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WWII

Battle of the Soul: 1on1 with Aaron Schneider (GREYHOUND)

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You simply don’t ignore a phone call from Tom Hanks.

As the director of the latest WWII epic, Greyhound, Aaron Schneider was thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Tom Hanks in bringing the story to life. Featuring a screenplay written by Hanks himself, Greyhound transports the viewer back to February 1942 and follows the journey of U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause (Hanks). For his first war-time command, Krause is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. Forced to travel without air support across the area known as the ‘Black Pit’, his convoy is suddenly pursued by German U-boats. Despite his anxiety about the situation, Krause must remain steadfast and committed to his crew if he is to successfully lead his convoy across the Atlantic to safety. 

While he was thrilled to partner with Hanks on the project, the primary appeal of the film to Schneider was the opportunity to help the iconic actor bring his passion project to reality.

“[When] you get a hold of a Tom Hanks-starring WWII script, the filmmaker in you gets excited right away,” he admits. “But what really drew me in was that Tom had written it, not just the novelty of that [either]. I had made a short film early in my career, called Two Soldiers… It was fun and a little scary, but it’s what I wanted to do. It turned out great! We were honored with an Oscar for our effort and it was the beginning of my director’s career.” 

“When you’re inside of it though, you don’t know any of that. All you know is that you’re trying something new. So, when I saw Tom’s name as screenwriter, my first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, Tom Hanks is a big movie star and yes, he’s done it all. But I wonder if this is something new and a little scary and a little challenging for him, the way my film was.’ How cool would that be? That I could sort of help out a filmmaker like Tom with something that’s personal [and] new to him. Just the idea of helping a filmmaker do something different sounded like even more fun than just making a movie with Tom. That’s what it turned out to be. It was a passion project [that] he’d been sort of secretly building behind the scenes over time, when the mood struck him. He finally debuted it and here it was falling into my lap. So, that was very exciting and that’s what drove me.” 

Based on C.S. Forrester’s classic book, The Good Shepherd, Greyhound may not be a true story but it is based on actual events. In his research and preparation for the film, Schneider was amazed by the stories that he heard and sought to be as historically accuracy as possible.

“I’ve read [that] some people kind of wish it was true story, as if somehow that would affect their enjoyment of the film,” he muses. “The truth of the matter is that I started doing lots of research when I came on the project. One of the first things I began to learn is that every ship in that convoy and Naval engagement is based on an actual event. There’s a story out there about [the drive-by of the sub] happening and the guns not being able to tilt down far enough. In the real-life story, men even started picking up Coca-Cola bottles and potatoes and throwing them at the sub. As it turned out, somebody recalling the event said that the Germans thought the potatoes were grenades and it kept them from manning their guns. One of the destroyers in Greyhound had a history too. I was doing historical research and sure enough, I said, ‘Oh, my goodness, C.S. Forrester has basically borrowed the history of this real-life destroyer in terms of giving it its backstory in the book. So, it’s a fictionalized story and a fictional character that uses many of the many real-life events and stories from actual battles as a foundation.”

Though Hanks’ career has brought him to WWII on several occasions, this was Schneider’s first attempt at re-creating this period of history. Asked if there was anything in particular that he learned from the experience, Schneider says that the most meaningful aspect was seeing for himself the level of hard work and sacrifice that was required from those who served.

“It was a crash course. You look back at the heroes of WWII, and you already know that they sacrificed,” Schneider points out. “You already honor the heroism. But it isn’t until you get inside of it, research it and your job is to dramatize what made that job so hard to do. It took all those things, the difficulties, the hardships, the challenges, the talent that it took, the commitment, it took just to do the job, let alone win the war. So, I’d say that was probably the biggest lesson for me is submersing myself in this tin can, this ship, learning how it works and learning all of its moving parts and how they had to work together to succeed. That was probably the most meaningful lesson to me because it wasn’t easy work. It was hard enough to risk your life, but the job itself was such a challenge, it makes it that much more heroic.” 

To bring history to life, special effects and sound mixing are always essential to create the proper atmosphere for the audience. By developing a balance between the whizzing of bullets, crashing waves and (at times) muted dialogue, Greyhound becomes a visceral experience for the viewer. In doing so, Schneider explains that the process helps the viewer focus their perspective on the film’s most important narrative aspects.

“The challenge for the filmmakers at any point in time is that it’s about point of view,” Schneider explains. “You can tell a story based on focusing on one point of view over another. There’s that great moment in the Normandy beach landing in Saving Private Ryan, where a shell goes off near Tom’s character and it blows it ears out for a moment, right?… As [his] ears ring, Tom looks around and he’s taking in all these chaotic horrific things going on around him and then boom, a shell lands and jerks you out of it.”

