Is there too much romanticization of World War 2 in the movies? Although the Japanese comitted atrocities in Burma during the construction of the Burma Railroad, does our collective memory fade or change over time?
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Agree with you both Jackie and Randy. This is an open-ended discussion for sure, one that can be argued from many different angles. At the very least, countries use film as patriotic propaganda (not a bad thing) to bolster support for idealogy, political view, and war with the public. Germany did this quite effectively during the rise of the Nazi Party in the 1930s and 1940s. German producer and director Leni Riefenstahl's The Triumph of the Will from 1935 was one such film which helped Hitler's popularity and that of Nazism. She was immensely popular in Germany at that time.
From my view, Hollywood has "grown" over the years and protrays War in a more honest way. Movies such as Platoon, Schindler's List, The Pianist, Blackhawk Down, Lone Survivor, and others from modern-day writers and directors show war far differently from those earlier film makers of the 1940s through 1970s.
Romanticization is exacty the word I was thinking of.
Most movies - especially the newer releases - need to have a romantic back story or are (loosely) "based on true events". In my opinion Pearl Harbor (2001) started the trend for movies filmed over the past few decades. To the point where the attack on Pearl Harbor was actually the back story for the romance. Some of the classic directors (Eastwood, Spielberg, Hanks) still attempt to stay closer to historical facts.
Although The Bridge on the River Kwai was fictional, the bridge from the movie did exist and was never destroyed. It still stands on the edge of the Thai Jungle and has become somewhat of a tourist attraction.
That's a great question! Hollywood has always been about getting butts in seats at the theater. They never let history or facts get in the way of a good story. I think we must take into consideration when a movie was made the culture of that time. Special effects capabilities aside, older movies don't have the gratuitious violence we see in today's films. It may be insinuated, but rarely shown. People who lived through WWII telling the story of WWII is likely to have a very different feel than someone born 30 years later and telling a story that is "history" to them, not an experience.
All that brings us to the fact that, "The Bridge on the River Kwai" is a fictional story made up from various events that happened in the war. The movie was made from a Novel written by the author that would later write - "Planet of the Apes" and is based on his experiences in the war. I suppose he took a little poetic license with some things, and maybe his romantized novel is what he wished would have happened versus what really did happen. The reality was far worse than the movie. RIP Pierre Boulle.