Stories happen all around us, and movies are a great place for them. Today, take some time to watch a movie or a documentary or footage related to WWII. You probably already have a few in mind, but if not, here's a list from Wikipedia of movies made during and since the war. The list is long so be sure to scroll down until you find something that seems appealing. Don't forget there are lots of documentaries and bit of footage online and on History Channel sites and others. Dig around.
Once you watch something, write about the movie - use the following questions to guide you: what did you watch and why? what did you think of it -- what made it work? or not? what does it show us about the war or the time period? how does it fit in with what we've been reading?
I watched The Boy in The Striped Pajamas. I know the story is fiction and unlikely to have actually happened, but I read the book a few years ago, so I decided to watch the movie. Documentaries tend to put me to sleep, so I also needed to find a movie that would hold my attention. I liked the storyline of a German boy and a Jewish boy playing from opposite sides of a fence and discovering that they are very similar. However, like I previously mentioned, the story is very romanticized. I think the movie helps children see a little of what Jews went through in concentration camps without scaring them, and it shows everyone that people can become friends regardless of their respective situations. Moreover, it demonstrates the different circumstances that people had during the Holocaust. Bruno, the main character, is from a relatively wealthy family and his father is highly-ranked military commander. Although their family puts up a strong front, they are terrified when they hear that Hitler may visit them. Shmuel, Bruno's Jewish friend suffers from torture inside a concentration camp, and when Bruno turns on him when someone sees Shmuel eat the cake that Bruno gave him. The Boy In The Striped Pajamas caters to children while also providing a story that many other people would also enjoy. Like The Book Thief, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is a fictional story that we would like to think actually happened to someone during the Holocaust. Each story has happy moments, sad moments and a lot of death, but they are not depressing stories.
ReplyDeleteAni - Thanks for watching and writing. I like your idea about this particular movie being a less brutal way for kids to see and learn about the Holocaust. Were there happy or fun moments? I wonder how the friendship was portrayed, because it still sounds like a pretty intense film!
DeleteMy mom always said that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was one of her favorite World War II movies. Today, I finally got the chance to watch this movie. It’s hard to say a WWII movie is good because nothing about the Holocaust was good but the movie did portray a powerful story very well. Before watching, I didn’t know exactly what to expect and feel. I knew it was a fictional story so I was scared that would throw off my whole perspective on the story line, but I was wrong. Throughout the entire movie I was so engrossed in the growing relationship between the two main characters Bruno and Shmuel. Yes, at points the movie did seem unrealistic to have a German boy willingly enter a concentration camp but in the film it worked. The visuals of the concentration camp and the two distinct sides formed on both sides of the fence helped me get a better understanding of what it would be like living in the Holocaust and contributing to this tragic event. While watching The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, i kept feeling sad and depressed. However, that was not the only feeling. At times I was happy. Happy that Bruno and Shmuel could put their differences aside for a little and just be friends. Their friendship served as a distraction to the terrible conditions Shmuel was living in and Bruno disagreeing with his family’s actions. Shmuel and Bruno’s relationship strongly resembled Liesel and Max’s relationship from The Book Thief. While Bruno is giving Shmuel food, Liesel is giving Max words. Both Liesel and Bruno don’t necessarily care if what they are doing is considered bad because they do what they enjoy. Bruno enjoys walking to the fence and sharing stories with Shmuel and Liesel enjoys sitting in the basement, reading and working out with Max. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and The Book Thief are both about friendships forming and doing what it takes to stay alive.
ReplyDeleteMandy - Thanks for watching and writing. Interesting connections between Bruno and Shmuel's friendship and Liesel and Max's friendship -- in addition to common interests, it seems that needing each other to survive physically and emotionally is essential.
DeleteI watched WWII: Darkness Falls, an episode on the History Channel. (http://www.history.com/shows/wwii-in-hd/videos/wwii-in-hd-darkness-falls?m=5189717d404fa&s=All&f=1&free=false) I watched this because in the description it said it used real footage. I wanted to see the real, uncensored footage from this time period. It amazes me that such a great deal of images and video footage survived.
