Bataan Movie, Bataan Death Marchs Historical Background - Essay Example

? Film, History and Context By choosing to watch and analyze a historical film from a time period, it is important to think about the historical event or time period that is being represented in the film and relates them with events that happen in the movie, ideas that are expressed, or traits of characters in the movie. It may be significant also to consider the historical context in which the movie takes place as well as taking into consideration what is going on in the outside world that affects the events in the movie and the emotions and actions of the characters. This form of writing argues whether historical film is more informed by the time and context within which it has been made than the historical time and context it portrays by considering two movies; Bataan 1943 and Saving Private Ryan 1998 films. It is worth noting that several historical films carry a common ‘theme of history’ such as history as a ‘flow’ of events, or a series of cause and effect relationships over time. Some of the theme of history is very vital being that they take into account the history affecting and shaping our society today as well as people making a difference in the society. By looking at historical context it is vital to consider the period and place where the movie takes place as well as significance about the event or time period. Furthermore it is advisable to consider what happens in the world beyond the film since relating the historical context greatly help in understanding all the important events taking place in the movie (Monaco & Harpole 2003, p. 39-54). Bataan Movie Bataan is a 1943 war film directed by Tay Garnet about the defense of the Bataan Peninsula at the start of World War II where Dane and a group of American and Philippine soldiers are caught up in the retreat from Manila toward Bataan. This movie involves the Japanese conquest of the Philippines in early 1942 where the U.S. forces conduct a fighting retreat after the army, civilians and a group of volunteers from different units blow up the bridge in order to delay Japanese rebuilding efforts as long as possible. After blowing the bridge, they wait for the expected enemy push to rebuild the bridge and dislocate the Americans but basic needs such as food, diseases and deficiencies of medicine greatly affect the soldiers’ even as they try to cope with the opposition. The soldiers were forced to move through the congested town as that was the only way they could escape from the Japanese soldiers who were really pressing forward as Dane and Jake Feingold tried to manage a defensive position (Bataan 1943, Film). After the commander orders soldiers to report to Captain Lassister, the town then suffered fierce attack from the air where civilians and soldiers were wedged in the open and executed. Soldiers were then ordered to hold a bridge until all refugees cross and later demolish the bridge as a way of stopping the Japanese soldiers and gathering their own in Bataan. The group of 13 men who were also equipped with enough equipment and supplies decided to position themselves on a cliff where they blew the bridge as they wait for Japanese but diseases and inadequate food and water would later demoralize them (Bataan 1943, Film). Japanese army managed to work at night on the bridge while the Americans were just reluctantly waiting; talking talk and eating but their peace is interrupted when a sniper catches Captain Lassiter in the open and shoots him dead. When Dane orders Barry Nelson to ascent a tree and echo on opponent undertaking, he sloppily displays himself thus making him to be shot dead by a sniper. The following day Dane and Todd go out alone launching grenades at the bridge to blow it up again but Dane is worried whether they will break from the tension and leave after most of their men die. However, Feingold serenely guarantees him they will definitely finish their obligation even as Philippine guide tries to break through the Japanese ranks to Bataan for help is seized, tortured and wounded before the Americans. Bentley was really wounded when he was trying to repair his plane which he wanted to fly out under cover of darkness. Bentley and Dane load 2 boxes of dynamite on the plane and flies into the bridge to demolish it in an incredible detonation (Bataan 1943, Film). Bataan Death march’s Historical Background This battle marks the day when Japan invaded Philippines and bombed the U.S naval base at Pearl Harbor and within a month the Japanese successfully captured Manila which is the Philippines. The U.S and Philippine defenders later compulsorily retreated at Bataan Peninsula for almost three months though they tried fighting back with their less effective naval and air support accompanied with starvation and disease which prompted the U.S general to surrender his troops at Bataan. The Japanese later captured the left Philippine and U.S soldiers and marched them to San Fernando where most of the troops died due to brutality and starvation and others were taken to prisoner-of-war camps. America later avenged the defeat and recaptured the Bataan thus liberating Manila and finally the commander of the Japanese was tried and executed by firing squad on April 3, 1946. Saving Private Ryan (1998) Saving Private Ryan is a powerful 1998 American epic warfare movie that truthfully re-creates WWII's D-day assault and the instantaneous repercussion directed by Steven Spielberg. It begins Omaha Beach where the U.S militaries invade Normandy in France and also attempt to secure and save a single warrior. Captain Miller struggles to look for a specific soldier who is called Ryan after all his Ryan’s three brothers had been killed in the battle. It is interesting that Captain Miller and his soldiers are not sure whether Ryan is alive or dead but insist in finding him and sending him home since he is