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A Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to Arms

Drama · Romance · War · 1957

An English nurse and an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I fall in love, but the horrors surrounding them test their romance to the limit.

Movie details

A Farewell to Arms

“One of the great love stories of all time!”

1957 Drama · Romance · War 2h 32m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.0 / 10

Community rating

An English nurse and an American soldier on the Italian front during World War I fall in love, but the horrors surrounding them test their romance to the limit.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over A Farewell to Arms?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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During the Blitz of World War II, a female screenwriter works on a film celebrating England's resilience as a way to buoy a weary populace's spirits. Her efforts to dramatise the true story of two sisters who undertook their own maritime mission to rescue wounded soldiers are met with mixed feelings by a dismissive all-male staff.

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While Sergeant John Tyree is home on two weeks leave from Germany, he meets Savannah after he dives into the ocean to retrieve Savannah's purse that had fallen off a pier. John eventually falls in love with Savannah, who promises to write to him until he returns from overseas.

Mrs. Miniver

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Charles Vidor

Written by

Ben Hecht

Rock Hudson

Rock Hudson

Lt. Frederick Henry

Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones

Catherine Barkley

Vittorio De Sica

Vittorio De Sica

Major Rinaldi

L

Luigi Barzini

Court Martial Colonel

G

Georges Brehat

Captain Bassi

Oskar Homolka

Oskar Homolka

Dr. Emerich

Mercedes McCambridge

Mercedes McCambridge

Mrs. Van Campen

Court is in session

Put A Farewell to Arms on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Prestige Tourist

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.