ReplyDeleteThe episode clearly depicted one thing: hysteria. The episode spends time showing real footage from Pearl Harbor, an attack on US soil. Chaos fills the air. You can hear screaming and crying as bombs are fired. Towards the start of the episode, there is a scene where soldiers and marching bands walk through a German city. People are screaming and cheering while waving Swastikas in the air. It reminded me of The Book Thief's scene "Hitlers Birthday." You see how crazily obsessed these people were with the Hitler regime. He truly brainwashed an entire population. Hitler was an "evil genius" in my opinion.
I really liked this episode. The real footage is what made it work. There were dramatic voice-overs speaking the entire time. These voice overs read real quotes from people's journals and records. This episode's authenticity made it work.
This video simply showed us how crazy people were at this time. There is a very disturbing part of the episode where a German solider talks about the "feeling of having Jewish Blood on his uniform." He explains the adrenaline rush this gives him. He speaks about how he always pretends Hitler is watching him while he fights. The pressure of performing well for Hitler is what makes him succeed. This is absolutely repulsive, but the honesty this episode displays is somewhat remarkable.
Sydney - Thanks for this. I'm thinking about your observations about the honesty of the interviewees: as horrifying as their statements are, they capture a complicated and painful period and we're lucky to have their words, as long as we push ourselves to learn from them.
DeleteI watched the Pianist. I thought it was extremely well-made and well-acted, but it was definitely difficult to watch. I have thought about watching it multiple times, and realized it was on Netflix. This movie chronicles the survival of a Polish pianist during the war. It was a fascinating story, and I might find it far-fetched if it weren't based off of Wladyslaw Szpilman's memoirs. The movie was definitely not set up as a thriller and the suspense was not played up. The viewer sees what Wladyslaw sees, and not more, so there are certain things that you never figure out, throughout the movie.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that made the movie all the more gripping was the fact that it was made by Roman Polanski, who was himself a Holocaust survivor. He was saved when his father pushed him through the barbed wire of a camp, and he survived on the kindness of others for a while. For both Polanski and Szpilman, and many other survivors, it was good luck and the help of others that allowed them to survive. The Pianist portrays Szpilman not as a heroic victor, but rather as someone who did all he could to survive, but would have died without the sheer luck and care of others. His survival was extremely unlikely and lucky. It also sort of made me think, as I watched this man wander alone through the burned ruins of part of the small Warsaw Ghetto on a broken/sprained ankle, how amazing it is that each Holocaust survivor has their own equally astounding story.
The Pianist is definitely grittier than The Book Thief. The Book Thief follows a completely different family and their story is completely different for a lot of reasons. This story portrays the horrors of life as a Jew in Poland starting right before the war, and following one man through the war. The movie portrays a lot of the gruesome violence and heartlessness so that we are getting as close as we can to seeing what Szpilman saw.
The story told in the movie, like the story in the Book Thief, does not give the audience a clear view of what is right and wrong. The memoir that the movie was based off of was in fact, not published by the Communist authorities directly after the war because it contained flawed Jews and a kind German. It was an honest retelling of a story that was not dramatized solely for the sake of drama. It was very well done, and very hard to watch, especially the first half.
ECP - Thanks for this. I've wanted to see The Pianist for a long time, and now I'm both more and less excited to do so. It sounds beautiful and really interesting (I didn't know Polanski is a survivor) but also painful and raw, which is to be expected. Love your observation that every survivor has his own story, equally powerful and rich.
DeleteToday my mom and I watched The Great Escape. I saw parts of the movie a while ago but I wanted to see the whole thing through. It was also a less gruesome movie (compared to others) so I partly picked it for that reason too. It was an exciting escape story and was from the perspective of a group of American solders that were captured and placed in a Nazi camp. The camp itself did not have a torture chamber feel and although I'm sure it would not have been pleasant to stay there months on end but it did seem like the safest option for some of the American solders. Which made me think why would they risk getting killed? Though many of them were imprisoned for months and were starting to get anxious about seeing their families. Altogether the movie was entertaining, the excitement of the escape plans and the escapes themselves were the biggest part but also the way that the Nazis and the Americans communicated with each other. Inside the camps the generals were mildly cordial towards each other, which seemed a bit odd, and there even was some sympathy between them as well. Even secret "friendships" began to form. It also showed that there were some Hans Hubermann type of people within and without of the camp. People who were in Nazi Germany who were fighting back. One part in the movie had a lot of similarities with the reading in which there was a citizen who was supposedly in favor of the Nazi party but ends up helping an American solder escape to Spain.
