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By Michael McGonigle
In 1998, three of the five nominees for the Academy Awards' Best Picture Oscar were films that dealt with World War Two from three very unique perspectives. Though none of the three would win the Best Picture Oscar, they would all provide differing looks at different aspects of the conflict. Set in a concentration camp, Italian star Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful told the story of a man trying to shield his son from the horrors around them and became one of the biggest box office hits of the year. An even bigger hit was Steven Spielberg's tale of the D-Day Invasion, Saving Private Ryan. Less successful at the box office was Terrence Malick's tale of the war in the Pacific Theater, The Thin Red Line.
Three films. Three perspectives.
In the first part of our series, we examine the morality of setting a heart-warming comedy amidst the horror of the Holocaust.
In part two of our series, we take a look at the historic and artistic merits of Steven Spielberg's D-Day Invasion epic.
In part three, we take a look at how Terrence Mallick's The Thin Red Line subverts our expectations of war films. |
LIFE
IS BEAUTIFUL Revisited, Or, "God, How I Hated LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL"
SAVING
PRIVATE RYAN Is Just "D-Day: The Ride"
"They
Got Fish That Live In Trees"- THE THIN RED LINE: Not Your
Grandfather's War Film