I decided to view Soldiers and American Spirit for this week’s blog post. I was interested in each clips political context as well as how the narratives were created. The first has a very sharp and painful message in light of the recent announcement of our withdrawal in Iraq.
We see two soldiers, one in the fore ground and the other obscured by the camera’s focus. The soldier Michael is going towards a lady in the cemetery which is doubtless his mother. At the urging of the second soldier, Michael attempts to speak with her, even as she seemingly ignores him. We as the audience gradually realize, from his growing disbelief, that he is in fact a spirit. This film’s message seems to be about those who are left behind and what the dead would say in the wake of their passing. This clip brings up memories of when I was a small boy going to the Vietnam War memorial in D.C. I remember the lines of older men in their 30’s, 40’s and 50’s, many missing limbs and in wheelchairs, weeping and reminiscing before the black memorial wall. That same feeling I had is invoked from this clip. War is an absolute force that often robs and destroys rather than glorify and vindicate young men’s struggles. The second clip has a different tone.
We see two young men going down a deserted alley. The black and white footage as well as the sparse setting reflects a grim reality and a seemingly hushed environment. We also see them pass a poster for an anti war demonstration, which prompts them to turn their heads away, indifferent to what’s happening around them. As one man throws away his empty pack of cigarettes and continues walking with his friend in the “wrong” direction, we see a remarkable change. The screen turns to color when small children run down the same street, shouting cheerfully and playing some kind of game. It seems to me that the message of this video is of an older generation going down the road that they have chosen, paved with their apparent cynicism and disinterest in a bleak world. The younger children, representation the next one, seems to be full of optimism and enthusiasm for life. The color indication towards the end of the clip signifies this change.
I like how both of these clips elucidate both introspection and interpretation, one of the many reason I love the science of film.