MovieChat Forums > Dunkirk (2017) Discussion > How come no one makes movies about WWI?

How come no one makes movies about WWI?


Seems weird to me. There has to be lots of great and heroic stories to tell about that war as well.

reply


That is an excellent question, and I have no clue.


😎


"He's dead."

reply

I stumped the great and powerful MovieMan? Thats not good... :)

reply


But fear not! As Mark Twain once said:

"There are two men who are most remarkable. Kipling is one, and I am the other. Between us we cover all knowledge. He knows all that can be known, and I know the rest."

I will venture a theory, however: Perhaps it's because all of the participants are dead, whereas some WW II vets are still with us.


😎


"He's dead."

reply

Your theory could be valid. And I don't see anyone behind the curtain.

reply


Excellent.


😎


"He's dead."

reply



Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.

reply

I've sometimes wondered this as well. Personally I don't find WW1 that interesting for some reason, but I'm really fascinated by everything WW2 related. Now that I think about it I really don't know much about WW1. Maybe people in general aren't interested in seeing WW1 movies.. I don't know.

reply

War Horse is about WWI. You should watch that. It is very good.

I think that the reason we don't have more WWI movies is that it was a more technical war.

WWI happened because of a series of bad situations and bad timing that led everyone to fight each other.

WWII was more dramatic. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, the NAZIs wanting to take over the world, the Holocaust...etc., gives writers more material to work with.

reply

I have seen War Horse and Fly Boys but I didn't get much out of them. I would like to see something like Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers style movie. I watched a special on PBS about WWI and since either side couldn't gain any ground on the surface. Both sides started digging vast tunnels underneath each and planting massive amounts of explosives. It was really interesting and something I never knew about the War.

reply

Great question. I disagree that the reason is WWI was a "more technical" war. Outside western Europe and Russia, there are LOTS of dramatic stories. The war at sea--off the coast of South America-- Japanese involvement--

"Gallipoli" is a WWI film; "Lawrence of Arabia" is, too. But no film at all has addressed how WWI basically ensured Arabic enmity for the west. (Lawrence of Arabia is not only a boring film but a rotten person to make a hero.)

reply

[deleted]

[deleted]

Yo should watch "A very Long engagement" with Audrey Tautou and Gaspar Ullier. Its a very beautiful movie, and the cinematography is amazing.

reply

Well of course one of the reasons is that WWII is more recent, with much of Hollywood having participated, but there are WWI movies if you want to check them out. Here's a good list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_I_films Standouts: "All Quiet on the Western Front," "A Farewell to Arms," "Johnny Got His Gun" (also a GREAT book), "Oh! What a Lovely War" (weird musical that has some things in it I'll never forget), "The Great Dictator" (leads into WWII), "Sergeant York," "Grand Illusion" (one of the greatest movies ever made), and "Wings" (the first movie to ever win an academy award for best picture). Oh, and "The African Queen," which ties into WWI as well.

The situation leading up to the war was very similar to today's world, with terrorists (or nationalists, if you're on their side) wreaking havoc across Europe, and Europe separated into blocs. A group of terrorists assassinated the archduke (heir to the throne) of Austria-Hungary while he was visiting Sarajevo in Serbia. Austria-Hungary demanded the terrorist's return for trial. Serbia refused. A-H gave Serbia an ultimatum. Serbia thumbed its nose saying no, we'll try him here. Then all the treaties between parties in Europe kicked in, with both sides getting assurances from their allies that they'd have their back, and everybody but everybody declared war on each other, often in response to being declared war UPON. A-H invaded Serbia, then all hell broke loose.

You will probably see more similarities in pre-WWI to today's world than pre-WWII to today's world.

It's an interesting war technologically, too, with the introduction of the tank, barbed wire, machine guns, etc. AND you've got the death of the royal houses of Europe (see "Fall of Eagles") and the infancy of the Soviet Union. Good times.

edit: fixed typo

reply

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to start with "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Trench" and see how that goes.

Is this the movie you are talking about?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Grande_Illusion

reply

Yes, Grand Illusion is La Grande Illusion. It's French w subtitles. Haven't seen for years bit can still picture Erich von Stroheim (Sunset Boulevard) character.

reply

I found the original 1930 version of All Quiet on the Western Front so dated and old as to be unwatchable. The 1979 remake, however, is one of my all-time favourite films. The book is also very good.

Another WW1 film I'd recommend is The Trench, a small British film from 1999 about the build-up to the first day of the Battle of the Somme. A pretty great film, I'd say - with a younger Daniel Craig as the sergeant.

Oh, there's also an excellent 2-part BBC mini-series from 2012 called Birdsong.

reply

WWI hasn't got the characters WWII had. Hitler, Stalin, Churchill... not to mention the sheer scale of the suffering which made WWI seem tame in comparison. World altering scientific breakthroughs like the atom bomb. The holocaust. The Nazi's and the SS like some supervillain force, strutting around in black with skulls on their hats. Kamikaze's introducing suicide bombing to the world stage. WWI was a political war, WWII was a racial war. Also the sheer amount of footage actually filmed during it made it the world's first media friendly war. There's no comparison between the two for the interest they generate in people.

reply

WWI hasn't got the characters WWII had....World altering scientific breakthroughs like the atom bomb
'Better villains, bigger explosions' as the joke goes.

More generally, WW2 appeals because it's a relatively good/just/necessary war from the perspective of the Allies/winners, whereas WW1 looks like complete madness/foolishness from beginning to end and beyond. Any decent WW1 movie therefore has to be a deeply anti-war film which means losing at least half the possible audience.

In some respects WW1 is the normal case. Most wars are huge, almost completely unnecessary, morally murky messes. WW2 is the rare, opposite case where things almost do break down into 'goodies and baddies', into the kind of story-telling that an entertainment-based, commercial cinema is most familiar with.

reply

[deleted]

@ehewitt. You make some good points. Maybe I leaned a little hard on the idea of all decent WW1 movies having to be be 'anti-war' (whatever exactly that means or entails). Perhaps I should have stressed instead the related idea that WW1 like most non-WW2 wars is massively complicated from a moral perspective as well as from every other perspective. WW2's status as the one absolutely necessary, probably just war leads to very clear lines for story-telling around it I'd say, whereas in other conflicts questions about the basic justice and reasonableness of the situation tend to overwhelm whatever foreground story you are trying to tell.

reply