World Wars in the Media, Tuesday
"'The League of Nations could make no better investment than to buy up the master-print, reproduce it in every language, to be shown in all the nations until the word "war" is taken out of the dictionaries,'" Mitchell greeted them, once they'd entered. "Pretty big, idealistic words, but that's the hope of it. And that's what Variety said about the film we'll be talking about today-- Everything's Silent in the West. It's one of the most famous World War I films ever made. Or should I say, both of them? It was based on a book by Erich Maria Remarque -- that too probably took a different look at it."
"Stories change depending on what time they're told in, and by who. The original film, from 1930, was actually banned by the Nazis for being propaganda." He paused, and smirked for a moment at the class. "Think about that. The second, from 1979, gained no such bans - obviously - but it was also not nearly as well-received. They said it was sanitised, missing some of the point."
He pointed at the TV. "You'll be watching clips of both films today," he said, "I want you to tell me which differences you see in the message that's being put out. More than that, though, I want you to think about how you'd tell this story yourself." He lapsed into a quick summary of the tale, then added, "And nevermind yourself - how do you think people in this time would show it? What would they change? What would seem more important? What would seem less?"
He grinned. "Try and watch the whole films if you can," he said, "Or pick up the book. I'm told it's good for you, but I wouldn't want to encourage it. Might spite my reputation."
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"Stories change depending on what time they're told in, and by who. The original film, from 1930, was actually banned by the Nazis for being propaganda." He paused, and smirked for a moment at the class. "Think about that. The second, from 1979, gained no such bans - obviously - but it was also not nearly as well-received. They said it was sanitised, missing some of the point."
He pointed at the TV. "You'll be watching clips of both films today," he said, "I want you to tell me which differences you see in the message that's being put out. More than that, though, I want you to think about how you'd tell this story yourself." He lapsed into a quick summary of the tale, then added, "And nevermind yourself - how do you think people in this time would show it? What would they change? What would seem more important? What would seem less?"
He grinned. "Try and watch the whole films if you can," he said, "Or pick up the book. I'm told it's good for you, but I wouldn't want to encourage it. Might spite my reputation."
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