This will be the first time I’ve done a monthly theme in June. I’m not exactly sure why that is, except that I’ve often done several themes in the first half of the year (Foreign Film February, Westerns in March, Awesome ’80s in January, etc.) and so when June rules around I’m guessing I’ve been a little burned out and wanted to have a month where I could watch whatever I wanted to.
Apparently, I feel rested this year, or maybe I just don’t want to watch anything…Anyway, this month’s theme is war movies.
I’m a peacenik. I abhor violence in every form. In real life, anyway. On the screen, I love me some violence. And what is more violent than war?
I never joined the military. I have pretty complicated feelings towards the military as an organization, but I have the utmost respect for those who choose to serve, especially those who put their lives on the line in war.
I don’t really care to get political in this intro. I imagine plenty of the films I’ll watch will be very political, so I’ll let them do the talking. Great war movies put you in the muck, allow you to experience the chaos, the heroism, and the horror of being there. Nothing can really replicate that experience, but a great movie probably gets you as close as you can without actually being at war. They are as close to it as I ever want to be anyway.
Someone once said that there is no true anti-war movie because the very nature of cinema makes war seem exciting. That’s probably true, but a good war movie definitely makes me more of a peacenik than I am naturally.
But it is also true that great war movies make me long for meaning in my own life. Having life distilled down to survival, to fighting for something meaningful, really makes you wonder how you’d behave. Or at least I wonder how I’d behave put into a situation like that. Like the ones I’ll be watching this month, and writing about.
themidnightcafe.org 