Posts Tagged ‘ movies ’

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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Flash of Genius More Like Splash of Rain

movie poster, Flash of Genius

movie poster, Flash of Genius

I was excited to go see the preview of Flash of Genius because it had two actors that I really admire and think are talented: Greg Kinnear and Lauren Graham. I also enjoy period films that really get into the details. This film gets that right, and I was savoring images of a dining table set with vintage bowls of mashed potatoes and vegetables. The auto show also seemed vivid, real.

 

But, really, it is difficult to make an interesting 90 minute feature film about windshield wipers. Which is what this film boils down to. It tries to be an old fashioned, man against the system movie, but doesn’t really go all the way with that. I kept thinking, if only someone like Jimmy Stewart were in the lead, maybe it could have worked. Also, the film totally wastes the talent of Lauren Graham, who plays the smiley, smarmy wife who leaves the man she loves (and the majority of the movie) because of his craziness. An increased role for her would have boosted the film, but it spends too much time focusing on the actual process of one man, a professor, trying to fight one of the largest and most powerful corporations in the world (Ford Motor Co).

Which in itself could be interesting because, it is based on a true story, and the man did give up so much of his life to prove his point. A combination of poor script and weak leading performance by Kinnear, though, leave this great idea a predictable, blah. I think the film should have presented more human interest; more follow through on the impact of his wife and children, more on what happened to his career as a professor, and more on the emotional drive (or whatever thought processes) led the man to continue on.

On the other hand, if the writer wanted to develop this into a real study of the legal aspects of this case, we needed more points of view, more press reactions, more of a relationship built up with the young law students and interns helping him. The courtroom scenes are good, but you have to suffer through about 40 minutes of boringdom to get to them. In short, the film has a dynamic opening and a classic finish, strong supporting players who are underutilized, and a bulk that is nothing special, and only appealing to a few nerdy types.

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Elizabeth and the Golden Age

I have always thought the defeat of the Spanish Armada to be one of the best stories of history. This movie gives us a dramatic visual portrayal of that event, and also an inkling of what the political climate was at the time. It seems a bit skewed in some ways, for modern audiences, because females seem to hold the power here. The film struck me most visually– the hairstyles, clothing, interiors really point out how differnet life was lived and how different everything looked. It sets up how far removed the world of Elizabeth I is from our own time and yet how political situations are eternal. Interesting to note that Elizabeth is shown wearing all manner of wigs but everyone else in the film had relatively contemporary looking hairstyles. The film also played around with varied levels of lighting. Almost every scene had candles flickering away in the background. And water was a motif throughout which I think it would be fun to examine more carefully, but then I enjoy that sort of thing.

Of course it was not all intellectual  because as the credits were rolling the guy sitting next to me in the theater was confused as to why Mary, Queen of Scots had been executed. “Was she Spanish?” he asked.

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