ReplyDeleteEmily - What a great choice. The Great Escape has been on my list for a long time, and I'm really interested in your observations about the communication between the Nazis and the Americans, and what that relationship was like. It's great to know that Hans Hubermanns existed outside of the book!
DeleteI watch the documentary, The Battle for Midway--the greatest naval battle in history.
ReplyDeleteI decided to watch this documentary for two reasons. First, being that my father was in the navy during the cold war, so I thought it would be interesting to see how they did things back in World War II. The second reason being that I had just finished reading The Book Thief, and didn’t think I could handle heart strain from another dramatic World War II movie. The documentary was astounding. Midway took place about eight months after Pearl Harbor and took place midway between Hawaii and Japan. National Geographic did a lovely mix of the history of the battles between the US and Japan, and a documentary of the search for the sunken Aircraft Carriers. Robert Ballard, who found the Titanic, was hired to find the USS Yorktown and Japanese ship, Kaga. On the ship with him were two Midway US Vets, and two Midway Japanese Vets. However, it was clear that there was no animosity between the previous enemies. They all look back on Midway as a horrific nightmare. One of the Japanese vets even said, “I believe everyone sank to the bottom of the ocean crying bitter tears.” Watching this documentary was incredibly heart wrenching (which was the exact opposite of what I was looking for). What made the other movie work was that at the end, when it was deciding the Japanese ship Kaga was a loss, all the vets, American and Japanese standing side by side, sent flowers and prays into the ocean around Midway. They honored the grave for many good men.
When the historians were depicting the bombing of Kaga, one of the Japanese vets remembers the many crew members that could not be rescued. He states in his interview, “Most of the two thousand men on Kaga died. I thought, I want to die with them.” His statement reminds me of the theme from our reading or whether you stay with your loved ones to die, or do you leave to save your own life. Even fifty years later, this Japanese vet seems tormented by his decision.
About a week after the search Kaga was over, they started the search for the USS Yorktown. Eventually it was found 3,000 miles from Japan, 11,000 miles from Hawaii, 3 miles below the ocean surface, and still intact. The Yorktown reminded me that the people of this time period were extremely resilient. Even her guns were still pointed skyward to fend off the final attacks. The Yorkshire has been beaten up for three months leading up to its death, and was finally taken out by a Japanese submarine torpedo. Even then, it stood a full day, refusing to die, until it finally went under. When the scientists found the Yorktown on the bottom of the ocean floor, one of the US vets became choked up. Holding back his tears he said, “This is too much… All the people… I can see all them doing their jobs right now. I’m here, and they’re not. So, I’m representing the crew.”
There were three US Aircraft carriers at Midway. On the Enterprise, 18 out of 28 pilots were killed. On the Yorktown, 21 out of 24 pilots were killed. And on the Hornet, only one out of 30 pilots returned home. During the battle of Midway, Grapes of Wrath director John Ford was with the crew filming a documentary. After the events Ford was so moved that he ended up making two films. The Battle of Midway for the public, and Fighter Pilots for the families of the men from the Hornet that never came home.
This documentary was astounding because it made the viewer empathise with both the Japanese and the Americans. Similar to our reading, when Liesel’s street gets bombed your heart aches for her and her german neighbors. You may even go as far as have animosity towards the bombers, until you realise those bombers are us. Similar to our reading, The Battle for Midway, really makes you understand the toll taken on both sides, and the resilience of the 1940’s.
Great choice, Emily. Sorry that your goal of avoiding something too wrenching didn't work out, but it sounds like a really powerful story nonetheless. Love the message about reconciliation between the Japanese and American veterans. That's the best outcome possible.
