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Cinema-Scene.com
Volume 5, Number 08
This Week's Reviews: Gods and Generals.
This Week's Omissions: Dark Blue, The Life of David Gale, Tully, The Way Home.
Repertory Review: Air Force.
Capsule Reviews: Deliver Us from Eva, Old School.
Director: Starring: Release: 21 Feb. 03
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Gods and Generals BY: DAVID PERRY In this week's issue of retroactive propaganda, we proudly present a transcript of Ronald F. Maxwell's Gods and Generals: (Seal of approval signed by
Jefferson Davis) |
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©2003, David Perry, Cinema-Scene.com, 21 February 2003 |
Director: Starring: Release: 4 Feb. 43
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Air Force BY: DAVID PERRY [NOTE: Since this is more an analysis than a review of Air Force, major plot points including the end are given away. It is recommended that it only be read after watching the film.] In one of film's most heralded -- and blatant -- uses of propaganda during World War II, Howard Hawks' Air Force (1943) attempts to convince American viewers (as well as any other sympathetic group who might watch the film) of the elements of a strong army. Though the film never calls for recruits like Hawk's previous film, Sergeant York (1941), Air Force does emphasize the importance of being a team player. As Hawk's film makes clear, a successful war abroad cannot be won without collective responsibilities. As viewers watched the film in 1943, they were meant to see the altruism in the America war machine and, hopefully, find a way to sacrifice their own individualism in the name of their all-American community. Most of the characters in Air Force come as direct examples of team players. At the heart of the group is Captain Mike Quincannon (Ridgely), the pilot of the Mary Ann. While he cherishes the lives of his men -- and dies trying to save them -- his true devotion is to the completion of his order: Quincannon and his men are to ensure that the Japanese cannot use their plane against American soldiers. When the plane takes off, Hawks includes a montage of each crew member checking in with Quincannon to show that they are ready and, more importantly, that they are integral to the operations within the Mary Ann. "It takes all of us to make this ship function," Quincannon says. After being heralded by superiors for making it through 3 days of nonstop flying, Quincannon states that the effort was much more on the shoulders of his crew than solely on him. There are only two characters who come in direct opposition with the collectivism found within the Mary Ann. First is Sergeant Joe Winocki (Garfield), who proudly reminds the rest of the group that he has only three months left of service. While they are happy for their time fighting for the sanctity of their nation, Winocki remains a voice of dissent. He has no real connection to the fraternal order he is now stuck in -- blaming Quincannon for his failure to become a pilot, Winocki seems more interested in finishing his army stint than he is in making the slightest relationship with the rest of the crew. Quincannon's worry over this dissident even brings his paternal element out (Hawks has already established Quincannon's picture perfect family in San Francisco) by giving words of advice to Winocki in a heart-to-heart way: "You played football, Winocki, you know how one man can gum up the whole works." Hawks, however, does not let Winocki remain the rebellious voice throughout. When caught in the throes of real warfare after seeing the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, Winocki becomes just as integral a member of the group as anyone else on the plane. Before long, his disagreeing time is completely forgotten. Earlier, as the rest of the crew sat anxious over what was wrong with Hickham Air Base's radio, Winocki was laughing; by the end, though, he is saving the Mary Ann and Quincannon from destruction. Even when siding with the well being of his crew, Winocki is still prone to the occasional fit of individualism, as is the case when he turns during an escape to shoot at oncoming Japanese soldiers, finally stopped after being punched by Sergeant Robby White (Carey). Whether he is selflessly hiding in a bombshell to shoot at enemy planes or simply taking the blame for another crewman's mistake, Winocki has finally proven himself as a team player. The other character outside of the initial group is Lieutenant Tex Rader (Brown), a pursuit pilot traveling to the front on the Mary Ann. Unlike Winocki, though, Rader isn't angry in his dismissal of the fighting in a huge bomber, but instead more genial. Rader isn't necessarily disdainful over the way the Mary Ann crew works together, but simply prefers the sole responsibility of being a solo pilot. As he tells the rest of the crew, "I just don't want to fight in any airplane that more than one man can ride in. I don't want to be responsible for 8 to 10 other guys, or depend on them either." He is the butt of constant jokes from the crew because they see him as over-confident and unwilling to join in on their little family, even when they are fighting a similar battle in the air. In a pivotal action sequence, as Hawks cuts from each of the men in the Mary Ann doing their job to stop a Japanese attack, Rader is the only person onboard who is never seen. Of course, he too comes to see the attributes of the team in the climactic battle of the crippled Mary Ann. He has learned that he can depend on everyone else. In the final showdown, Hawks makes it clear that the military successes of the U.S. Army Air Force in the days after Pearl Harbor were not based on the prowess of the pursuit pilots like Rader, however, but instead through the initiative of many men working together. Earlier, the single bomber plane, with the communal work of its crew, defeats a barrage of solo-piloted Japanese planes; now, the bomber pilots serve as informants for the pursuit planes, helping to bring the rest of the Australia-based forces into an air attack that would cripple the Japanese fleet before they make it to their target. Not only is there a constant flow of information between the Mary Ann and the solo pilots, but also a collection of shots showing the men on the ground helping to get the information from one base to another. Hawks is essentially showing that the war could not be won without everyone pitching in. He almost creates the impression that America could have won World War II in a matter of weeks if they only had a few more troops. By pushing the ideals of group over individual, Hawks creates some detachment to emotional scenes. When White learns that his son is dead, the time of mourning is cut short by his need to return to the crew and ensure the safety of the Mary Ann. The most grief found in the film is for Quincannon, but it similarly doesn't take terribly long for the crew to diligently get back to work under the command of a new leader. While they adored Quincannon as a man, their real responsibility is to the U.S. Army. Victorious in this battle and ready for their next, they all convene to ride alongside a dozen other planes. All this makes sense considering the propagandist intents
of the film. Air Force -- almost to a fault -- constantly presses its agenda, hoping to
create an upsurge in nationalism and community work. The central idea is that these men
are all integral to the success of the American war effort. Their success in carrying out
the impromptu American plan in the Pacific Ocean after Pearl Harbor is because each man
worked together, beyond their social, economic, and geographic differences to build a
mighty fleet in a single bomber. |
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©2003, David Perry, Cinema-Scene.com, 21 February 2003 |
Deliver Us from Eva Deliver Us from Eva, complete with its tinkering of The
Taming of the Shrew, is enjoyable in a forgettable way through much of its length.
But then something goes terribly wrong - as if director Gary Hardwick hadn't already
filled the screen with idiotic flourishes, the screenwriters have the characters play a
trick on the film's young lovers that should amount to prison time. Instead of at least
letting the film deal with this trick sensibly, the jokesters get the girls. Huh? |
Director: Gary Hardwick Starring: Release: 7 Feb. 03 |
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©2003, David Perry, Cinema-Scene.com, 21 February 2003 | ||
Old School Why is it that every year must have another poor attempt at
recreating National Lampoon's Animal House? Van Wilder, Sorority
Boys, PCU, etc. Does the madness ever end? Can I just sit back, relax, and
know that a good actor like Luke Wilson will never again be wasted on a piece of dribble
that stands as little more than lowbrow humor objectifying women and turning college into
a Mecca of debauchery? I ask these questions, and yet no answers. Maybe I've just become
an old killjoy. |
Director: Todd Phillips Starring: Release: 21 Feb. 03 |
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©2003, David Perry, Cinema-Scene.com, 21 February 2003 |
Reviews by:
David Perry
©2003, Cinema-Scene.com
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