Manoeuvre on AllMovie

This 1979 Frederick Wiseman documentary about NATO manoeuvres in Western Europe won a 1980 CINE Golden Eagle. The 115-minute film follows a U.S. infantry tank company through training exercises in West Germany. Defensive and offensive tactics, hypothetical wins and losses are seen from the point of view of a company fighting a simulated, conventional, non-nuclear ground/air war. These war games serve several purposes, including the testing of how fast U.S. reinforcements can come to the aid of NATO forces stationed in Europe. John W. Donahue (America) unearthed the film's true subtext: "The viewer suddenly realizes that this exercise really acted out a war like the last one and if there ever should be a World War III, it would be much different." Shown at the 1979 London Film Festival, the 1980 Festival dei Popoli, and the 1980 American Film Festival.