Love indicates peace in anti-war films - Essay Example

tuation during the American war that had tore the country down the middle into the confederates and the union patriots, the “the grand illusion” (1937) depicts the situation of the First World War, where the French and the German are enemies in the war (Nugent, 1938). Nevertheless, while there is antagonism in the two films, love remains the only bond that reunites the different factions into one core interest groups, through overcoming the ethnic and the territorial boundary restrictions, to make such factions unite.

The two films are characterized by war in the bulk of their scenes, and only in few scenes do we have the theme of love demonstrated. However, despite the scanty of love theme in these films, love eventually manages to overcome the dominant theme of war by the end of the films, and consequently the different warring factions in the two films end up as one society that is united by friendship and love. Therefore, love is a tool that has been applied to indicate peace in the two anti-war films.

The film "the grand illusion” (1937) is characterized by the notable cordial relationship that is established between two French aviators namely de Boeldieu who is an aristocratic Captain and Lieutenant Maréchal, who is a member of the working-class (Nugent, 1938). The two aviators set on a journey to discover a certain photo spot from an earlier air reconnaissance mission, and in the process they are shot down by a German aviator, who is also an aristocrat (Roger, 1999). While the French and the Germans are warring parties and enemies, the fact that both von Rauffenstein and the Frenchman Captain de Boeldieu are aristocrats, melts down their enmity and differences, and they establish a strong friendship that sustains their relationship amidst numerous nationality and ethnic challenges.

Therefore, the two characters eventually develop a connection that makes them sideline their own countrymen, for the sake of their friendship that is built on the basis of