Of all the motion pictures released in the last 100 years, those about war tend to be among the most powerful, popular and longest remembered. In homage to the great body of work in the war genre, the Dartmouth Film Society has chosen "War Is Hell!" as the theme for its winter film series, which began last night in Spaulding Auditorium.
It might seem that a 10-week program comprised solely of war films could get monotonous, but "War is Hell!" contains an extremely wide variety of pictures that appeal to a broad range of audiences.
Along with Oscar-caliber dramas from Stanley Kubrick, Oliver Stone, Jean Renoir, Kenneth Branagh and other big-name directors, the series includes comedies, action-adventure movies, foreign films, documentaries and even a silent film from the 1920s.
The influential director and film critic Francois Truffaut believed it is impossible to create a true anti-war film because all war films glorify combat and make it seem like an adventure.
According to DFS director Marc McDonald '96, however, this series "doesn't celebrate war." He says that the DFS tried to avoid typical propaganda movies that glorify war in favor of more realistic films that "show the horrors of war and the exploitation of common man" that takes place in combat.
Appropriately, the series kicked off last night with Oliver Stone's "Platoon," a brutally realistic portrayal of the Vietnam War which won an Oscar for the best picture of 1986. Charlie Sheen stars as a young man who drops out of college because he feels a patriotic duty to serve in Vietnam, but soon finds that combat is a horrible and dehumanizing experience.
Willem Dafoe and Tom Berenger both garnered best supporting actor nominations for their portrayals of Sheen's commanding sergeants, whose opposing views of the war plunge their platoon into an internal war of its own.
After a showing of the classic World War II epic "The Bridge on the River Kwai" tomorrow night, the series takes a major turn Friday with Paul Verhoeven's recent action spectacular, "Starship Troopers."
Based on Robert Heinlein's 1950s science-fiction novel about a group of young soldiers who save the universe from an army of giant bugs, "Starship Troopers" is one of the most joyously mindless and stupid movies in recent memory.
It is a tremendously entertaining mix of satire, excessive violence and great special effects. The cheesy acting, bad dialogue and stupid plot devices that pervade the movie actually make it better. "Starship Troopers" truly revels in its own stupidity, which makes it all the more fun.
Continuing this vein of comedy and satire, albeit on a much more sophisticated level, is Robert Altman's "MASH," starring Donald Sutherland, Tom Skerritt and Robert Duvall. One of the only well-known films about the Korean War, "MASH" is an irreverent black comedy about everyday life at a surgical hospital just behind the front lines.
The film, which received an Oscar nomination for best picture, was the inspiration for the popular television series of the same name that aired on CBS for 11 years.
Needless to say, "War is Hell!" does not focus solely on wars of recent times or fictional wars of the future. The series includes Mel Gibson's beautifully filmed "Braveheart," which tells the story of William Wallace, a Scottish patriot who led a rebellion against the English in the 13th century.
The film, which seems to be a favorite of nearly every student at Dartmouth, won a slew of Oscars and should be very impressive on the big screen.
February brings another medieval film with "Henry V," Kenneth Branagh's stunning 1989 Shakespearean debut. Filled with great acting, spectacular costumes and beautiful sets, the film is still widely considered to be Branagh's finest.
The depiction of the Battle of Agincourt is stunning, and Branagh's reading of the famous St. Crispin's Day speech is more stirring and inspiring than just about anything you will ever see in film.
The Civil War is represented by Edward Zwick's "Glory," which stars Denzel Washington, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Broderick in exceptional performances. The film is a powerful portrayal of the exploits of the first unit of black soldiers in the Union Army and is often hailed as the most realistic cinematic depiction of the Civil War to date.
Although most of the films in the series were made in the last 30 years, fans of classic cinema should not be disappointed either. Jean Renoir's controversial World War I masterpiece, "Grand Illusion," which McDonald believes "captures the essence of the series," airs in February.
The series also includes the silent classic "The Big Parade," and the term ends in March with a twin bill of the 1930 landmark "All Quiet on the Western Front" and 1949's "Twelve O'Clock High."
Other notable films in the series include "Full Metal Jacket," "Gallipoli," "Patton" and the astounding 1996 documentary "Anne Frank Remembered."
All films are shown at Spaulding Auditorium. Tickets to individual shows go on sale 30 minutes before showtime at the Hopkins Center box office.
Series passes are available at the box office for $12 with a Dartmouth ID and $18 for the general public.
