Peter Bart: War is hell. There is also a blur on the screen

This week’s Israel-Gaza quagmire seemed to defy coherent media coverage, reminding me of critic David Thomson’s conclusion about Hollywood war films and how they “use to celebrate courage, not confusion.”

Thomson’s new book, The fatal alliancediscuss the history of war films Gallipoli Unpleasant Private James Ryanit takes the reader from “War is hell” to “War is a blur.”

The war film was once a reliable genre product for Hollywood along with the western and the musical. Israel-Gaza is certainly a tragedy of enormous and dramatic proportions, symbolized by the chaotic transition from drones to tunnels.

Of Paths of Glory Unpleasant DunkirkWar films once laid out a structure and pathos to guide audiences through the nihilism of battle.

Thomson reminds us of the spectacle of the knights on horseback in Olivier Henry Vin the whirling helicopters Apocalypse now or in the chaos of Mogadishu Black Hawk below.

During World War II, American families faithfully devised war strategies by arranging toy soldiers neatly on the dinner table so that children could understand tactical symmetries. There were good people and bad people, the sides were clearly defined.

Those “them versus us” certainties won’t be offered to cable viewers this month, though they still produce good ratings after years of erosion. CNN’s ratings are up 31% month-over-month (up 16% year-over-year), but MSNBC continues to see higher total viewership. Fox News still has a significant lead over both.

Exclusive NapoleonHollywood itself has a meager slate of war films planned that are likely to be beneficial. Even in retrospect, Thomson is skeptical of the World War II Hollywood propaganda films released by famous directors such as Frank Capra and John Ford. “Can we really digest the truth about the war or are we satisfied with show?” he asked.

A 1984 film titled red dawn will be remembered as a reflection of these ambiguities. red dawn began its journey as an impassioned anti-war screenplay by Kevin Reynolds, focusing on an anarchic group of youths in the Southwest who are surprised by a Russo-Cuban invasion – fictional, that’s for sure. Reynolds, then a young writer and director, devised a modest plan lord of the flies– the type of film. The MGM studio was disturbed by the message and hired John Milius to rewrite and direct it red dawn with a new pro-war orientation – it was now about young patriots.

Concerned about the confused messages, the studio surprised Hollywood by hiring Alexander Haig, the “I’m in command” general of the Reagan years, from outside the community to take charge of the script and production. The result was a film that was overpriced and whose story was riddled with ambiguity.

Haig might have been better suited for this Napoleon. The audience before red dawn could never quite figure out what it was about.