What We’re Watching – WWII in the Movies II

In honor of our upcoming event, Dinner with a Curator – “WWII in the Movies” on April 16, 2013, we asked our staff to take a moment to send us their favorite WWII films.

The response was so overwhelming that we decided to share them with you in a series of blog posts. Feel free to share your favorites in the comments section or on our Facebook wall.
 

War through the Eyes of Children

There are a number of WWII films told from the perspective of children or young adults. For many of our staff, these were some of the most powerful interpretations of life in war. A number of the submissions addressed the fact that they had seen the movies as children themselves and were able to identify with them more easily than films centered around adults. Others were struck by the innocence of these narratives.

Empire of the Sun (1987) and Hope & Glory (1987)

These two films were intertwined in a number of our staff submissions (possibly because they were released within a month of one another). Both deal with coming of age in war. At the same time, they take place (in more ways than one) a world away from one another.

Hope and Glory and Empire of the Sun – I feel war as seen through the eyes of children is a story not often or well told, so my two choices are movies that show not just the brutality and machinations of the war but how that brutality looked and felt to them.

Laura Sparaco, K-12 Curriculum Coordinator

Empire of the Sun – it is an amazing journey and experience of a school age child through the war in the Pacific (and Christian Bales’ first movie).

Ruth Katz, Director of Group Sales

Empire of the Sun, hands-down choice. Ballard can’t be beat, one because he’s a fantastic writer and secondly because this is less a work of fiction and more a slightly embellished biography – Ballard was interred as a child along thousands of other British, American and European citizens from the Shanghai International Settlement.  Bale and Malkovich are both excellent, but the film really succeeds I feel in its depiction of the real human consequences for civilians – usually mute or passive or altogether absent in most war films.  The fact that you feel remorse for the young Japanese pilot dying near the conclusion of the film is proof of its effective storytelling.     

Collin Makamson, Red Ball Express Coordinator

Watch the trailers for Empire of the Sun and Hope and Glory.

Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)

One of my faves is the French film Au Revoir Les Enfants (an autobiographical film by Louis Malle). It’s about a young French boy who is sent off to a Catholic boarding school in 1944. He discovers that a fellow student is Jewish and is being hidden by one of the school’s priests. The story ends where the boy (along with 2 others) and the priest are discovered by the Gestapo and are taken away to concentration camps. The students shout to their priest being led away, “Au revoir mon pere!” and he replies, “Au revoir les enfants! A bientot!” (Goodbye, children! See you soon!)

I remember watching this in my freshman year of high school French class. The students in this film were only a little younger than me, so their story really stuck. This was probably one of the first foreign films I ever watched and I remember crying in the middle of class. I caught my teacher tearing up at the film’s ending too, even though I’m sure she watched it with many classes over the years.

Chrissy Gregg, Virtual Classroom Coordinator

Europa Europa (1990)

This film came up on several lists that were submitted, but no one listed it as their hands-down-favorite. However, we felt that is was certainly worth including.

Come and See (1985)

This film also showed up on more than one staff member’s list, but never at the top. We warn that it is an extremely graphic portrayal and not for the squeamish or faint of heart (just to give you an idea, Director Quentin Tarantino once put it at the top of his list of best WWII films).

View all of our “WWII in the Movies” posts here.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013
6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Dinner with a Curator – Larry Decuers presents “WWII in the Movies”
Stage Door Canteen

From factual to fantastic, Museum Curator Larry Decuers will highlight examples of the diverse array of WWII films. Covering what many consider the best of the genre, the presentation will include 1940s propaganda pieces, gritty combat films from the ‘50s and ‘60s and some of the more reverent works of the past two decades. Clips from Air Force, The Sands of Iwo Jima, 12 O’Clock High, Kelly’s Heroes and many others will be shown and discussed

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Purchase Tickets.

Dinner with a Curator is a seasonal series where Museum staff and guests discuss a featured topic related to World War II while enjoying a delicious three-course dinner. All dinners catered by Chef John Besh at the Museum’s American Sector restaurant. Space is limited. Reservations are required.