Few film genres better illustrate change in American socio-cultural values than the war movie. The wide-eyed patriotism of World War 2-era combat film reflected both the hopes and fears of a nation fighting tyrannical, aggressor nations, the existence of which threatened Democracy itself. By the post-Vietnam War era, the content and message of war films had changed significantly, having grown more complex and introducing elements of anti-war humor and satire. Guadalcanal Diary and Three Kings are overt representations of these two radically different contexts. Director Lewis Seiler’s 1943 offering is a prime example of the propagandistic films that touted America’s war effort to a public, which feared for its future and the lives of its men in uniform. More than 50 years later, David O. Russell’s Three Kings presented a darkly humorous vision that played off of public cynicism and suspicion of America’s motives for going to war in the Middle East. These two remarkable films in their ways represent the evolution of America’s sense of self-awareness and of its mission in the world.
In many ways, Guadalcanal Diary was a departure from other examples of the World War 2 film genre in that it follows a somewhat more realistic story line, using the first-person account of a combatant in one of the bloodiest battles in the Pacific theater. Its use of actual battle footage heightens the sense of authenticity. At the same time, it reinforces the sentiment, solidified by the attack on Pearl Harbor, that the Japanese were devious, untrustworthy and even inhuman in some ways. In a notable scene, a detachment of marines goes off to take a squad of Japanese soldiers who have supposedly agreed to surrender. But it is a deception, and all but one of the marines are killed (Seiler, 1943). The lone survivor escapes to warn his comrades of the Japanese treachery. They exact a righteous revenge in a subsequent scene.
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"War Films Amplify Change in America’s Socio-Cultural Values".
Three Kings is a film that takes place in a far different time and setting. The story immediately refers to the ambiguity and absurdity of war in the modern era. Three American soldiers come upon an Iraqi soldier with a white flag. Uncertain as to surrender protocol or even whether they are permitted to shoot, one American simply kills the Iraqi, who is found to have a treasure map in his rear (Russell, 1999). In a twist reminiscent of Kelly’s Heroes, another satirical war movie, the four soldiers set out to find the treasure. Their venture takes a wrong turn and they find themselves caught up in the Hussein regime’s ruthless campaign to suppress the insurgency movement, which coalition forces had hoped would unfold after the war’s conclusion (Lim, 2010). The film delivers a biting reference to the nature of America’s involvement in the Middle East. “’Three Kings’ asserts the decency of its American heroes even as it lashes out against U.S. foreign policy. (David) Russell bluntly avows that the war was fought for oil, most explicitly in a scene where (Mark) Wahlberg’s character is force-fed a mouthful of crude oil by an Iraqi officer” (Lim, 2010).
In its time, Guadalcanal Diary encouraged the belief that when America went to war, it was with the best of intentions. This was still the “Arsenal of Democracy” era, and movies were vehicles of moral propaganda. Victory over the Japanese on Guadalcanal was portrayed as the triumph of the “American way” over a morally bankrupt foe. In this vein, war movies with racist overtones were acceptable. Three Kings mirrors a very different world, one in which the moral virtues of war and trustworthy government were undermined by the Vietnam experience. Moral ambivalence and convoluted logic predominates in movies about modern warfare, and Three Kings is a worthy successor to this film tradition.
- Lim, D. “Second Look: ‘Three Kings’ is sharp antiwar caper.” Los Angeles Times, 10 October 2010.
- Russell, D.O. and Hertzberg, M. (1999). Three Kings. United States: Warner Brothers.
- Seiler, L. and Foy, B. (1943). Guadalcanal Diary. United States: 20th Century Fox.