“That’s a great example of how both the camera and the sound can have a point of view in terms of what you’re focusing the audience on. This was a big challenge in Greyhound as well. The movie kind of sticks to Krause’s shoulder [and] his point of view and experiences. He’s our conduit. He’s our ‘way in’ to everything… The goal in sound design, I think, is always to make sure that the sound design helps support the point of view of what the character is experiencing. Sound design is trying to adhere to the same subjective point of view that the camera is or that the story is. Then, that boils down to balance and what you choose to bring to the foreground and what you choose to push to the background.”

In fact, point of view is essential to Greyhound. By following Krause’s character, the film offers a unique perspective on the battle that gives a personal feeling to the action.

“From the very beginning, Tom described this as the perfect 90-minute procedural,” Schneider explains. “He wanted it to be a rip-roaring, experiential event for the viewer. He wanted to honor and dramatize the experience of the Battle of Atlantic by dropping you off over Krause’s shoulder, without giving you anything to hold on to, and force you to follow him, move through his experiences and, in some case, without a full understanding of where you are and how things work. Over time, you would engage with the film, educate yourself, acquaint yourself, get yourself more comfortable, exactly the kind of experience you’d have if I beamed you aboard the USS Keeling, and you found yourself in a foreign world in the middle of a very dangerous battle. So, in that sense, making the whole movie experiential and Tom’s character becomes the human conduit for the person following him around, through all this.” 

More specifically, one of the most interesting aspects of Krause’s character is his devout faith. As a man who sees the value of every human soul, his faith puts his heart into conflict as he is called into battle. According to Schneider, this experiential aspect of Krause’s character helped provide weight to the film.

“In that regard, you introduce this character upfront and you’re in a very private moment, praying and preparing yourself emotionally and spiritually for the day and for the job at hand,” he describes. “We’re not even sure we know we understand [the situation] yet, but you get a sense of the kind of man you’re going to be moving through this journey with. So, now knowing this about him, that he lives his life within a certain set of principles and we get an immediate sense of what we can imagine that he holds dear, right? And then, boom. All this stuff begins to happen. So, in those little private peeks we get inside his mind that maybe the crew doesn’t absorb or get to see, we know enough him that we can begin to ask questions about the way he feeling about this.” 

“That’s where the soul comes in. You have to understand who a person is and what lives in their soul before you can you can explore who they are and what any of this means to you. It’s not a classical drama in the sense that there’s no soliloquies announcing who this man is or how he feels. The only way into that is what you can pull away, learn about and derive from the way he’s making these decisions. So, in that sense, getting to know the character is experiential. You only get to learn as much about this guy as you’re willing to study and pull out of it. You have to do a little bit of work if you want to know this man. The goal there is to engage audiences in their curiosity about who he is. We see him kill his first 50 soldiers. The ship is cheering, but he’s staring out at these floating dead bodies as a man of faith. He’s confronting the irony of having to kill. You’ve got a job to do, He’s got to protect. He’s got to serve, but, but he’s got to do something that’s in conflict with his nature and his spiritual principles. If we’ve done our job right, we created a moment there where you’re empathizing with his internal struggle. Now, you put that in your back pocket and you move forward through the rest. It’s an exploration of somebody’s soul moving through these horrific events.“

As Krause journeys across the treacherous waters, the film reminds the viewer of the importance of every decision that he makes. Using the theme of ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’, Greyhound places great emphasis upon working through the struggles of the moment while keeping the end firmly in view. Interestingly, in this way, Schneider also sees comparisons between his film and the emotional strain of our current global pandemic.

“From the beginning, as the screenwriter, Tom was fascinated with the feeling of what he calls ‘stasis’,” he explains. “Looking back at WWII, it has a beginning, a middle and an end. But, if you can try for a moment to imagine the world shortly after we entered the war where the entire world was on fire in a fist fight with itself, nobody knew who was going to win. Nobody knew what their fate would be. Nobody knew when it would end, right? In many ways, without even knowing it would occur, we’re living in similar times with the pandemic. We’re fighting this war against this virus and nobody really knows where we’re going and how long it’ll take. It’s a disquieting feeling but the best you can do inside of all that is maintain vigilance. We got yesterday, we got today and we’re going to have tomorrow. You hold onto that… Krause wants to succeed. He’s got his eye on the end. He doesn’t know when it’ll come, but he’s fighting for the end. Then, Charlie [his XO, tries] to remind him that the battles aren’t won in a moment. It’s about getting from yesterday to today, because, if you do that enough times, land will appear. That’s kind of where we are now in the world. We’ll get there.” 

