Remembrance
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.
While being ill I have had the opportunity to re-watch the series Band of Brothers. And yes, it’s a great series and yes, it’s very well made - but I’m always a little puzzled by its reputation as a historical docu-drama. Several channels have shown it in conjuncture with World War 2 documentaries, thereby giving the impression that the series itself is a fact program. It’s not. Agreed, it’s based on historical facts, and great care has gone into the props and look of the show. Most of the characters and events are based on the memories of soldiers participating in WW2, but all of this has been shaped into a cohesive narrative with a clear beginning, middle and end. In short it has been turned into fiction.
The look of the series is also significant. The colours have been muted, and are at times greenish and bleak. Were the years of 1944 & 1945 really this bleak? Well, they might have seemed that way to some of its participants, but I think we can safely assume that red was as bright and brilliant then as now. A more plausible explanation for the muted colours is that the series mimics old documentaries, who were either black/white or whose colours have faded over time.
Why mimic documentaries? Well, that is how those, in other words us, who never experienced the war are used to seeing it, just as we are used to seeing the Old West through yellowish, faded photographs and medieval Europe through ruined castles and illuminated manuscripts. We see history through the memorabilia it leaves us, because this is tangent and real and there in a way facts on a page can never be. But the ruined castle doesn’t give us the full picture of medieval time, but it serves as a remnant and a reminder. I think if Band of Brothers is watched with this in mind, instead of viewing it as a docu-drama, then the true beauty of the series becomes clear.
For in a way the series is all about memory and remembrance. It’s adapted from memories of veterans, and this memory aspect is mirrored in the title sequence. Here stills from the series have been altered to look like old photographs, complete with scratches, hair and tape. When seen as memorabilia, photos are closely linked with remembrance. The title is followed by interviews with the veterans where they reminisce about the events in the upcoming episode. Memory yet again.
Even the series title does in a way link itself to memories - it’s taken from the St. Crispin Day Speech in Henry V. The focus of this speech is partially about brotherhood , but it is also (and most importantly for my argument) about memory. The way scars shall be reminders, the way the names of the participants shall not be forgotten, and so forth.
Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
So what is the point of all this memory focus? Well, roughly you could say there are two types of history. It’s the academic history that is printed in books, and told at lectures etc.
And then there is the folk history, a blend of academic history and personal experience. This is the type of history that grandparents tell their wide eyed grandchildren about that time grandpa saw so-and-so do this-and-that. Or in my case how my grandmother smuggled illegal newspapers in her underwear during the German occupation of Norway (1940-45).
The latter is the part which gives history a personal dimension, and that often can tell you how a group - be it a generation, a culture or a country - view history. For the opposite of remembrance is forgetting, and what we forget (or chose to forget) can be just as important as what we choose to remember. And that is where I think the importance of Band of Brothers lie, not in showing the correct historical facts - but in emphasising the importance of memory and the personal dimension. Through which we get a glimpse of how parts of the western world chooses to remember the last World War.
Henry V is of course by Shakespeare, the mutilation is mine. The full speech is here
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day.
While being ill I have had the opportunity to re-watch the series Band of Brothers. And yes, it’s a great series and yes, it’s very well made - but I’m always a little puzzled by its reputation as a historical docu-drama. Several channels have shown it in conjuncture with World War 2 documentaries, thereby giving the impression that the series itself is a fact program. It’s not. Agreed, it’s based on historical facts, and great care has gone into the props and look of the show. Most of the characters and events are based on the memories of soldiers participating in WW2, but all of this has been shaped into a cohesive narrative with a clear beginning, middle and end. In short it has been turned into fiction.
The look of the series is also significant. The colours have been muted, and are at times greenish and bleak. Were the years of 1944 & 1945 really this bleak? Well, they might have seemed that way to some of its participants, but I think we can safely assume that red was as bright and brilliant then as now. A more plausible explanation for the muted colours is that the series mimics old documentaries, who were either black/white or whose colours have faded over time.
Why mimic documentaries? Well, that is how those, in other words us, who never experienced the war are used to seeing it, just as we are used to seeing the Old West through yellowish, faded photographs and medieval Europe through ruined castles and illuminated manuscripts. We see history through the memorabilia it leaves us, because this is tangent and real and there in a way facts on a page can never be. But the ruined castle doesn’t give us the full picture of medieval time, but it serves as a remnant and a reminder. I think if Band of Brothers is watched with this in mind, instead of viewing it as a docu-drama, then the true beauty of the series becomes clear.
For in a way the series is all about memory and remembrance. It’s adapted from memories of veterans, and this memory aspect is mirrored in the title sequence. Here stills from the series have been altered to look like old photographs, complete with scratches, hair and tape. When seen as memorabilia, photos are closely linked with remembrance. The title is followed by interviews with the veterans where they reminisce about the events in the upcoming episode. Memory yet again.
Even the series title does in a way link itself to memories - it’s taken from the St. Crispin Day Speech in Henry V. The focus of this speech is partially about brotherhood , but it is also (and most importantly for my argument) about memory. The way scars shall be reminders, the way the names of the participants shall not be forgotten, and so forth.
Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
So what is the point of all this memory focus? Well, roughly you could say there are two types of history. It’s the academic history that is printed in books, and told at lectures etc.
And then there is the folk history, a blend of academic history and personal experience. This is the type of history that grandparents tell their wide eyed grandchildren about that time grandpa saw so-and-so do this-and-that. Or in my case how my grandmother smuggled illegal newspapers in her underwear during the German occupation of Norway (1940-45).
The latter is the part which gives history a personal dimension, and that often can tell you how a group - be it a generation, a culture or a country - view history. For the opposite of remembrance is forgetting, and what we forget (or chose to forget) can be just as important as what we choose to remember. And that is where I think the importance of Band of Brothers lie, not in showing the correct historical facts - but in emphasising the importance of memory and the personal dimension. Through which we get a glimpse of how parts of the western world chooses to remember the last World War.
Henry V is of course by Shakespeare, the mutilation is mine. The full speech is here