FORMAL FILM STUDY #2: WWI

      I was thinking about doing war the topic of formal film study, but when I tried to think of any WWI  movies it was harder than I thought. Why is that? Why are WWI movies not as popular as WWII movies? I thought for a while and finally figured it out. In 1882 an alliance system was made called the Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy to counter the power of the alliance between Russia and France. Then in 1907 Britain and France signed the Entente Cordiale, an agreement to keep Germany in check. This later led to the Triple Entente between Britain, France, and Russia in 1911. This would become a big problem.
       OK, so I know this is a lot of history but its important, I promise. On June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian citizen. Now this may not seem like a big deal but then Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Now, Serbia had an alliance with the Triple Entente so France and Britain declared war on Austria-Hungary. But Autria-Hungary had an Alliance with  Germany so Germany declared war on the Triple Entente therefore forcing Russia to declare war on Germany. Eventually the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance declared war on each other. Still with me? Good, because now I am going to tell you why all that was necessary. The theme that was most common throughout these movies was compassion. This is because these men lacked conviction. There was no Hitler or Soviet Union but just alliances. Why would these men kill each other over the death of a guy whose death does not affect them at all? They had no motivation to fight each other, but the fear of getting killed because you hesitate to kill them first is what drove the war on.
      The reason that directors aren't producing as many WWI movies as WWII because WWI does not have a Hollywood story line,not like WWI where the men fight to avenge Pearl Harbor. There is no bad guy, like Hitler, but just men who were dragged into a war because their leader made an agreement and signed a paper.
      I watched the movies Joyeux Noel directed by Christian Carion, War Horse directed by Steven Spielberg, and Flyboys directed by Tony Bill. The theme of compassion showed up in all three.

      In Joyeux Noel the French, German, and Scottish soldiers come out of their trenches and come together for Christmas Eve. They talk, share campaign and share photos of their wives. Then the next day, on Christmas, they bury their dead together and play soccer together. The truce ends but the compassion does not. The next day the German officer comes to the French and tells them that they are going to bomb them and they should take shelter in their trenches. So the French and the Scottish both take shelter in the German trenches. Because they would most likely retaliate they invite the Germans to their trenches to take shelter. This would have never happened in WWII because the soldiers had a purpose; kill the German tyrants and  for the Germans kill the people that stand in their way.

     Flyboys was about the pilots in WWI. The compassion that I saw happened during a flying fight scene when the main character, who flies for France, his gun jams and is unable to shoot at the plane that otherwise would have been downed already. The German pilot, named the Red Baron, then circles around and pulls up behind him in position to shoot but instead pulls up next to him and salutes. The Red Baron realizing that he is unable to fire shows compassion and spares him. Another scene was when a French Pilot maakes a crash landing and survives but a German pilot comes and shoots him while he is on the ground. The Red Baron then pulls up next to his fellow pilot and shakes his head at him saying that what he did was not OK.

    War Horse follows a horse named Joey through the trenches of WWI. The compassion that was shown here was a scene where the Joey is wandering through No-Mans Land tangled in barbed wire. A German soldier and  British Soldier both see the horse and together they free the horse of barbed wire. They flip a coin for possession of the horse and though the Brit wins Joey, they part as friends. Both soldiers show compassion to each other through Joey.
    Cinematic elements were tough because there really weren't and defining shots that were artistic enough to even notice. Although, in Flyboys the camera would sometimes seem as if it were mounted on the front of the plane so the angles move just like a plane would. Like the camera spiraling as a plane is shot down and spirals towards the earth. In Joyeux Noel there were many up close shots like when a Scottish soldier's brother dies or when both sides are conversing and when a soldiers wife is singing for them. The up close shots are to let you know that something emotional and important is going on. This also forms connections with the character and viewer to stir emotions in the viewer when he dies or is sad. In War Horse there were a lot of moving shots that show Joey running and turned camera angles like from above and below the horse. There was also one shot of a close up of the Joey's eye that shows a french girl approaching through the reflection of the eye.