For full audio of our interview with Aaron Schneider, click here.

Greyhound is currently streaming on AppleTV+.

Greyhound: A War for the Soul

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Directed by Aaron Schneider (Get Low), Greyhound is a visceral experience that attempts to create the terrifying realities of the Second World War. While film’s distribution change is completely understandable given the global situation, Greyhound is the first true cinematic victim of the pandemic era. Featuring broad visuals and incredible sound mixing, Greyhound is a film that truly needs to be experienced, rather than taken in at home. As a result, I found myself wishing that I could feel every crashing wave on the big screen, as opposed to my television set. 

Greyhound transports the viewer back to February 1942 and follows the journey of U.S. Navy Cmdr. Ernest Krause (Tom Hanks). For his first war-time command, Krause is assigned to lead an Allied convoy across the Atlantic during World War II. Forced to travel without air support across the area known as the ‘Black Pit’, his convoy is suddenly pursued by German U-boats. Despite his anxiety about the situation, Krause must remain steadfast and committed to his crew if he is to successfully lead his convoy across the Atlantic to safety.

Adapted for the screen from Forester’s classic war novel, The Good Shepherd by Hanks himself, Greyhound is an intense ride that moves along at a rapid pace. While most blockbusters today seem to be pushing their length well beyond 2 ½ hours, this film is surprisingly brief in its runtime. Clocking in at just over 90 minutes, Hanks’ script makes good use of its time, rarely giving the viewer a minute to catch their breath amidst the drama. While it’s not surprising that Hanks turns in another solid performance as the steady but overwhelmed Krause, his handling of the material shows yet another skill that he’s developing in his career. As only his third screenplay after Larry Crowne and That Thing You Do!, Hanks has a clear vision in mind for the project and follows through well.

Continuing the trend of recent films such as Dunkirk and 1917, Greyhound reframes the depiction of war by moving away from focusing on specific characters and their relationship to one another and instead drops the audience in the middle of the drama itself. Similar to recent efforts, Greyhound offers little backstory to its characters yet somehow maintains the fact that every one of them is important. Deliberately muddled audio and an ever-moving camera gives the film a ‘fly-on-the-wall’ quality and, in doing so, brings further reality to the moment. Because dialogue is often blurred (or, frankly, nautical speak), the drama can be a little confusing at times. Yet, at a moment when men are fighting for their lives, the decision to muddle what’s spoken somehow adds to the authenticity of the piece as well. Besides which, there is simply so much happening visually at any given moment that there is simply no time to have lengthy soliloquys about the value of man. What matters most in Greyhound stems from the viewers immersion of it. In essence, you may not always understand exactly what’s being said… but you can feel it.

Unlike war films of the past that glorify the mission, Greyhound recognizes that glory stems from survival. As his first war-time command, Commander Krause is not a man who seeks personal glory but rather one who genuinely cares about the souls of others. A devout man of faith, it is apparent throughout the film that every soul is important to Krause. He breathes out Scripture as prayers for those around him. He mourns the loss of his own men and the lost lives of those on German U-boats that he’s forced to defend himself against. He even refuses to eat the elaborate meals he’s offered in order not to differentiate himself from his men. Like the Scripture verse that hangs upon his wall, Krause is a man who seeks quality of character ‘yesterday, today and tomorrow’ and understands the essential value of every soul with whom he comes into contact.

In many ways, it is appropriate that the film is adapted from a book called The Good Shepherd, for that is what Krouse is. For him, what matters most is the soul of each soldier who have put themselves on the line. When one man is lost, Krause mourns. When many are lost, he mourns. (In fact, the film highlights this idea at its close by mentioning that 72, 200 souls were lost during the war making these journeys.) In Greyhound, every soul matters, regardless of nationality. 

Though the story is fictional, Greyhound feels like an authentic trip into the midst of the Second World War. Even so, while the visuals are spectacular, it’s the film’s focus on the importance of the soul that sets it apart. With each bullet fired or crash of the waves, the film’s focus and attention to detail points to the tragedy of war and the value of every human life. Despite the terrifying chaos of the situation, it’s in the moments of contemplation that Greyhound really finds its true worth.

Now, if only I can find a theatre that’s open so I can see it on the big screen.

