Hollywood Films Look at Impact of Wars in Iraq, Afghanistan (2/3)
Jonathan Kuntz teaches in the department of Theater, Film, and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles. He says the current films are different from those of World War II, when John Wayne and Errol Flynn devastated the enemy on studio back lots. He says Hollywood was fully behind that wartime effort, after the Japanese attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor.
"Once Pearl Harbor took place in 1941, Hollywood pitched in to the war effort in many many different ways, including newsreels, feature films, training films. Hollywood stars entertained the troops."
He says that only after the war ended would Hollywood look at the problems of returning veterans in The Best Years of Our Lives.
"The Best Years of our Lives won best picture Oscar in 1946, and was just an all-around smash hit and success and it is still a wonderful film to this day."
In the 1960s, television brought war footage into the homes of Americans, and Hollywood filmmakers mostly avoided the Vietnam War. There were exceptions, such as John Wayne's 1968 The Green Berets, which cast an admiring eye on U.S. Army Special Forces.
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乔纳森•肯兹在洛杉矶加利福尼亚大学影视戏剧系任教。 他说,如今的电影可和二战时的影片不一样了。当时,约翰•韦恩和埃尔罗•弗林就在摄影棚里击溃"敌人"。肯兹认为在日军袭击珍珠港的美军舰队后,好莱坞就一直紧跟当时的战况而拍摄电影。
"自1941年的珍珠港事件发生后,好莱坞就以许多不同的方式来反映战争的态势,诸如纪实片,专题片和教学片。好莱坞的明星们娱乐了军队的士兵们。"
肯兹觉得只是当战争结束后,好莱坞才意识到了退伍老兵的问题,并且体现在影片《黄金时代》(《最好的时光》)中。
《黄金时代》获得了1946年的奥斯卡最佳影片,在当时算得上是一部成功的重磅出击的大片,哪怕到如今仍不失为一部佳片。
20世纪六十年代,电视把战争画面带进了美国的家庭,而好莱坞大多数制片人都避免越战题材。也有例外,比如约翰•韦恩在1968年拍摄的《绿色贝蕾帽》,以赞赏的眼光表现了美国的特种部队。