World War I kids

French kids playing the war in Paris 1915. These autochrome photographs were made by a member of the Photography and Cinematography Organization of the French Army. The first photo shows a French anti-aircraft gun trying to shoot down a German Taube (pigeon) bomber -- these planes with characteristic spreaded tails and rounded wings were used to bomb Paris in the first months of the war.

The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918

Best war movies and shows (1)

Here's a round-up of my favorite war movies, ordered by conflict. One thing that's instantly obvious is that while there's a huge number of WWII and Vietnam War movies, good WWI movies are a bit hard to come by. Did I forget something important? Leave a comment.

Also, regarding WWII, there are many other great films that are not actually centered around any battles per se, but tell stories of e. g. concentration camp inmates or POWs. These movies (such as The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), The Pianist (2002), Life Is Beautiful (1997), Schindler's List (1993) or also Der Untergang (2004), famous for its creation of the Ranting Hitler meme) are not included here and will be topic of a separate post.


Historical: Hero (2002)
While not a war movie per se, Hero has some of the most amazing shots of the historical army of Qin in the first part of the movie. This turns into a nearly ridiculous fight when Jet Li start to fend of the millions of arrows launched by them. This movie is so amazing throughout, when you watch it on the big screen some of the scenes are just so beautiful that you nearly forget to breathe.

Honorable mentions: Braveheart (1995), The Warlords (2007), Musa (2001), Red Cliff (2008). Yes a lot of Asian movies on this list, they really have a knack for those prehistoric drama stuff.


World War I: Paths of Glory (1957)
There are some people who hold this as Stanley Kubrick's greatest movie, and I can understand why: it has all the markings of a perfect modern movie, a great star (Kirk Douglas), some battlefield action scenes, courtroom drama, etc. All in all, well worth a watch even though it's more than half a decade old now.

Honorable Mention: All Quiet on the Western Front (1979). This was even made for TV, it's quite long but a good movie.


World War II: Band of Brothers (2001)
Not a movie, but a 10-part television drama produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg and hands down the best coverage of WWII ever. The series follows some paratroopers from the day of the Normandy landing until they reach and occupy Germany, and each episode has a bit of a different focus. The episode centering on the field medic (episode 5 or 6 I think) is extremely intense and gives a very haunting image of the horrors of war. Excellent throughout.

Honorable Mentions: Das Boot (1981), The Thin Red Line (1998), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970). Das Boot has gotten some recognition for its great depiction of the life on the German submarine U-96, being re-released as a Director's Cut with an additional hour to the original theatrical version (209 minutes) in 1997, but the version to watch here is the full original 6-hour version that was broadcast on television in the eighties. Tora! Tora! Tora!, an American-Japanese co-production is one of my favorites despite (or maybe because of) its clinical approach and lack of real plot.


Vietnam War: Apocalypse Now (1979)
Behold this amazing original trailer for Apocalypse Now, the big daddy of all Vietnam War movies. It was among the first being filmed and contains so many great scenes depicting the absurdity of that conflict, I don't even know where to begin; from the first shot to the surfing scene, or the lit-up bridge or the final scenes at Angkor in Cambodia. Remind me to finally watch the re-release Redux already, I've had that on my list so fucking long already.

Honorable Mentions: The Deer Hunter (1978), Full Metal Jacket (1987), Platoon (1986). These are all good in their own right, Deer Hunter was a favorite for a long time because the story is so unassuming and not primarily centered on the war itself.

Stay tuned for Part 2 (modern conflicts) next week.

Four Senegalese soldiers

Famous and rare color photograph showing four Senegalese soldiers fighting in France during the First World War. The French cultural ministry has a lot more of these on their web site linked below.

Ministère de la culture - memoire: Quatre militaires sénégalais

Reims 1917

Some haunting color photos from the bombed-out city of Reims in France, 1917.

Ministère de la culture - memoire

The Locarno restoration

Here's an interesting article on the current state of the world, comparing it to the interim years between World Wars 1 and 2:

Locarno, a picturesque Swiss town on the shores of Lake Maggiore, was the site of a series of treaties signed in 1925 between France, Germany, Britain, Italy and Belgium. They ostensibly guaranteed the post-World War I borders on Germany's western frontier with France and Belgium, but agreed that Germany's eastern frontiers could be subject to revision. They also paved the way for Germany's membership in the League of Nations. (...)

Above all, Locarno failed because it combined wishful thinking with political weakness in a way that was bound to be tested and exploited by the fascist powers. If the 1930s were, per W.H. Auden's line, a "low, dishonest decade," it was mainly because the 1920s were so high-mindedly self-deceived.

We are in a similar state today.

Bret Stephens Says We Can't Allow Barack Obama's Optimism to Lull Us into a Weakened Foreign Policy - WSJ.com

More German atrocities

World War One propaganda postcard (not 100% serious I surmise).

Razzle Dazzle camouflage

During World War I, the British and Americans faced a serious threat from German U-boats, which were sinking allied shipping at a dangerous rate. All attempts to camouflage ships at sea had failed, as the appearance of the sea and sky are always changing. Any color scheme that was concealing in one situation was conspicuous in others. A British artist and naval officer, Norman Wilkinson, promoted a new camouflage scheme that was derived from the artistic fashions of the time, particularly cubism. Instead of trying to conceal the ship, it simply broke up its lines and made it more difficult for the U-boat captain to determine the ship's course. The British called this camouflage scheme "Dazzle Painting." The Americans called it "Razzle Dazzle."

Razzle Dazzle: Dazzle Painting

LIFE magazine's photos of World War I

British tanks parked in a field near the front lines during World War I. Date taken: 1918

Crew of German battle cruiser Moltke posing for group picture aboard ship during World War I. Date taken: 1915

Allied soldier silhouetted by glare of an exploding German phosphorus bomb during World War I. Date taken: August 1917

LIFE photo archive hosted by Google

WWI photographs of Frank Hurley

Supporting troops of the 1st Australian Division walking on a duckboard track near Hooge, in the Ypres Sector. As they passed toward the front line to relieve their comrades, whose attack the day before won Broodseinde Ridge and deepened the Australian advance. Date made: 5 October 1917

The unmistakable World War I photographic compositions of Frank Hurley

Battle of Passchendaele (1917)

Never seen before, these astonishing photographs, lovingly hand-touched in colour to bring to life the nightmare of Passchendaele, were released this week to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the battle that, between July and November 1917, claimed a staggering 2,121 lives a day and in total some quarter of a million Allied soldiers.

Hell on Earth: The never before seen colour photographs of the bloody battle of Passchendaele

Shell shock