Veteran’s Day – Contemplations on the Severe Realities of Combat and the Act of Movie Making
Posted: Friday, November 11, 2011
by Christofer French
Rain Dancer Associates, LLC
Movies have made powerful unforgettable statements about warfare and the soldier’s experience. From “All Quiet on the Western Front” to “They Were Soldier’s Once and Young” and many many others.
No matter the Director’s intent, or the nature of war they are attempting to portray, there are four areas that defy the artist and the story teller.
1) The Extreme Noise of Real Battle
Imagine this if you can, the noise of the cannon, both Union and Southern, blasting away at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania could be heard in Washington DC. There is thunderous noise that literally deafens, causes the brain to rattle inside the head. There is the variety of noise that is present in most all combat situations – grenades, RPGs, machine guns, rifles, pistols, the shrieking of human agony, the movement and crashing of vehicles, the pounding of tanks, the noise of anti-personnel weapons from mortar fire to mines.
The noise of battle crashes in on the individual and becomes the ugly unforgettable tapestry of battle that is inscribed forever through the ear. Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” did an incredible job of bringing this kind of noise to the screen, in which Matt Damon is shown just huddling in fetal position trying to weather the onslaught.
But speakers would have to be so much bigger to actually reach the maximum noise levels of shells exploding. And in order for the real noise of battle to make its true impact, it would have to be shown longer than audiences could ever tolerate. Of course, no one would want technology to actually reach the decibel levels that reflect true reality. Suffice it to say, it is beyond the brain’s ability to tolerate and escape suffering.
(2) The Reduction of Sight and Vision in the Midst of Battle
The level of smoke in a real battle is blinding and obscuring. Of course, this naturally defeats the Director’s purpose, and is only natural. If the Movie maker insisted on putting all of the smoke and fire of a battle into the scene, the camera would not pick up necessary action in the development of plot and character.
Put the noise AND the smoke together and you can see why battle has its own way of destroying the psyche while you yourself participate in battle. Again, this combination defeats the film maker’s purpose, and therefore removes these two overwhelming sensate factors from being truly realistically portrayed.
It is the “fog of war” that comes from the pure hell of all of these combined factors. Not being able to hear, and not being able to see, go a long way in describing why the “fog of war” develops.
(3) The Horrid Carnage of Battle
Showing the carnage of battle has always been an issue in the movie maker’s mind. Early movies just had soldier’s fall and drop. Again, “Saving Private Ryan” went a long way in showing evisceration, decapitation and severing of limbs without offending the sensibilities of the viewer too much (of course viewers need to be properly advised of what they are about to see). And of course, those appropriate warnings assist that movie maker in this regard.
Modern horror movies hold human sensibilities up for their shock value, and the issue of “blood and gore” is part of this problem. In spite of how movies have changed over the decades, the reality is that there is nothing that shuts down the human psyche more than “soldiering” with friends who then, next to you, in battle are butchered through shells and bullets and schrapnel.
Veterans of World War II were famous for not talking about battle. As a consensus from loved ones, they were famous for being mum. There is a logical reason for that, the boys that gave them joy and love and some level of fun were often the ones who died in this battle or that. When the surviving veterans have both memories contained inside their heads, they would rather be silent. This is the kind of thing that all noncombatants should try to understand when a Veteran does not wish to indulge in “war talk”, or speak heroically about the battle. Veterans live for the entirety of their lives with the carnage of battle and the remembering of their dead and wounded friends. Even if they are pronounced “well”, or getting “successful counseling”, certain picture and images residing in the brain never leave, and often wake up Veterans every night for the rest of their lives.
(4) “Friendly Fire”
This is the ultimate MISNOMER. When soldiers are killed by their own forces in accidental actions this is called Friendly Fire. Certain movie makers have made a point of bringing up friendly fire as a way to make a point about the scourge of war, but there is also another element of combat that defies the imagination of the uninitiated. In Mel Gibson’s “They Were Soldiers”, the call of “Broken Arrow” is sent off to Command by Gibson (Moore). They are being completely over run by the North Vietnamese and calling in Broken Arrow will mean that napalm will be dropped on all the forces in a certain spot.
Yes, this is horrid, and yes it was used in a movie, however, friendly fire is not just a specific order filled for a combat situation. Friendly Fire is a general name for all of the accidental insanity of combat. Soldiers accidentally shooting each other in the back, spraying machine gun fire on a group of people who you think are enemy, but in fact are not. Friendly Fire is the name given. Sources say that Friendly Fire accounted for 12 to 14 percent of all mortality in World War II. This is painful and brings tears to the eye of the observer. It is unfortunately the way of battle that this level of “accidents” occurs in a business that is about confusion, destruction and annihilation. A movie maker who went out of his way to emphasize this kind of action would be devoting, in this writer’s opinion, undue amount of time to these tragic accidents, and would be even more distracting and demoralizing. Like the carnage of war, if they devoted too much time to carnage for the sake of reality, they would not be making a war movie, but a horror show.
Movies Only an Approximation of the Horror of Battle
On this day, as we appreciate our Veterans, it might be appropriate for those of us who have never been to battle to understand that indeed, we have never been to battle, and those who know combat through movies still do not understand the real level of suffering that our heroes have gone through. Movies are truly only an approximation of reality. On this day, let us honor them all the more for their contribution and pray not only for their physical wounds, but also for their wounded psyches.
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Absolutely, and correct.
My Dad and his three brothers were all in WWII, and each was damaged by the war. All have passed on now. One served under Patton; and came back Shell Shocked terribly, then died because of it; another was in the desert with Rommel, at time supplies so bad they ate rattlesnakes; the third... I'm unsure where he was, but he had only sight in one eye. My Dad was in Hawaii. All came back with Honorable Discharges for having served well. My service was USNR for many years, and an Honorable Discharge, so I am very patriotic.
My disgust rises, when I see someone standing on the flag, or lowering it to a Communist nation in apology; then I remember that soldiers live and die for Freedom. The right of even the most treasonous American to have free speech, and the benefits of the Constitution. We truly are unique in how our soldiers volunteer to die for our nation, where others have to serve with fear, and no hope of being free. I salute our Veteran's and Honor their sacrifice!
Thanks for a clear picture of some things people need to know about war.Your family itself shows that "reality" is horrifying, even when they make it through. Bless those souls.
very true and done well, thanks
excellentThanks.
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