This film, directed by Lewis Milestone in the 1930’s, is possibly one of the more accurate depictions of World War 1. I found that I made a lot more notes relating to props and costume than I did in other previous films as I felt that this was tightly directed towards our brief. More so than the other films.
This film shows the journey through a group of young men joining the army when they are persuaded by their teachers. It follows them through their laughs and games and shows how a War can slowly but surely change a man and break him after witnessing the horrors of death.
There are two main memorable scenes for me. The first one is when a soldier is lying in a hospital bed after his leg has been amputated. His companions come and visit him, it appears, to offer support and be there for him but it is made clear that the war has turned these soldiers against each other as one soldier asks him if he can have his boots as he wouldn’t be using them anymore. This gives the impression that they only look out for themselves and have become selfish as the war has gone on.
Another scene that has stuck in my mind is towards the end when a soldier spots a butterfly that is slightly out of reach. He goes out of his way to reach for it, dropping his defense and gets shot. It is as though people would risk everything for a bit of beauty.
Although I found that the storyline wasn’t the most interesting, it is very good for an accurate recall of the types of military uniform and weapons. This is very helpful for the Props project and the Costume project.
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