Here is a film that deserves some modern day attention. No, I’m not turning film critic and I’m not going to do that thing where you suggest your current hobby horse ‘should be taught in schools’. Kids are far far too busy working out how to get their next vape session in.
The Film is ‘Stalingrad’ - the original 1993 German-made
anti-war film, is rightly referred to by NME as ‘A Masterpiece’. It stands out
as one to watch not because of the brutal war scenes but because of the scenes
of casual human brutality that starkly portray how very quickly callousness
becomes a dull, monotonous, dreary, unavoidable, wasteful reality and routine.
Unlike a lot of British war films there is no
sentimentality and there is no bravado either unlike the Hollywood
counterparts. In fact sentimentality is shown to be wildly misplaced and naive
in the attempts at romantic letter-writing by one of the main characters, by
the casual placement of women and children among the battle scenes in others and
the juxtaposition of utter bland stupidity and horror when it comes to death
and human carnage.
For those who have not experienced war up close –
thankfully most of us in this country - or
for those without an imagination or those who prefer the intellect-wiping stupidity
of intravenous reality TV – this is the film that could pinpoint the actual grimness
of a Gaza or Ukraine or Syria.
Ignore the platitudes of Starmer and before him
Sunak about Israel’s ‘right to defend’. And ignore that little voice inside
that tells you Ukraine – etc. - is nothing to do with you because it's ‘over
there’.
Wars spread. Putin may have been held by the
constant sacrifice of the Ukrainian people but if Netanyahu is allowed to
continue to escalate the bloodbath in Middle East and manoeuvre the US to
engage in more than the proxy war it usually enjoys, the pressure will be off
Putin.
And in this global world, even if not caught up in
the actual butchery, we can never escape the effects of extreme disruption to
the production and distribution of food and oil for example – ya know – that stuff
we can’t live without. Especially when the countries that make things and those
that mega-consume are now so far apart.
‘Stalingrad’ coming to a country near you…
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I’m linking you here to one of the earliest posts in this 12 yr long political therapy session – post no. 12 - Armageddon Will Not Be Televised
Because what I said then is at least 23% truer today…