Brotherhood (and Sisterhood) In World War II Movies
Plus, the first edition of the DYLA Movie Club is out now!
Director Steve McQueen’s World War II drama Blitz is out in theaters and streaming on Apple TV+, so we are bringing you a couple WWII films for this week’s recommendations. There’s a wide variety of stories about this war told on film, so we’ve got one that is set on an action-packed battlefield and the other is a wartime movie set on a baseball field. Thanks for reading, and make sure you check out the first DYLA Movie Club over on the podcast!
Billy recommends…
A League of Their Own
Not all WWII movies need to be in the action. A League of Their Own is about the fallout of normal daily life stateside, but this movie can be categorized as many things. Is it a sports movie first? A movie about sisterhood and the war? (Thanks New Girl for letting me steal that). For this little snippet we are going to categorize it as a war movie first. A lot of MLB players have been drafted and the entertainment cannot stop. A nationwide search for the best female baseball players ensues and Dottie (Geena Davis) is the prize that all the suits will do anything for.
Dottie and her sister Kit (Lori Petty) are stuck at their father’s farm tending to the tasks that are generally done by the men. It is clear that this is where Dottie and Kit have always felt the most comfortable. Completely apt at all of these tasks and in a normal world their more “masculine” abilities could be seen as abnormal, but now it is sought after. Kit is stuck in her ways and won’t compromise much for anyone, but Dottie knows exactly how to weave in and out of the side that makes her an amazing baseball player. When women are on the field men want the good baseball and the allure of mild-innocent sexuality all mixed together.
Once the marketing scheme has been established and the distraction of trying to create a successful league becomes successful then the reality of WWII comes rushing back. The movie is full of people that refuse to step up and mask reality. Our main leader in ruining their potential is manager Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks). Alcohol has broken his body and squandered all the potential he has. Allowing him to dodge the draft, but the league needed a former star to manage our Rockford Peaches. At home things seemed pretty good now that the team was winning, the league was making money, and momentum was building. A necessary distraction.
Then the last 30 minutes of the movie bring all of the reality outside of the story back home. Allowing Jimmy to step up and be an emotional support for his team while sending the women who had to step up the whole movie into chaos. Trying to center themselves again for a baseball league that now seems silly at best. And I think that is what this movie does best. Showing the reality of home life during one of the world's greatest tragedies. Moments of distraction help, but community, sisterhood, and strength is needed most.
Available to rent digitally on demand
Drew recommends…
Fury
Many American World War II movies are inspiring stories of hope and heroism in the face of evil. They highlight noble and necessary sacrifices to fight the good fight against fascism and oppression. Fury, which follows one American tank crew as they battle the Nazis near the end of the war, carves a more fatalistic path, leavened only by the camaraderie inside the claustrophobic confines of an M4 Sherman tank.
This bleak and brutal atmosphere is not a surprise coming from writer-director David Ayer, the mind behind crime thrillers like Training Day and End of Watch, with the senseless and inexorable violence moving from the cutthroat streets of Los Angeles to the muddy and bloody battlefields of Germany. Ayer’s experience as a submariner in the U.S. Navy undoubtedly informed both Fury’s action and military brotherhood, just with the tight space of a sub swapped for a tank.
The Allies have invaded Germany in the waning days of the war, but Hitler’s army is still putting up a strong resistance. Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt) is the commander of the tank (nicknamed “Fury”), and he and his platoon see young Norman (Logan Lerman) replace one of their fallen gunners. Norman becomes the audience surrogate as we learn how life and war works inside a death machine like the “Fury.”
Pitt was only five years removed from playing Quentin Tarantino’s Nazi killer Lieutenant Aldo Raine in Inglorious Basterds. While not much could surpass his iconic performance in that WWII masterpiece, Fury’s heavier tone and Pitt’s movie star presence are enough to make this a distinct performance. The rest of the tank’s crew is filled out by Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, and Jon Bernthal, all more than capable supporting actors that color the gray severity of this movie with life and personality.
While Fury’s “war is hell” message is certainly familiar, Ayer is also exploring the futile nature of a conflict that ground up so many lives even after the outcome was just about decided. As Pitt’s character says, “It will end, soon. But before it does, a lot more people gotta die.” And though Fury does have thrilling and terrifying tank warfare, its most memorable moments feature the intense brotherhood between these men as they lean on each other through hell on earth.
Streaming on Netflix
From the DYLA Archive
DYLA Podcast
We dropped the first edition of the Do You Like Apples Movie Club this week! The theme was Denzel Washington movies, so we sent out a poll in this newsletter, and you chose the 1995 neo-noir Devil in a Blue Dress. We broke down the story, performances, themes, and responded to your questions and comments about this underseen gem. Watch the movie, listen to the episode, and keep an eye out for the next DYLA Movie Club!
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