the only one remaining amongst his brothers. The area in which Ryan is suspected to be is a very dangerous place where even some of the soldiers who went to search for him are killed one by one. The fierce struggle of the U.S soldiers to take Omaha beach from the Germans is shown in revulsions of battle and chaos. This battle and search of a soldier shows what actually happened during the World War II such as loss of family members amongst the soldiers and the civilians. After death of one of the soldiers in the rescue mission, there was public outcry on the need of risking many lives in the name of saving a single life of a soldier (Saving Private Ryan 1998, Film). Saving private Ryan is a strong case for agreeing with the fact that historical film is more informed by the time and context within which it is made than by the historical time and context it portrays. The drive of the film is not similar in 1998 as it was in 1944 as much as the story setup is intact since its usage and purpose defers due to difference in periods. The movie experiences evolution because of the period in which it was released because initially, the determination was nationalistic and descriptive, to assist audience getting behind the war by setting aside their misgivings and qualms. At the end of the war, there were no combat movies that were shown perhaps because of the bad memories they inflicted on people but towards the end of 1949, combat movies resurfaced (Schatz 1997, 56-69). The reemergence of the films were supposed to attempt to put the war in an "after the fact" viewpoint thus making it cease to be patriotic and but one of earned national pride as well as making the audience to have a deeper level of understanding. Although most of the combat movies were shot on actual location where the events took place by even including some veterans, the purpose of these kinds of films was purportedly to document or redesign the definite event for the viewers could watch. Although, the real incident took place in a different place compared with the scenes watched on the movie the message of the film is very clear due to its rich content (Neve 1992, 68-80). Saving Private Ryan tend to transform the war into legend by attempting to reach accuracy resulting into a secondary trend that began due to heroic re-creations. This movie successfully articulates the U.S annoyance concerning WW II thereby displaying disowning course in the present era of the advancement. It shows how families lost their beloved ones in the war by bringing the Ryan story and how soldiers sacrificed to save life of their own. This movie demonstrates how a fixed genre can be effectively applied after sometime to depict what the culture needs it to be in the current set up but still passing the same message it would have communicated in the past (Saving Private Ryan 1998, Film). Saving Private Ryan reactivates the WWII issue thus reminding the viewer of the battle and helps Americans to remember that World War II did not actually vanish from American lives even after it took place long time ago. The idea of the war has ever since remained within us in history and is always being reflected in several publications and movie revivals as well as making people to want to reevaluate the century. It is not easy to really know what the combat movies add up to but they deliver a new episode for the evolutionary process such as the Saving Private Ryan which may be the formative film that qualifies to be the first key movie in the current era (Saving Private Ryan 1998, Film). Currently we live in an epoch of pacifying movie fierceness and whatever takes place in the Saving Private Ryan is to take the massacre out of space and back down to the human level and perhaps the director of the movie is asking the audience to think about the future and the future of America. Spielberg has accomplished using familiar genre elements to achieve the message he wanted to communicate by including all the issues that occurred in the war in a dazzling way that prompt Americans to take the war seriously once more (Sklar 1975, p. 22-32). The movie shows various characters with a number of morals that were common during the time that the film was made and one of these ideals that were held by many was the anti-war opinions by the public. As much as the film demonstrates how heroic and enthusiastic these men were in carrying out their duty particularly the rescue mission to save one man. All these soldiers had a mission to accomplish what they wanted to and there are part of the ideals of American pride and willpower. This movie intensely displays that despite all the opposition that Americans faced during the war, they ultimately prevailed and accomplished their mission without giving up (Saving Private Ryan 1998, Film). Saving Private Ryan is one of the most exact representations of the incursion of Normandy that has ever been made and the director did an implausible job by only showing the horrifying invasion which certainly showed the sacrifice that was made by Americans. The film further shows the effects of the war on the men that fought it acts as a primary source of World War II such as the accuracy of the D-Day invasion and the costumes and scenes depicting a war ravaged France. Saving Private Ryan further accurately depicts the sentiments of the time it was filmed thus obviously showing the commonly held thoughts of the late nineties that war is not appropriate and that Americans are always ready to sacrifice everything to protect and preserve their country ( Andersen & Gray 2008, p. 118-130). Saving Private Ryan shows very dreadful mayhem of one of the most famous battles of World War II as a way of harnessing the wound of war upon present-day audiences by providing the D-Day invasion with a chaotic scene which is an aimless slaughter until the attacking force breaks the Nazi forces. Incursion act delivers