Excellent cinema, wrong philosophy

Rating: 5/10 (13 July 2005)

This movie is, as is usual with Spielberg, extremely well filmed. This is cinema at its best. However, the underlying philosophy is dangerous. Spielberg's movies often have a negative message that underlies them. Some of his films are pure entertainment at its best (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters, Jaws and Duel, for instance) and may be viewed over and over again with great pleasure without reserve. Some, however, surreptitiously plant a defeatist philosophy in the viewer's mind. This is all the more dangerous because the movies are so well made. This movie is an example of this. Not only are the Japanese portrayed too benignly, but the worst about this movie is the lingering impression that the world is wrong, and you can only survive if you yield to its unfair rules. The boy has to resort to dishonesty and theft in order to survive. How very different is the message from that of a true ennobling movie such as "The Fountainhead", for example. Or from Al Pacino's speech in "Scent of A Woman"! Or "Shane", or "The Seven Samurai"! Or Elia Kazan's "America America"! Wrong, defeatist messages are something of which many, many movies are full (take, for instance, all of Oliver Stone's movies), but this does not bother me because most movies lack the force and the credibility of Spielberg's masterful films. The message passes without being imprinted on one's mind. With Spielberg, this is not sot: his films are so well accomplished that the message lingers, especially in children. I recommend every viewer should employ discretion, and advise his children about this movie's patent flawed message.