ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

D-Day

Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day

Coming out in time for Veterans? Day is Sunken Roads: Three Generations After D-Day from documentarian Charlotte Juergens. In part it is a way of recording the memories of the ever-shrining number of veterans of that era. But more, it is a personal story of a much younger person in trying to understand that time.

Juergens became interested in World War II by hearing an interview of her great-grandfather done by her mother before his death (and before Juergens?s birth). He was decorated for his service with the 29th Infantry. When Juergens learns there is a trip planned for reunion trip to Normandy for the 70th anniversary of the invasion, she attaches herself to the group as a helper for one of the veterans who has Parkinson?s. As she travels with this group of men now in their nineties, she understands that when they stormed Omaha Beach, they were the age she was while making the film. She captures the memories of some of these aging veterans, but even more, the film is very much about her journey.

I?ll admit that for a while, I was a bit put off by the filmmaker?s constant references to herself in the film that I expected to be more focused on the veterans and their histories. But by putting so much focus on her own experience of the trip, it provides a perspective of someone far removed in time for those events. That also contrasts to the local children in the various Normandy towns they visit. Those children are well versed in the history of the invasion, because it had such an impact on the places they live.

The film also touches on the ways memories evolve and take on special meaning. That is especially clear in the story of one of the soldiers and his memory of a little girl who signaled him to be silent just before German soldiers came along. That has become a very sacred memory for him, and one that he has personified in a French woman he met on an earlier trip. That memory and the sharing of it serves as an example of how truth can be present, even if the facts do not back it up.

As one who?s father was a World War II veteran (though not in Europe), I feel far less removed from that history than Juergens. Indeed, World War II for her generation is about the same as the Spanish-American War for mine. Soon there will be no veterans left to return to Normandy for those times of remembrance. The memories this film gathers are an addition to others that have been archived in recent years. But a key question might be, what happens to the history when generations come along that are far removed from such important events? Juergens was able to absorb that history into her own life to keep it alive a bit longer.

Sunken Roads is available in select theaters.

Photo credits: Charlotte Juergens. Courtesy of First Run Features

Five Came Back – Hollywood Goes to War

For those who enjoy film, the names John Ford, Frank Capra, George Stevens, William Wyler, and John Huston will be familiar. All are Oscar-winning directors (with a total of 14 Oscars between them). They were also part of the World War II war effort as military filmmakers. Five Came Back is a three-part documentary about these five directors and how they used their filmmaking expertise during the war. The series is streaming on Netflix.

When the U.S. entered World War II after Pearl Harbor, there were many people who left their worlds of safety and comfort to fight in this war. These five filmmakers knew they had talents that could be of import to the war effort. Each volunteered and spent the war in uniform making films for the military. Each had different approaches to the task. For some it took them directly into battle?on Midway and at D-Day, or flying on bombers on combat missions. Others made films that helped American understand why this war had to be fought. But each found a way to serve their nation with the skills they had developed entertaining people with film. Some of their work was essentially newsreel material, often with a good dose of propaganda included. It served to bring the war back to Americans in such a way to keep morale high.

There are some big name directors of today who relate the stories of these earlier filmmakers: Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro, Paul Greenglass, and Laurence Kasdan. They understand how difficult it is to make films under the best of circumstances. They relate the hardships and trials (which included pushing to make the films their way) faced by the early group.

The series introduces us to their work before the war, but the bulk of the film focuses on their wartime work. It also shows us how this experience changed them. For example, George Stevens (who filmed D-Day and, eventually, the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp) was known mostly as a director of comedies before the war; after the war he never made another comedy (but some marvelous serious films).

This is an excellent piece of film history, plus a nice bit of the history of the Second World War as seen by these filmmakers. Netflix is also streaming some of the wartime films so that viewers can not only learn the story of these men, but also the stories they brought back with them. Among the ones I?ve added to my list on Netflix are: The Memphis Belle (Wyler), The Battle of Midway (Ford), The Negro Soldier (Capra), Know Your Enemy—Japan (Capra), and Let There Be Light (Huston).

29 Aug 1943, London, England, UK — Image by ? Bettmann/CORBIS