the historical specificity that appeal to a putative practicality. Killings and the cases of mass and individual miseries relentlessly ties the experiences depicted to the present but dependably stressing the inhumaneness of the D-Day landing scene reveals the more significant corporeal project and cultural significance of the film. This film still reactivates the trauma of war this justifies its body revulsion and as an act of memorialization by endeavoring to affect a sense of the experience upon the body of the viewer. Saving Private Ryan helps in depicting war as the distressing wound of antiquity by effectively locating war in suffering, and reigniting a sense of the pain and death of war by using memorialization primarily through affect, by making an upsetting form of combination with the physical involvement of the disgusts of war. The Bataan war film benefited from the timing of its release which steered its approval and led to its instantaneous relevancy as well as making it more accurate and in tune with the shifting events. Combat films may repeatedly fade amongst the audience since they are likely to pull off simply due to the fact that they have been repeatedly done and are therefore common amongst audience but Bataan film is a bit difference and is protected by its outstanding realism and sincerity. It exposes much of what happened in the Bataan battle by showing some of the fresh battle grounds and commonplaces where the battle took place. The fact that the movie is likeable is not because it was done straightaway after the fighting but due to its context and the message it portrays (Koszarski 1990, p.45-53) The Bataan battle is really appealing since it can be watched with history in mind just like any other combat movie that depicts historical background and because it tackles a minor recognized part of World War II history. The historical combat films such as Bataan shows realistically without much guess work what genuinely occurred in the war such as the guerilla movements in the Philippines. Bataan film is fervent about the people and figures it portrays and just like any other wartime film, it has a bit of propaganda which however, do not deter it from being more pitiful and cherished in its methodology. This movie is very fresh especially while relating it to the battle since it sincerely shows that people actually underwent all the struggles and other sorts of things that took place in the war making it known to the audience that everything is done with a real and raw memory (Balio 1993, p. 24-32) The audience of this movie would feel like the movie is built on genuine stories and people and that the characters are people who were very much aware of what took place in the real sense. However, what is important is not the idea of knowing what actually took place but is based on understanding the war context of the movie. The acting and the whole movie scene should only stress on the message being communicated but not the historical time and context it portrays. Historical films such as Bataan have naturalness essential in all of their acts because of the immediateness of the issue being discussed because the directors tend to fix everything essential to perfect their work (Mccrisken & Pepper 2005, p. 30-35). The film gets along so quickly and realistically with the audience it seems to have been done on any number of forest war involvements which makes it captivating and erratic, like actual history by portraying scenes that are fairly explicit. Nonetheless it is worth noting that the period and context within which historical movie is made is additionally imperative than the historical period and context it portrays. The viewer mainly centers on the specifics as well as the meaning connected to the movie. By watching a movie such as Bataan, the most important thing is the context in which anybody can throw light into the meaning but not the time it portrays since the historical context will definitely influence the viewer’s interpretation. The events that took place in a particular movie are the most significant thing in understanding a movie and this qualifies Saving Private Ryan (Rollins 1998, p. 52-60). Meaning of a film is lost without contextual understanding since this will give deeper realization and enjoyment of the movie. I tend to think that watching a movie for the first time without any expectation i.e. with a blank slate is more enjoyable than when at times someone watches a movie with a lot of information. Understanding the context of a film makes watching the movie achievable and this may differ in many movies even if the movie was done during the historical times it portrays. References Andersen, R, & Gray, J 2008, Battleground The Media, Westport, Conn, Greenwood Press. Balio, T 1993, Grand Design: Hollywood as A Modern Business Enterprise 1930-1939, New York U.A, Scribner U.A. Bataan 1943, Motion Pictures, a Time Warner Company, United States. Harpole, C, & Bowser, E 1990, History Of The American Cinema, 2, 2, New York, Scribner, Koszarski, R 1990, an Evening's Entertainment: The Age of the Silent Feature Picture, 1915-1928, Berkeley, University Of California Press. Mccrisken, T, & Pepper, A 2005, American History and Contemporary Hollywood Film, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. Monaco, P, & Harpole, C 2003, the Sixties: 1960 - 1969. Berkeley [U.A.], University Of California Press. Neve, B 1992, Film and Politics in America: A Social Tradition, London: Routledge. Rollins, P 1998, Hollywood as Historian: American Film in A Cultural Context, Lexington, University Press Of Kentucky. Saving Private Ryan 1998, Motion Pictures, Paramount Pictures, United States. Schatz, T 1997, Boom and Bust: American Cinema in the 1940s, Berkeley, Calif, University Of California Press. Sklar, R 1975, Movie-Made America A Cultural History Of American Movies, New York, Random House. Read More