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In Reply to: Re: We Were Soldiers posted by mikenyc on March 2, 2002 at 08:05:29:
I haven't seen the film, but I read a couple of articles about it. First, unlike the attempted weepy, cheesey "Pearl Harbor," this film apparently is a fairly straight realization of a book of similar title by one of the ground commanders in the battle depicted and a professional journalist.The producer/director bought the rights because he thought it was a story that should be told -- unlike the rest of the Vietnam War films, such as "Full Metal Jacket," "Platoon" and "Apoclypse Now," which reflected a post-1970 view of the conflict.
The fact is that the 1964 escalation of the Vietnam War was the apotheosis of the "bear any burden, pay any price in defense of freedom" rhetoric of JFK's 1960 inaugural address. The conflict was entered into with what now seems a strange mixture of idealism, ignorance and hubris. I suppose any film made today that attempts to depict that sensibility is condemned to be slammed as "revisionist."
I have no interest in the question of whether a film will stand up as a "classic." The answer to that question is unknowable to those living in the present. And the fact is, that the term "classic" falsely implies some timeless positive judgment about a work of art. Yet anyone who studies music or literature or art history quickly learns that, over time, certain styles and certain artists/composers/writers fall in and out of fashion. Frankly, it strikes me as almost silly for people to use the term "classic" with respect to any work in an artform that is less than 100 years old. It seems to me that a judgment about what is "classic" can only be made by audiences who are well removed in time from those who experienced the work when it was first released. No audience today can say that about any talking picture.
It seems to me that the most we can say about any film today is that it does-- or does not-- succeed in being convicing on its terms. And it seems to me with respect to this kind of film, that judgment has to be made apart from whatever judgment the viewer has about the value of the Vietnam War, war as an instrument of policy, or war at all.
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Follow Ups
- Re: We Were Soldiers -- the backstory - Bruce from DC 12:24:52 03/05/02 (0)
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