Movie Comparison, Essay Example

The movies “All Quiet on the Western Front” and the “Flags of our Fathers”, are among the best of the war movies, depicting the journey of estranged soldiers thrown in war and destruction. The movies in elaboration craft the façade of World War I and World War II, and slowly transcend to the climax of the horrific war scenario. Both movies depict a different genre…one laying emphasis on the horrific tragedies of war and the other highlighting the farce and deception involved both in part of the army and the government of United States.

“All quiet on the Western Front” was written by Erich Maria Remarque, a German war Veteran of World War I. The book was later adapted by Lewis Milestone into a film for Universal pictures and would finally go on to win the Academy Award for best picture. The movie speaks about the tremendous mental and physical trauma of the average German soldiers during the war, and revolves round their perspective – how they lived and died fighting in the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, the protagonist Paul Baumer fights from the Western front of Germany. Unlike Flags of the Fathers, the setting is in Germany and the soldiers are German. Paul loves to write poems and is transformed from the young boy to a man during his three years of service to the font. He longed to go back home with his family, but it was indeed a tragedy as he died on the Western Front. The story begins with Paul and most of his classmates from high school taking the basic training for fighting the World War I. Eventually as te movie proceeds they fight gruesome battles, bear noisy dark bombardments, clutter for food and finally die in the battle. Paul is alienated from fear at the end of the story –because war has taken all what he loved and cared about. He dies at the end with a strange calmness in his face because the war had ended for him.

While the present day American movie, “Flags of Our Fathers” talks about the World War II and triumph of American victory at the cost of moral indignation of soldiers. The scene and characters depicting America and it soldiers in World War II. It is about an American flag being raised over Mount Suribachi in Iwo Jima. ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ is a 2006 American war film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name ( Flags of Our Fathers) written by James Bradley and Ron Powers. The story depicts the Battle of Iwo Jima and the importance of raising the flag It was released in the United States on October 2006.  Flags of Our Fathers is a film about the Battle of Iwo Jima, portraying the economic depression, setting the stage of the World War II and how warrior sentiments were used to dominate or influence public opinion. The story reflects the suffering morale of the American troops and the weariness of war among the soldiers back in America. The three surviving soldiers are Marines Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), and Navy Corpsman John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe). We are also introduced to fellow soldiers Sergeant Mike Strank (Barry Pepper), Ralph “Iggy” Ignatowski (Jamie Bell) and Hank Hansen (Paul Walker) and many others. These three were made to do a photo shoot – the raising of a replacement flag on top of the mountain. Hayes, Gagnon, and Bradley become the heroes on the picture and are sent back home to tour the country as the “heroes of Iwo Jima”. It was a government pursuit to sell war bonds. Their farced picture proved to be a source of inspiration for the American people but turned out to be the tragedy of their lives of the so called heroes.  They suffer from guilt and apathy, as they farce to pose for the photo and relinquished the torment of their conscience. The movie raises the question of morality among the soldiers; how the true heroes of the battle get lost in oblivion while some of them get the flick of the being gimmicked.

Both the movies are distinct in their own with different plots, themes and timeline (World War I and War II) but both eventually critically acclaim the characteristics of war; the dehumanization of the enemy so as to encourage the aggression of soldiers in the battlefield; the part of the government to revoke and manipulate the soldiers; and to fight battles for the sake of it – killing large groups of people for reasons unknown to each other. Both the films stage the debacle of honor and integrity to the national sentiments of the respective countries but also analyses the waste and carnage involved in such armed combat. Both Milestone and Eastwood have shown a refusal to the black and white codes of ethics in warfare- have exposed the harsh realities behind the eroticism of bravery and fighting wars. They both evaluate the anti-war agenda and show the corruption, misfortune and paranoia of war; and evaluate the sentiments and apathy of soldiers in the light of being a common man- one who wants to write poetry( like Paul) and live the life of an ordinary individual with family and children.

