Anti-war film


An anti-war film is a sub-genre of war film that is opposed to warfare in its theming or messaging.

Characteristics

Anti-war films typically argue that war is futile, unjust, a loss for all involved, only serves to benefit few in society, makes people do or support things they normally would not, is extremely costly both in money and lives, or is otherwise undesirable for those fighting it, the target audience, or everyone in general. To illustrate their point, anti-war films often present the effects of war—such as destruction, suffering, war trauma, casualties, war crimes, war's impact on the environment or on children, or the excesses of war—in a negative manner. Though many anti-war films make this negative depiction explicit and clear for the audience to understand, some are more subtle in delivering their anti-war messaging, or may use parody and black comedy to satirize wars and conflicts.
While most anti-war films use real historical or then-ongoing conflicts—commonly modern wars in recent memory that the intended audience is familiar with or understands, such as World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, or the war on terror—as their settings to criticize those wars, their casus belli, or their effects, others use hypothetical conflicts, fictional wars involving fictional countries, or even a conflict in a fictional universe, an alternate history, or the far future. Some anti-war films may not depict front line or battlefield conflict at all, and instead present anti-war messaging through depictions of the rear, military hierarchy, military operations other than war, military misconduct or corruption, the military–industrial complex, refugees and survivors, or the aftermath of wars, ranging from the immediate post-war recovery to the post-apocalypse.
Within this category of anti-war films that choose to de-emphasize the actual battlefield conflicts of war, some films specifically focus on communicating pacifist ideologies by emphasizing war's devastating effects on innocent civilians and the lands in which war is waged. This niche of anti-war films often utilizes visceral imagery that confronts viewers with the tragic realities of war's presence in beloved main characters' lives, such as by depicting main characters' homes being decimated by war bombs, main characters being forced to contend with the uncomfortable, off-putting presence of soldiers in their city, and characters dealing with the emotional toll of witnessing war's violence in their own life or the lives of their loved ones. According to film researcher Lindsay Smith, by forcing viewers to see war through the lens of its devastation on beloved fictional characters, these anti-war films make it accessible for audiences--regardless of their knowledge or experience with war's effects in the real world--to empathize with war's victims since emphasizing the human costs of war can make its violence feel more real and personal.
Anti-war films have sometimes been accused of anti-Americanism by the American right wing. These accusations can be somewhat attributed to the fact that there are definitive examples of modern anti-war films that are specifically motivated by criticisms of American militarism in particular rather than the violence of war as a whole. One such prominent example is Howl's Moving Castle, a Japanese anti-war film made by pacifist Hayao Miyazaki as a direct criticism of the Iraq War, which was a war waged by US-led forces in Iraq as part of America's ongoing War on Terror in response to 9/11. Miyazaki declared that he expected and intended for Howl's Moving Castle to fail with American audiences due to its direct critique of America's military actions in Iraq, thus framing the film as seemingly un-American in its anti-war commentary.

Criticism

Several filmmakers and critics have been quoted as stating that "there is no such thing as an anti-war film", first attributed to François Truffaut. This school of criticism argues that cinema is inherently "an inadequate medium through which to convey the horrors of conflict" and that any such portrayal of combat and violence will always glorify warfare on some level, even if only through the death of the author. Supposedly failed anti-war films in this regard include Full Metal Jacket and Saving Private Ryan; The former was decried as "another goddamn recruiting film" by Samuel Fuller, while the latter was criticized by Toby Miller as legitimizing the United States as the military savior of the world.

