Combat film

Abstract

AbstractWhat is a “war film”? In the film industry the term was first used to describe films set during the American Civil War such asThe Birth of a Nation(dir. D. W. Griffith, 1915) and reflects the fact that this was the first major war to be the subject of dramatic representation in film. (For a critical taxonomy of “war films,” see Neale 2000: 125–133.) The term also came to be applied to actuality films of World War I, such as The Battle of the Somme (dir. Geoffrey Malins and J. B. McDowell, 1916), and later to fiction films, such asAll Quiet on the Western Front(dir. Lewis Milestone, 1930), that presented a harrowing account of the experience of the trenches. In fact the war film—like other genres such as film noir or melodrama—is one that has no fixed boundaries. Film critics and historians disagree on the parameters of the genre. R. E. Shain, for example, avers that war films “do not have to be situated in combat zones” and that they may deal “with the roles of civilians, espionage agents, and soldiers in any of the aspects of war (i.e. preparation, cause, prevention, conduct, daily life, and consequences or aftermath)” (Shain 1976: 20). Under this definition we would include films about the experiences of prisoners of war such asLa Grande Illusion(dir. Jean Renoir, 1937) and homefront dramas such asMrs Miniver(dir. William Wyler, 1942) andMillions Like Us(dir. Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, 1943).