The theme of All Quiet on the Western Front and the Flags of our fathers  is contrary to the novels and general observations of the war theories- it does not romanticize or glorify the image of the movies or the heroes; neither does it over emphasize on patriotism, honor, adventure and duty. Rather it unfolds the truth and the actual experience of war. It replaces the romantic visions of heroism to a realistic angle of fear, meaninglessness, cruelty and manipulation. All quiet on the Western Front expose the experience of the naiveté ordinary citizen who had to take arms but have otherwise lived a normal life. Beginning with the opening shot and throughout the movie it shows the horrors of war and the sentiments that could not be understood who has never gone to war. As Paul says, “War isn’t the way it looks back here.” Similarly in Flags of our fathers the beginning talks of the story talks about the real experience of war- “Every Jackass thinks he knows what war is- especially those who have never been in one”.

All quiet on the Western front presents an intrigue cynicism of the idea of nationalism- making it look vulnerable in the light of hypocritical ideology. Paul and his friends are coerced by feelings of nationalism, as Professor Kantorek says, “And as if to prove all I have said, here is one of the first to go! A lad who sat before me on these very benches, who gave up all to serve in the first year of the war. One of the iron youth who have made Germany invincible in the field! Look at him. Sturdy and bronze and clear-eyed! The kind of soldier every one of you should envy! Paul, lad, you must speak to them. You must tell them what it means to serve your fatherland” – only to realize that there is little relevance of patriotism or nationalism in the war. War makes them animalistic – fighting for their own survival and killing enemies for not getting killed. They consider that their real enemies are the men in power and not the opposing armies – as Paul Baummer says, “You still think it’s beautiful to die for your country. The first bombardment taught us better. When it comes to dying for country, it’s better not to die at all. Katczinsky says that he is fed up with the preaching of the older generation and the leaders, “And on the big day, you should take all the kings and their cabinets and their generals, put ’em in the center dressed in their underpants, and let ’em fight it out with clubs. The best country wins. ”  Flags of Our Father, lays little emphasis on the brutality and actual warfare as in the All Quiet on the Western Front. It focuses mainly about the reminiscence of war – how the government and the nation create heroes when they need them and later forget them. Here the feelings of nationalism are used for instigating public opinion. Thus in both the films nationalism is used as an embargo; to either induce the young genre to go and fight wars or use it to tickle public sentiments – at the end making the soldiers prone to suffering and tragedy. The movies also address the question of just war – whether World War I and II can be deemed as a good war. Especially in All Quiet on the Western Front the young soldiers are ignorant about the reason of fighting the war.  “How do they start a war? When one country offends another there is a war…How one country can be offended…To say that war happens because one country offends another is ridiculous, since the ordinary people of each country do not feel offended. It is the rulers who order war, and only emperors and generals who profit from it.” While Flags of our father represents a home front – where the three heroes were applauded, toured in parts of the country, talking about the heroism of war. They were merely propaganda tools to make the people aware that the invasion of Iowa was ‘just war’ – it was good in its intentions to attack Japan – as in Just war the country that has been invaded, or invasion is imminent, then there is a moral obligation to fight. Also, countries are morally obligated to intervene in another country, with military force if necessary, to end gross violations of human rights. (http://acdis.illinois.edu/newsarchive/newsitem-uestioningPerceptionofWorldWarIIasTheGoodWar.html)

As an excerpt from the movie rightly points out , “Behind them, in safe America, Bing Crosby sang of a white Christmas, just like the ones he used to know. Ahead lay a hot island of black sand, where many of them would ensure a long future of Christmases in America by laying down their lives”.

Though unconsciously the Flags of our fathers point out to the generation that the American war on Iraq and the war in Afghanistan are not necessarily the aftermath of  9/11 and the nuclear weapons information from Iraq- these were not solid grounds to substantiate the claims of Bush administration of just war.

Reference

Todd Mc Carthy, (2006), Last retrieved on November 5, 2008 from http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117931805.html?categoryid=31&cs=1

IMDB, Last retrieved on November 5, 2008 from www.imdb.com/title/tt0020629/ –

Jeffrey Overstreet, (2006) Last retrieved on November 5, 2008 from http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/reviews/2006/flagsofourfathers.html