Favorite Movies About Life During War Time

I’ve been reading so many novels with war as a theme lately that it has made me think about some of my favorite movies with the same theme. My favortie war movies actually deal with the “home front,” how ordinary civilians deal with war and its aftermath.

gonewindRptGone With the Wind (1939), is the big classic here, and while much of the movie is a drama of Scarlet O’Hara, there scenes of wounded soldiers, guns, death, devastation enough to show the impact of war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

wings1Wings (1927). A silent movie about World War that won the very first picture of the year Oscar. I love the sense of emotion that comes through the dated acting style, and the way the movie shows loss of innocence of young men who become soldiers.

 

 

 

 

 

mrs_dalloway1Mrs. Dalloway(1997). Based on the 1925 novel by Virginia Woolf, this film is excellent at showing the everlasting efects of war on soldiers and nonsoldiers alike. The soldier who cannot come to terms with his war experiences is a theme often repeated. For those that like this, I highly recommend reading Virginia Woolf’s novel Jacob’s Room, one of my favorite novels of all time that also deals with the theme of World War I.

 

 

 

 

 

since1Since You Went Away(1944). A family copes with home life after their father (and the oldest daughter’s fiancee) go off to war. Somewhat leodramatic, but the heart of the movie captures the sense of loss, sacrifice and uncertainty that seems to characterize World War II.

 

 

 

 

 

 

coming-home001-20080627-122003-mediumComing Home(1978). Jon Voight and Jane Fonda in what is probably the most honest look at the effect of Viet Nam on the military that served there, and their loved ones.

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by Brian Posted on August 23, 2009
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2007 Pulitzer: The Road is realistic rendition of a common nightmare

theroadMcCarthy, Cormac.(2006). The Road. New York: Knopf. 

2007 Pulitzer Prize Winner for Fiction

 

Everything in The Road is reduced to the minimum; the language and writing style are stripped along with the lives of the characters. No linguistic decoration or extraneous description, luxury or sense of comfort. No neat tidy chapters or markers to tell us where we are in the book. No names for the characters.

What happens because of this is that we, like the characters, are forced with an immediacy, an identification with the events and the people. This immediacy creates a strong identification with the characters, and of all the apocalyptic and disaster novels and books in recent memory, this one comes closest to revealing the core of the human spirit. The essence of why life is worth living. Cormac McCarthy creates a poetic rhythm that shows how beautiful language can be used for unbeautiful experiences. W.B. Yeats phrase ” a terrible beauty” comes to mind. And yet the book leaves the reader with an oddly positive view of human nature.

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by Brian Posted on August 11, 2009
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Brian’s Chicken Salad

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

½ cup mayonnaise

¼ cup sour cream (or omit and make it ¾ cup mayo)

2 stalks celery, diced small

½ red or green bell pepper, diced small

1 small carrot, diced small

1 cup seedless grapes, cut in half

¼ cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1 Tablespoon chopped parsley

¼ teaspoon paprika

 

  1. Cook Chicken: Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken breasts on a sheet pan, coat both sides with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast until chicken is cooked through but not dried out (165 degrees), about 20-25 minutes.
  2. Cool breasts. The chicken can be cooked a day ahead and refrigerated.
  3. Cut cooled/chilled chicken into ¾ inch dice, or shred.
  4. Place chicken in a large bowl and add all other ingredients. Mix Well.
  5. Refrigerate mixed salad for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours) before serving to allow the flavors to combine.
  6. Serve on rolls or bread with salad greens and thin cucumber slices.
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by Brian Posted on August 10, 2009
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The Piano Teacher Shows Reality of War, Human Nature

pianoteachLee, Janice, Y.K. (2009). The Piano Teacher: a novel. Viking Adult.    ISBN: 9780670020485

 

A story about Hong Kong during World War II and after, it blends historical fiction, mystery and extreme realism as easily and successfully as it blends time and cultures. The contrasts of privileged society and the too painful realities of war– both experienced by the same characters– makes this a novel that is difficult to put down and painful to read at the same time. Everyone (Chinese, British, American, Japanese) and everything (circumstances, relationships, intentions) is clouded and nothing is truly clear until the very end. A well-crafted story by a writer who, in her first novel, has mastered contemporary narrative structure and who also has conveyed a sense of human nature.

This is done by telling a story in a place that is a collusion of cultures and traditions, in a time when that place is upset by the extreme unrest of wartime. This brilliant combination enhances and strengthens the real nature of the characters.

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by Brian Posted on August 8, 2009
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2009 Pulitzer: Olive Kitteridge a study in loneliness and humanity

    olivekStrout, Elizabeth (2008).  Olive Kitteridge: Fiction.  New York: Random House.  ISBN: 9781400062089 
    2009 Pulitzer Prize, Fiction
    The most striking this about this novel is its structure: it is a landscape novel with the title character as a running theme or motif as a constant among thirteen stories. This landscape is lonely; each character essentially lives life within him or herself, despite living in a close, small Maine community. The narrative voice is strangely detached, heightening the sense that the characters are separate from one another. The reader is therefore kept at an emotional distance. Death is a frequent visitor to the characters, and marriages are presented as mostly contentious and negative.
    A nonlinear, nonchronological narrative structure must be built with extra care so as not to confuse the reader. Strout reveals this as the greatest strength of this work: by keeping the narrative voice simple and clear, she avoids the complexity trap that has befallen so many experimental storytellers. Jumps in time are kept to a manageable number, and are cleverly elucidated.
    Of all of the different interpretations of loss and pain that are portrayed, it its Olive Kitteridge herself that, surprisingly,  emerges as the most whole. The reader encounters different views of her from various perspectives as other characters give their views of her. We see her argue with her husband, son, and commit childish acts. But it is the revelation of who she is that adds depth and push to stories that otherwise would have a tendency to get sleepy. Olive is the type of character that leaves an impact far greater than her personality or actions might suggest.
    The mature, embittered woman encountered early on becomes more so by the end, only the reader comes to understand Olive better by seeing different angles of who she is. Elizabeth Strout achieves the coveted feat of making us like an unlikable character , mainly by showing that Olive Kitteridge is human just like we are.
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by Brian Posted on July 31, 2009
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