s home at the end of the war, is funny and enjoyable. You rarely see a talky war movie.

But lately I’m feeling burnt out by World War II movies. Even the good ones.

It doesn’t matter if it is a 1950s Hollywood production or a recent foreign film like The Cuckoo. I fear that I may have reached my limit of World War II films.

They’ve become draining for a number of reasons – there are so many, I can usually predict the ending, there are so many, they are a surefire way to generate critical attention, there are so many. You get my point.

The most frustrating thing is that World War is a never ending source of story material. There will many more WWII movies for me to watch in the future.

Does anyone else encounter this issue? Do you have any recommendations to beat this apparent World War II movie funk I am in? I may just watch enough Civil War movies until I’m more appreciative of a WWII movie.

This post is part of my Birthday Blitz Marathon.