[Weekly Updates] February 15, 2021

I look at this thumbnail and was thinking... was I supposed to talk about Star Trek Into Darkness this week? But no, it's Dunkirk. We are talking about war movies.

Man, Hollywood studios and their posters.

ABOUT THE CHANNEL

• Script for the next video is completed. Since we'll be talking about The Eight Hundred, which is a war movie, the subject matter will be a bit more serious. It wanted to tie it into Chinese culture somewhat, but the film's connection to traditional Chinese culture isn't that deep. Instead, I opted to talk about the film's thesis: What is heroism.
• For next month, we'll have a video talking about why you should watch foreign films, and talk about why foreign film is such a challenge to get into.
• Afterward, we'll have a video on Kong vs. Godzilla. Oh yes. Monke.
• And finally, we are currently voting for what we should do for April Fool's. If you haven't voted, check the pinned post!

ABOUT MEDIA

• Since I'm working on a video about a war movie, let's talk about the genre.
• War movies exists in a spectrum between jingoism and anti-war. And it's largely dependent on the context of the country the film was produced in, and the director's heritage.
• I can't think of a country that produces more anti-war movies than Japan. From Grave of the fireflies, to Tora Tora Tora, to the The Human Condition Trilogy, Japanese artists have been leading the country on a never-ending journey of self-reflection. Having caused and received so much trauma from WWII, it's only natural for Japan to feel this way.
• That said, not all Japanese movies are anti-war, as you'd expect. I wouldn't say The Eternal Zero is exactly pro-war propaganda, but its attempt at depicting heroism in kamikaze pilots is certainly controversial. As far as I remember, Miyazaki hates this movie with a burning passion. But perhaps that's a story better told with a video.

• American war movies, on the other hand, are stereotypically more jingoistic. Or at least perceived that way. Being a major victor of the war, America's attitude towards war maybe best reflected with... Wolfenstein 3D. Yes, the video game.
• I mean, Captain America is technically a war movie.
• Interestingly, the more recent the settings are, the more jingoistic the film often feels. Black Hawk Down was set in 1993, American Sniper was set around the Iraq War, Rambo III was set in the 80s. Not to mention the countless "war on terror" movies.
• You'd expect the relatively black and white / good vs. evil WWII to be the best war to rile up the patriotism. But WWII movies, at least the classics like Saving Private Ryans, and more recently Jojo Rabbit, are more anti-war.
• It may have something to do with the close relationship between the US military and the film industry in general. But that's just a guess.
• There is one war that is the go to for most anti-war artists, though. That'd be Vietnam. Having loss so many people in a seemingly meaningless war, it's generally agreed that The Vietnam War is a tragedy. Thus, movies from Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Good Morning Vietname, and somewhat ironically, First Blood (the first Rambo movie) all have a explicit or implicit anti-war/pro-veteran tone. It's even the butt of the joke in The Big Lebowski.

• China, like the U.S., is a victor of the war. Unlike US, China didn't really win, as much as it survived. Perhaps because of this incredible hardship the country endured, Chinese WWII movies are notably much more jingoistic, especially the ones produced in and around the Cultural Revolution.
• Movies like The Red Detachment of Women, Landmine Warfare, and Tunnel War are all old Chinese war movies that celebrated the Chinese war effort in WWII. They feel aggressively jingoistic. And Unsurprisingly, they were produced by the Chinese military.
• Now, it's worth noting that when I say Chinese movie, I don't just mean mainland movies. Hong Kong movies also exhibits a similar tone. The classic example would be Fist of Fury, Fist of Legend, and eventually Ip Man. There is always an anti-Japanese undertone in these films.
• In recent years, however, Chinese war films split into two directions. Three, if you count Wolf Warrior.
• The Wolf Warrior series is very much a continuation of those old war movies, aggressive, patriotic, jingoistic. But it's very much its own breed these days.
• For most Chinese war movies, including the one funded by the government, has lost its aggressive edge. Movies like Hundred Regiments Offensive, The Founding of an Army, and most notably, Operation Red Sea, focuses much more on praising the military. It is still jingoistic, but don't have the aggressively xenophobic tone.
• But what's really interesting is the anti-war films. Chinese artists are slowly influencing the market. The Flower of War, Nanking, and as we'll see in the next video, The Eight Hundred, all focus much more on the tragedy of war than the victory. It's an interesting shift in perception. Perhaps China is thinking of moving on from the trauma of WWII.

But that's all I have for you today. How are war movies in your country? Are they pro-war or anti-war? Are they dramatic or historic?

In any case, I'll see you in the next video.