DeleteI watched a national geographic documentary called Secret Stories of World War II. I chose it because I find national geographic to be very interesting, and actually entertaining in addition to informative. The topic of the documentary was about Heavy Water, or uranium oxide which I thought would be interesting to hear about especially after reading my honors book which was about protecting a french shipment of it. Also, it is the beginning of a very controversial topic today so I thought that it might be relatable.
ReplyDeleteI liked it because it was told as a story switching between third and first person. There was actually a good deal of suspense which was entertaining. I could feel the desperation of the allies as they tried to prevent the Germans from compiling heavy water, and felt as if I was in the story. It was well balanced between the third person facts and the first person adventure so I felt that I was learning plenty along the way.
It did not relate directly to the book thief, but it did show another side to the same time period. It amazes me to see the heroics that these soldiers showed, and although their heroics were entirely different from those of Hans and his family, they were for a similar cause.
There were a few other topics covered as well, such as Japanese submarines and Pearl Harbor which were interesting to hear about. In this section of the documentary it focused more on the Japanese point of view which I had never thought about before. Although it has not in any way changed my view of the events at Pearl Harbor, it was interesting and also frightening to hear about. Finally, the documentary ended about the Kamikazes which I found to be very disturbing.
Great topic, Evan. Thanks for choosing this documentary: I've never heard of it as Heavy Water, and I'm really glad to learn about it; I'll try to check out the documentary this weekend. Also, I'm glad the documentary focused on other perspectives of Pearl Harbor because it's still so important to remember the different experiences.
DeleteI watched part of the HBO series Band of Brothers. I chose this show for multiple reasons. I have seen some episodes previously, it has received unbelievable reviews, and the other episodes I had seen were arguably some of the most interesting WWII pieces I have ever viewed. I specifically watched Episode 7: Breaking point.
ReplyDeleteThere were many components that makes this such a great show. To start it contains very high profile actors such as Neal McDonough, Tom Hardy, and many more. Their acting takes the show to a new level of quality. Not everyone likes war movies however I do not mind them, the level of action in band of Brothers while invading Foy had me on the edge of my seat. I believe that the show was accurate to the events that Easy Company encountered however I did not find it as a show that I would watch if I wanted to learn facts. Another aspect of the show that greatly enhanced my experience was the filming itself i felt as if I was running through the battlefield with Lynn Compton.
In this episode this gives the viewer a very gritty uncut version of what it is like to be on the battlefield without actually being there. Although The breaking point takes place on the snow covered grounds of Foy Belgium it makes it clear what it must have been like when the war was pushed into Germany. As our reading I do not see any major connection between the band of brothers and The book thief. I could say that death is a major factor as men just get torn apart by the gunner in the church it reminds me of the end of the book when Leisel is in the street surrounded by dead bodies, it has an almost apocalyptic feel. Overall I would recommend Band of Brothers to anyone who enjoys an action packed show.
Tyler - Thanks for this. I've wanted to watch Band of Brothers for a long time, and it seems like a pretty gritty way to learn about the war, but I'm interested in your assessment that you might not turn to it to learn about war. But your takeaway about the apocalyptic feel of the movie resonates.
DeleteWhat did I watched: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
ReplyDeleteWhy did I think of it: I read this book during the summer of my freshman year, and wanted to see the movie version.
What made it work: It showed how even innocent young children were dangerously affected by World War Two. Although the plot of this story was extremely sad, it did not sugarcoat the heartbreaking moments of World War Two. This movie was informative and interesting to watch.
What does it show us about the war or the time period: This movie showed how easily one can be negatively affected by the War. Bruno, the main character, was put at a great risk by associating with a Jewish boy. This showed the dangerous punishment for any contact whatsoever with a Jewish person during this time period.
How does it fit in with what we've been reading: The young Jewish boy who Bruno became friends with, is in much ways very similar to Max. He has lost his family, and is being protected by a German. In addition to this, Bruno is in many ways similar to Hans. He cares for all people, although he was taught to love only Germans.
Emmy - Thanks for watching and writing. I'm thinking that I need to watch The Boy in the Striped Pajamas since you're the third person to write about it! I'm struck by your sense that no matter what we're taught, on a very human level we instinctively want to connect with people and be good to them.
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