Early Movies Depicting WWII

[Mark Nornes]

Jonathan wrote,

> I wonder if the rhetoric of force is a contemporary means to deal  
> with the question of life under fascism.  Of course, for those  
> Americans on the list, we might be able to ask similar questions of  
> ourselves?

This is an excellent and important question. I taught Pacific War  
film this semester—taught....one class left. Throughout the semester,  
I felt a little pressure. An obscure force, from the students, that  
put me on guard. Now of course this is incomparable to the pressure  
or force of life in Japan in the 30s or early 40s, but Jonathan has  
posed the question. And it made me think about my experience this  
semester. There were connections to made to the present day situation  
in every class meeting. I gestured at them constantly, wanting to go  
in and explore them completely with the students but usually leaving  
them as thought provoking gestures. Basically, I know there are  
soldiers, military otaku and neoconservative youth in the class, and  
I wasn't sure how to deal with that and for all sorts of reasons.

This week I showed them Thin Red Line and, as a film that's clearly  
designed to get you to think about war itself as opposed to saying  
something specifically about WWII, I used this as an opportunity to  
segue into Iraq head on and full steam ahead. What I found was that  
the situation is indeed, utterly unlike the force one might find in a  
militaristic or fascist state. Rather, with the exception of the  
soldier, none of them felt any connection to the current war and  
didn't mind talking about, and pondering, their lack of connection  
and diffidence. Whatever pressure or force I felt was self-censorship  
because dealing with it seemed like such a pain.

In short, it was one of the weirdest discussions I've ever led.

Markus
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