The history of humanity is, tragically, also a history of war. The conflicts in which countries and cultures take arms against one another have shaped the map of the world and repeatedly redefined our place within it, and so it only makes sense that a significant number of films have been made about soldiers, about their battles, and about the consequences.
But it’s one thing to make a movie about a war with the benefit of hindsight. Modern war movies, made during or only shortly after the conflicts they dramatize, are trickier. Filmmakers can’t always see the forest for the trees, and frequently fall back on rah-rah action dynamics and propagandistic simplicity. And while some of the best modern war movies do those things too, the most interesting examples try to say something salient about the people embroiled in these battles, and explore each war from a different, illuminating angle.
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But it’s one thing to make a movie about a war with the benefit of hindsight. Modern war movies, made during or only shortly after the conflicts they dramatize, are trickier. Filmmakers can’t always see the forest for the trees, and frequently fall back on rah-rah action dynamics and propagandistic simplicity. And while some of the best modern war movies do those things too, the most interesting examples try to say something salient about the people embroiled in these battles, and explore each war from a different, illuminating angle.
Continue reading…
Continue reading...