WAR FILM
Only a couple of years after the first practical application of moving images in Europe and North America cameras were turned on to both real and faked and sometimes a combination of both real and faked scenes from armed conflicts.
Notorious fakes were made in England of "Boer committed atrocities" during 1900-1902. Films however have since 1900 grown in initally populist and after 1945 in academic appeals. I will present below some links for those interested
in researching diverse aspects of war films as well as materials on some personal favourites. In addition some reviews (of films/videos and pertinent resources) will also be occasionally presented.
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REFERENCES,SOURCES,CRITICAL STUDIES
War and War-Era Propaganda: Media Resources Center UCB
University of California's excellent guide to especially Internet resources with specific film coverage/sources. A great starting point!
The Media and Images of War
Transcript of a broadcast of February 27,1994 of an official U.S.Government produced film on America and war movies. Some interesting material here!
VFW-VFW Magazine - Warriors On The Silver Screen
An article by Brian McCombie that argues for a positive depiction of the military "motivated by patriotism" and having "a strong moral commitment to military life".
Military-WWII-Nazi-Soviet-Propaganda Videos - INTERNATIONAL HISTORIC FILMS
An excellent source to many videos of both fiction and non-fiction war/military films that is very well indexed.
Propaganda Analysis Home Page
Although American slanted this well organized site includes good materials on wartime propaganda especially World War I.
INDIVIDUAL MOVIES/FILMS
NAPOLEON (1927)
Napoleon (1927)
The famous classic film from late 1920's France on Napoleon's early years by Director Abel Gance.
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930)
Tim Dirks's thoughtfull review including script quotes from one of the greatest anti-war films ever made.
WAR AND PEACE (1968)
A famous Soviet era film based on the classic Leo Tolstoy novel of the same title with a huge cast and noted for its director's penchant for historical accuracy: actual period props being used frequently. Sergei Bondarchuk's film is somewhat overly long but the cinematic affects,set designs and costumes make this frequently a joy simply to watch.
ROI DE COEUR (English: "KING OF HEARTS") (1966)
A Philippe de Broca classic "anti-war" film set in 1918 France. Alan Bates stars as Private Charles Plumpick a Highland soldier who finds refuge in a German occupied town with inmates of an abandoned asylum whom he eventually decides to join despite the town's liberation by the Allies.
THE CAINE MUTINY (1954)
The Caine Mutiny is one of my favourite films. Some of the acting and parts of the script are "weak" but then given that it was made with official naval cooperation and just after the Korean War amidst a considerably warmed up "Cold War" period (Indo-China War)it still stands up as a remarkable character study. The author of the novel who deservedly won literary kudos including the Pulitzer Prize for his 1951 published novel upon which the movie is based actually researched World War II American military psychiatric files to gain realistic insight into how officers especially commanding officers can "crack".
THE CAINE MUTINY
A simple site that still offers the Cast list,credits and a brief summary.
THE CAINE MUTINY POSTERS
6 colour images: 3 posters and 3 showcards that though undated almost certainly derive from the films first release in 1954.
PATHS OF GLORY (1957)
This is also one of my favourite films period. Its cinematography (Kubrick was a semi-prodigy photographer having still photos published in "Life" while he was still in high school in New York),its direction,editing,art design and musical and sound effects are superb. One may fault the scriptwriters (the script went through several major revisions and was worked upon by several persons at different times)for simplifying morality but then it is a film! Overall this film made a generation ago still stands one of the major critical tests of quality: timelessness. Ironically made at the near height of the Cold War and threatening nuclear armaggeddon by focussing on the few characters it beautifully captures the alienation of soldiers in armed conflicts during the 20th.century. Command responsibility,military obedience and authority,and their relationships to legal/social "norms" are superbly interperted.
PATHS OF GLORY Links:
Stanley Kubrick: The Master Filmmaker. Paths of Glory.
Kubrick Multimedia Film Guide. Paths of Glory (1957)
(Greatest Films) Paths of Glory (1957) [Tim Dirks lengthy 1996 review of the film]
DIE BRUECKE [English: The Bridge] (1961)
Bernhard Wicki's novel which he also wrote the filmscript for this well known film that depicts the tragic waste of youth in the last months of World War Two in Germany.
FIRES ON THE PLAIN (1959)
A Japanese production depicting the disintegration of a Japanese army unit as it retreats in 1944 during the American invasion of the Philippines.
CATCH-22 (1970)
Catch-22
Another of my favourite films. Heller's 1961 novel as translated into this 1970 film while clearly influenced by the height of the anti-Vietnam War Movement still stands as a great American self-satire of war,bureaucracy,madness and sanity.
APOCALYPSE NOW (1979)
Apocalypse Now Links Page
Rather than list the great number of web sites on this or other films this appears to be one of the best link pages to this fine film including literary influences.
DAS BOOT (1982) [Director's cut released 1997]
Das Boot
An excellent modern German film about the World War Two experiences of a German submarine's crew on an active service patrol. The sub's captain is superbly portrayed though the script may be faulted for a somewhat sentimental portrayal of crew camarederie.
REVIEWS
HOME
REVIEWS
Click under "REVIEWS" for all kinds of reviews of related materials!
BIBLIOGRAPHIES
CHECKLISTS
MARINE
AVIATION
PHOTOGRAPHY
ANTI-WAR
OFFICIAL CURRENT MILITARY/WAR ARTISTS
CULTURAL PROPERTY PROTECTION
MEMORIALS and MONUMENTS
PRE-1914
WORLD WAR I
SPANISH CIVIL WAR,1936-1939
WORLD WAR II
VIETNAM Conflict 1961-1975
LINKS
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Email: jgilinsky@oise.utoronto.ca