Greyhound premieres on Apple TV+ on July 10th,, 2020.

T-34: Rolling to Freedom

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Having broken box-office records overseas, T-34 transports the viewer into the heard of Russia during the Second World War. Having been captured in the field of battle, young lieutenant Ivushkin (Alexander Petrov) is tasked to assemble a group of POWs to aid in training the Nazis tank battalion. However, as they prepare for the exercise, the team devises a daring plan to escape from captivity. With the power of a half-destroyed T-34 tank, Ivushkin and his crew attempt to break free from captivity and escape across the border, if they can make it alive.

Written and directed by Alexey Sidorov, T-34 is inspired by true events during the Second World War (though what those events are isn’t entirely clear). High on action and suspense, T-34 proves to be an entertaining addition to the ‘war film’ genre. (Interestingly, apparently ‘WW-II tank movies’ are quite the rage in Russia these days, having released three films of the genre since 2012.) Rather than forcing this story into the grander narrative of the war itself, T-34 wisely focuses its lens on a small scale, allowing the journey of this band of survivors to take front and centre. Without question, this is a film designed to entertain and, for the most part, it does so effectively. While light on character development, each of the crew members get their ‘moment’ to prove their dedication to the cause. Bullet-time’ special effects give the film a modern feel while still maintaining the urgency of the war itself for those who still remember ‘the Great Patriotic War’. (Ironically, this is also a film that remains relatively light on politics, barely mentioning larger, more controversial ideas such as the ‘Red Army’ or ‘Stalin’.)

Like many other films of this genre, T-34 highlights the veterans who were courageous enough to stand up against the oppression of the Nazi party in the face of insurmountable odds. At a time when Russia isn’t always held in the highest of esteem in the West, T-34 reminds the viewer of their sacrifice in the war effort as well. Like the other members of the Allies, Russian men and women faced certain death at the hands of their Nazi dictators and were persecuted for standing up against tyranny. While there is little question that this is a ‘pro-war’ film, it still highlights the devastation that was caused by those who sought to keep their own freedom—not to mention that of others—alive. (In fact, one of the most beautiful moments in the film stems from a short time of play in a nearby lake. In this poignant scene, the film manages to underscore the utter beauty of freedom in the face of persecution.)

By the end, T-34 proves to be an entertaining ride that keeps the viewer engaged throughout. By focusing on the journey of its heroes as opposed to the politics, the film translates well for Western audiences and deserves our attention.

T-34 rolled onto video and on demand on June 11th, 2019.

Owning The Sins of Our Past: 1on1 with Ryan Boyko (THAT NEVER HAPPENED)

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Directed by Ryan Boyko, That Never Happened: Canada’s First National Internment Operations reveals the story of Canada’s first national internment operations between 1914 – 1920, when over 88,000 people were forced to register and more than 8,500 were wrongfully imprisoned in internment camps across Canada, not for anything they had done but because of their heritage. Although the public records were destroyed in 1954, a few brave men and women began working over 30 years later in order to reclaim this piece of history so that future generations would be aware. As he discovered more about this tragedy, Boyko was amazed at how little information there was about it and became increasingly determined to make sure that the story was told.

“In 1996, I saw another documentary [on the topic] and I learned a little bit about it,” he begins. “At that point in time, it was called the Ukrainian Internment Operations because there weren’t really any details. There wasn’t detail about the other communities that were affected. There wasn’t a lot of detail about what it was, just that something had happened. So, I went to my grade school teacher and I said, ‘Can you tell us a little bit about the Ukrainian Interment during World War I?’ And he said, ‘You mean the Japanese interment during World War II?’ And I said, ‘No, I mean the Ukrainian Interment during World War I.’ And he looked at me and said, ‘That never happened.’”

“…That’s ultimately why we chose that title. To honor those people who were faced with that negative experience of being told that it never happened. We don’t know how many people were told that and stop looking. That’s part of why it’s important that we tell this story as it is [because] others were told that it never happened. Maybe those people that stopped looking at that time will start looking again.”

While Canada is most frequently associated with its value of global cultures and peacekeeping, news of a hitherto unknown internment operation seems shocking. Still, Boyko believes that fear has been the primary reason that this story went untold in the history books.

“I think one of the key things that we understand is that, once people were released from these camps, whether it was because of the camps had ended or paroled by a specific company, they didn’t want to talk about it,” he recalls. “A lot of them were not given the pay right away or escaped or died in the camps, [but] no one ever received that money because people were afraid to go and talk to the government. They were afraid to go through the due process, in case they ended being rounded up again. A lot of people just kind of said, ‘Okay, this is not good. I’m going to forget it and I’m willing to work and I’m going to be the best Canadian citizen that I can… or they left and went back home.”

