Reel 40: You Can Like Both, Part 5

War movies make for some pretty good drama, even when there’s a clear “right” side and a “wrong” side. Nazis are bad (they’re still bad, right? Recent politics gives me a headache); non-Nazis are good. That sort of thing.

In fact, we’d argue that the drama ramps up a little bit more when there’s a clear good side and a bad side, and there are conflicts regarding how that “good” outcome needs to be achieved. With Vietnam-era films, all the good/bad is nebulous and the bad guys, regardless of what side they’re on, are all part of the same corrupt system. But when we’re all out to take on the Nazis, and there comes some sort of argument regarding how that’s to be done, now you’re getting into some interesting territory.

This episode is the last in our “You Can Like Both” series, and it takes a look at the first major offensive of each theater of the Second World War. In Part 1 we’re examining Saving Private Ryan (1998), directed by Steven Spielberg. This film takes place around the Allies’ invasion of the French Normandy Coast, with a couple of modern-day scenes bookending the film.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific Theater we have Terence Malick’s The Thin Red Line, also from 1998. This one focuses on the start of the Allies’ offensive at Guadalcanal, our first big push on that side of the world.

Both of these films deal with some of the murky issues behind what’s right and what’s wrong when it comes to fighting enemies in a “righteous” war.

COMING ATTRACTIONS:

From here we’re going to look at a bunch of musically-inclined films. Some of them will be true musicals while others will surround themselves with the industry in one form or another. Our next episode will be the latter: first up, from 1995 is Empire Records, directed by Allan Moyle and starring a bunch of young people who will be much bigger names before very long. In Part 2 we’ll deal with some more established actors in Stephen Frears’ High Fidelity, from 2000.

Before that, later this week will be a mini-episode we prepared as a follow-up for this one.