V –0 08 - Rehoboth Beach Film Society

sIdebar: war
War, a word that says so much: conflict; hostilities; combat; death. The subject has been at the
forefront of our minds as well as the topic of many films due to the current wars raging in Iraq and
Afghanistan. This sidebar does not focus on the current vision of war, but rather on wars gone by,
primarily looking at the social ramifications.
Some people may say “why highlight or bring attention to such a somber issue”? Others will agree
it is important to look at an issue head-on and hopefully learn from the ways of the past and become
better. As is often said, if we do not learn from the past, we will be stuck in the loop of history
repeating itself. In the subject of War, this statement rings true!
a secret
[pg. 25]
World War II serves as the subject of this
story of François, a Jewish boy living in
post-World War II Paris, who puzzles
together his parents’ past and discovers
a secret within his ordinary family as
they are caught up in forces beyond their
control. Once again we tend not to focus
on the war itself, but the impact it has on
one class of people and in particular one
extended family.
buddha collapsed
out of shame [pg. 27]
On her way to school, an Iranian girl
meets up with a group of boys playing war
-- not “cowboys and Indians” as many of
us grew up playing, but “Americans and
Taliban.” The boys “capture” her, and the
threat of play becoming real intensifies.
This is a film not necessarily about war,
but one where war and the looming threat
of conflict surely impacts the story, the
characters and the eventual outcomes.
Even the surroundings (bombed out
landscapes) showcase the threat of war.
under the bombs
[pg. 43]
We turn to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict
for this film. In this personal drama (shot
ten days after the actual 2006 Israeli
bombing in Lebanon), a woman hires a
dubious taxi driver who is daring enough
to drive her into the bombed out area
of southern Lebanon and help find her
missing son. Not only does the conflict
serve as the backdrop, but the barren,
burned out landscapes (the after affects
of war) serve as another character in this
story of the ravages of war.
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sidebar: War