Despite the fact that multiple governments have fought to keep this story under wraps, he says that recent officials have been more than co-operative in uncovering information to bring this story to light.

“I think we have to look at it through the lens of history,” Boyko explains. “These are the things that were happening in our own country and this is not the only negative thing that happened. I think that, rather than looking at why it happened, I think it’s more important to look at the fact that we’re not allowed to bring it to the surface. As we talk about in the documentary, there were five different prime ministers that this recognition went through, but really the last two governments, including the current government—both conservative and liberal government—really supported the making of this film. They opened doors, and [gave] access to Parks Canada and the Canadian military. Our Canadian government just used this as part of the permanent mission of Canada to the United Nations to screen on a global level, talking about what Canada has done wrong in the human rights aspect and how we can learn from these mistakes and move forward, not just as our country but as a global society.”

After his experience at the UN, Boyko was stunned at the thoughtful conversation and relevant discussion that the film inspired amongst delegates from multiple countries.

“When we do [Q&A events], we’re used to having different people ask [questions] and carry on the conversation,” he claims. “That’s what we were having at the UN and the people who were there supporting the event were saying that events [there] are lucky if they get one question. We could have gone for an hour with questions from people talking. Learning that it’s not normal for delegates to ask questions about a film, project or presentation really made our trip. We had the opportunity to speak to various different ambassadors from various different countries. It was really an experience of a lifetime, as you can imagine. I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that we’ve done that. Now that we’ve done that, if I feel like this film will get out.There is no denying that these operations ever happened [anymore]. It’s been seen on the global scale.”

In some ways, it can be easy to ignore the truth of what took place over 60 years simply due to the amount of time that has taken place between now and then. However, he also believes that such callous thinking would ignore the fact that this sort of tragedy could very easily happen again (and, in fact, may already be happening).

“I hate to say it but, when I look at the media today, it is happening again,” Boyko warns. “It’s happening in the same way that it has happened in the past. You get some people who are loud enough making enough noise and saying, ‘Look at what’s wrong. Look at who the other is. The other is wrong’ because they don’t understand them. I think we as citizens, not just of Canada, but as the citizens of the world need to stand up and take the uncomfortable stand where we see things that are wrong happening in the world when we hear alternative facts. We need to stand up and say, ‘No. This is what is right and this is what could happen if we do things wrong.’ This documentary shows what happens after a hundred years of having family separated and being taken away and how it still affects people today.”

Asked what it will take to own the sins of our past, he believes that it will require a great deal of courage to view our history with objectivity and truth.

“I think it takes honesty, openness, communication and truth [to own the shame of our past],” Boyko argues. “I hope people will watch this film and come away having a conversation. This isn’t the ‘be all and end all’ film about Internment Operations in Canada. In fact, I think this is just the beginning of the opening of a door to the subject that others may not be aware of. I’m hoping that it creates the snowball effect with those conversations, whether we’re talking about residential schools, women’s rights, or human rights. This is just simply a guide to show what we have done when we have done wrong and I think that that opens up a conversation to what can we do right.”

As a result, he also hopes that these conversations lead people to rediscover pieces of their own history as well.

“I’m hoping that the film is evocative and that it creates questions and conversation,” Boyko stresses. “[I hope] that it opens the doors for people may be are members of the community, whether it’s first generation, second generation or even… maybe somebody from the past was here during that time. Maybe it will open a door for them to start doing some research on their own and figuring out more about the family. Even if it doesn’t take them to the stories that their family was affected by the Internment operations, it might have been into some other realm and something else that they need to know about their families. I just think that it has the possibility to do for individuals something far beyond what we could even comprehend.”

For full audio of our conversation with Ryan Boyko, click here.

That Never Happened is in theatres now.

3.27 Surviving DUNKIRK

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This week, Steve welcomes podcaster David Peck (Face2Face) and ScreenFish’er Julie Levac to talk about Dunkirk, Nolan’s latest epic that’s scoring with critics and at the box office.  Emphasizing visuals and sound over dialogs is a new creative step for Nolan and the film benefits from his willingness to step out of his comfort zone.  Still, is the film is a grim look at war or a more hopeful look at survival in tragedy?  Does it emphasize the value of community or is the individual action most important?  All this and more, this week on ScreenFish.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.27 Dunkirk

Thanks David and Julie for coming on the show!