List of anti-war films

The following is a list of anti-war films.
FilmYearRef
19172019
All Quiet on the Western Front1930, 1979, 2022
Aman1967
Amazing Grace and Chuck1987
The Americanization of Emily1964
American Sniper2014
Apocalypse Now1979
Barefoot Gen1983
The Battle of Algiers1966
Beyond Treason2002
Beasts of No Nation2015
Breaker Morant1980
Das Boot1981
Born on the Fourth of July1989
The Boy with Green Hair1948
Breaking The Silence: Truth and Lies in The War On Terror2003
The Bridge on the River Kwai1957
A Bridge Too Far1977
Die Brücke1959
The Burmese Harp1956-
Les Carabiniers1963
Casualties of War1989
Catch-221970
Civilization1916
Come and See1985
Coming Home1978
Les Croix de bois1932
Cross of Iron1977
The Day the Earth Stood Still1951
The Deer Hunter1978
Don't Cry, It's Only Thunder1982
Dr. Strangelove1964
Empire of the Sun1987
The Enemy Below1957
L'Ennemi Intime2007
Escalation1968
Fahrenheit 9/112004
Fail Safe2000
Fail-Safe1964
Fear and Desire1953
Field of Honor1986
Fires on the Plain1959
First Blood1982
Flags of Our Fathers2006
The Forgotten Battle2020
Forrest Gump1994
Fort Apache1948
Fort Graveyard1965
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse1921
Free State of Jones2016
F.T.A.1972
Friend of the World2020
Friendly Fire1979
The Frozen War1973
Full Metal Jacket1987
Gallipoli1981
Gardens of Stone1987
Godzilla1954
Go Tell the Spartans1977
Goodbye Billy1971
Grace Is Gone2007
The Great War1959
La Grande Illusion1937
Grave of the Fireflies1988
The Great Dictator1940
The Greatest Beer Run Ever2022
Greenery Will Bloom Again2014
Greetings1968
The Glassworker2024
The Ground Truth2006
Hacksaw Ridge2016
Hair1979
Hamburger Hill1987
Hearts and Minds1974
Hedd Wyn1992
Hell Is for Heroes1962
Hell on Earth1928
A Hidden Life2019
Hiroshima mon amour1959
Hijacking Catastrophe2004
Honor Guard2007
Hotel Rwanda2004
How I Won the War1967
Howl's Moving Castle2004
The Human Bullet1968
The Human Condition1959-1961
Iluminados por el fuego1989
In the Valley of Elah2007
Innocent Voices2004
J'accuse1919
Jarhead2005
Jacob's Ladder1990
Johnny Got His Gun1971
Jojo Rabbit2019
Journey's End1930
Joyeux Noël2005
Kameradschaft1931
Kanal1956
Kelly's Heroes1970
King and Country1964
King of Hearts1966
Letters from Iwo Jima2006
Lions for Lambs2007
Little Big Man1970
Lord of War2005
Love and Honor2013
Major Dundee1965
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media1992
Many Wars Ago1970
M*A*S*H1970
Maudite soit la guerre1914
Memphis Belle1990
The Memory of Justice1978
Men in War1957
Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence1983
Mickey Mouse in Vietnam1969
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind1984
Neighbours1952
No Man's Land2001
None but the Brave1965
Occupation 101: Voices of the Silenced Majority2006
Off Limits1988
Oh! What a Lovely War1969
The Oil Factor2004
O.k.1970
On the Beach1959
The Outlaw Josey Wales1976
Palestine Is Still the Issue2002
The Panama Deception1992
Paths of Glory1957
The Patrol2014
Paying the Price: Killing the Children of Iraq2000
Peace on Earth1939
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land2004
Pink Floyd – The Wall1982
Plan Colombia: Cashing-In On The Drug War Failure2002
Platoon1986
Pretty Village Pretty Flame1996
Pride of the Marines1945
Purple Sunset2001
The Red Baron2008
Redacted2007
Rendition2007
The Road Back1937
The Road to Glory1936
The Road to Guantanamo2006
Romero1989
Rosa Luxemburg1986
Salvador1986
The Sand Pebbles1966
Savior1998
The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis1987
Shame1968
Shenandoah1965
Sir! No Sir!2005
Slaughterhouse-Five1972
Soldier Blue1970
Sophie Scholl – Die letzten Tage2005
The Sorrow and the Pity1969
Stalingrad1993
Stop-Loss2008
Taegukgi2004
Tango Charlie2005
Taxi to the Dark Side2007
Taxi for Tobruk1960
Tell England1931
Tell Me Lies1968
Testament1983
The Thin Red Line1998
Things to Come1936
Threads1984
Three Comrades1938
Three Kings1999
Tigerland2000
Too Late the Hero1970
Toys1992
Triage2009
Triumph Over Violence1968
Turtles Can Fly2004
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun1972
The Unknown Soldier2017
Unmanned: America's Drone Wars2013
Verdun, visions d'histoire1929
Vice2018
The Visitors1972
Waltz with Bashir2008
The War1994
The War at Home1996
War, Inc.2008
The War on Democracy2007
War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death2007
The Water Diviner2014
We Are Many2014
Welcome to Dongmakgol2005
Westfront 19181930
When the Wind Blows1986
When Trumpets Fade1998
Why We Fight2005
Wicked Spring2002
The Wind Rises2013
Winter Soldier1972