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 An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge More at IMDbPro »La rivière du hibou (original title)

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31 out of 36 people found the following review useful:
Where is the rest of this film?, 17 November 2004
Author: Benoît A. Racine (benoit-3) from Toronto, Ontario, Canada

BUYER BEWARE!

This short film is only one part of a three-story anthology film by Robert Enrico called "Au coeur de la vie" (1962) (please see elsewhere in IMDb). All three stories are inspired by Ambrose Bierce short stories about the American Civil War.

Something very strange happened to this particular episode of "Au coeur de la vie" (whose title is the translation of Ambrose Bierce's collection of short stories "In the Midst of Life"). First of all, it was proposed as Best Short Subject at the Oscars in 1962 and won, even though it had probably never been shown commercially that way in the US or anywhere else. Second, it was chosen as the very last episode of Rod Serling's TV series "The Twilight Zone", in a cost-cutting gesture.

It is this truncated version that is generally available on VHS and DVD today. It is unfortunately not the way its director wanted it and the two other episodes of that film ("L'oiseau moqueur" and "Chickamauga", a.k.a. "La Bataille de Chickamauga") have totally disappeared from everyone's consciousness.

That is really sad as I remember seeing the whole film in a cine-club in 1963 and going through a thoroughly gut-wrenching emotional experience because of the cumulative effect of these three stories. For the record, "L'Oiseau moqueur" ("The Mockingbird") tells of the terrifying confrontation of two brothers on a battlefield and "Chickamauga" relates the famous battle from the point of view of a six-year-old deaf and mute child living on a plantation.

Some producer somewhere probably decided that the entire film would be too intense to be shown in its entirety to an American audience and it has since sunk under the waters of forgetfulness, except for that maimed "Twilight Zone" episode, edited for the inclusion of commercials.

Let us all pray that somebody, somewhere will rescue it from the ravages of time before it is too late and make the whole thing available on DVD, in its original, uncut, uncompromised form, very, very soon…

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24 out of 24 people found the following review useful:
Relating how this film started my love of the cinema, 29 September 2004
Author: losnova (losnova@hotmail.com) from London (EngLand)

I cannot believe that this film is remembered by more than myself! I was a young teenager waiting for the main picture to start when this small black and white movie was shown as a filler. Forty years later, I can still remember the impact this film had on me. It was stunning! It reached me in such a way, that I have never forgotten it, and it was this film that started my love of cinema..Real cinema!

Over the years, I have mentioned this movie to many people, none of whom have even heard of it, I thought I'd imagined it all..! It was also the film that had me wishing I could work in the movies.... Forty years on, I still have that same dream! Silly isn't it?

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11 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
EXcellent, 19 July 2005
10/10
Author: I_KODA from United States

Incident at Owl Creek Bridge is an excellent movie. My Mom saw this movie years ago when it was first shown on t.v. and it left an indelible mark on her. I remember how spellbound us kids were as she told the story to us...My hair stood on end. Mom has been wanting to find it and I just looked here, hoping... and voilà, here it was listed. Although it may be an old movie, the acting and the subject matter would appeal to a broad range of ages. There was so much suspense within us kids as Mom recounted the movie that we were totally silent and still, listening raptly, wide eyed and tense.We felt as though we were right there watching it. Years later, I finally saw it and it was just as my Mom had described.I highly recommend this one and so does my family.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Absolutely Breath-taking!, 16 June 2002
Author: Lee-107 (leena_d@yahoo.com) from India

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I saw this movie as a part of my Film course. It was the first movie shown to us in class. First, not only because it effectively uses some of the basic and important cinematic techniques, but also because it illustrates the very basis of cinema - illusion. For the three-fourths of its length we're totally, skillfully fooled into believing that what is happening to the protagonist is "real", that it's happening and then the ending hits you like a whirlwind, taking you completely unawares! It is not just this surprise ending that makes this movie so great. It is the mastery over the cinematic form on the part of the director, Robert Enrico to deliver sheer magic in the space of 20 minutes - that is cinema at its Finest!

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7 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
Excellent film of one of the greatest short stories ever, 10 December 2004
Author: HarpMN from Minnesota

I am a high school English teacher, and this film is absolutely perfect for classroom use. At just over 20 minutes, it is exactly the right length to show in an 11th grade class - it holds the students' attention and is short enough to keep them from getting bored. It is also an extremely faithful representation of the story, which helps students visualize and reinforce what they have read. To the teacher who posted earlier, who had to keep warning his students about "being bored for 20 minutes," I'd suggest that he's established a self-fulfilling prophecy: if you think it's boring, and you tell them it's boring, don't be surprised if they act bored.

Beyond the classroom applications, this film is just plain good and will prove a real treat for all lovers of film and/or The Twilight Zone.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Incredible Movie, 2 December 2003
Author: thecarczar from tucson

I first saw this film on The Twilight Zone when I was only about eleven.It was unforgettable.I believe it was a winner at the Cann Film Festival also.Just recently bought it and shown it to many friends.They all loved it.

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9 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
Although only a 'short', this is my all time favourite film., 4 September 2003
10/10
Author: Fred Dobbin from Australia

Everything about this film is just right. Camera work, direction and acting are all in harmony. Since I first saw this film, as a fill-in to 'The Birds', it has been unquestionably my favourite film of all time, beating even 'Potemkin'.

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7 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Famous short film - one of the best, 3 December 2003
Author: Steph (davidbyrne77) from Ottawa, Ontario

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I first saw this (like many others) in high school english class, and I've seen it since as an episode of The Twilight Zone. Rod Serling was smart to choose this short film to air on his series, because it does contain a dark, surreal element to it. However, I'm quite shocked as to how viewers interpreted it. I've always seen the prisoner's lengthy escape, cross-country odyssey and reunion with his lost love as being his journey to heaven (occurring at the split second of his death). His death releases him from the earthly shackles of the bridge and noose, while the trek to the immaculate, untouched mansion, with its sprawling grounds and lovely woman represent the kingdom of heaven, which the prisoner has finally achieved entry to. The ending, with the embrace coinciding with the neck-snapping fall, cemented this view of the film, or so I thought. Thus, the film is a celebration of eternal life, not the dismal death-ends-all view that so many people see in it. Maybe that's my degree in film talking.

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5 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
A classic film from a classic writer., 30 March 2004
10/10
Author: Jason Reagin (wjreagin) from Suzhou, China

The original writer of the story was a civil war reporter. He covered many such events as outlined in the film. I like this film for many reasons. First, it is a black and white film to capture the feeling of the story. Next, the story was very realistic for the time in which the story takes place. Also, there are very few spoken lines. Finally, the twist at the end is worth the wait. I am not going to spoil the ending, but please be patient to the end. I promise that you will not be disappointed. When I was in college my class studied this film for all of the above points. It is short, only about 30 minutes, but the time is not wasted. It is a moving piece and I recommend it to anyone!

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6 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
What a great movie!, 3 June 2001
10/10
Author: Lew Graham (doppelganger36@hotmail.com) from O'Sullivan Beach, Sth Australia

I first saw this film when released but of course at that time audiences were not as sophisticated as they are now. The scene where the two lovers were running towards each other in slow motion was an absolute novelty and was rewarded with guffaws of laughter until the moment came at the climax when we were rewarded with an astonished total silence. One of those few moments in the movies which stand out in ones memory forever. I recently found a copy on video in one of the Twilight Zone series but the quality was disgraceful and totally distracted us from the quality of the production. What a great movie even though it was very short but as with "The stranger Left No Card" length does not matter

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