Shattered Illusions and Shattered Bodies

Rating: 10/10 (2 January 2020)

There is not much more to say about how good this film is--everybody agrees that it is the classic anti-war film, the movie that you will most likely copy if you decide to go into the genre. I found it simply heartbreaking, and not just because the movie so accurately and compassionately portrays the terrors of war. What this film also does very well is portray the myth of heroism, which along with modern weaponry was so clearly instrumental in producing the mass slaughter of the Great War. It is completely believable that these boys were talked into thinking that they were fighting for a just and noble cause, and that they would be back soon with few losses. One kid after another has this myth shattered, and the scenes where they come to grips with it--that they are going to die, that their leg is gone, that they have been profoundly lied to and were the victim of colossal stupidity of the elders that were supposed to love them--this makes the film an almost unbearable watch. This is a brilliant, devastating movie.