Overview
āA marvelous bombshell of a book, by one of our most formidably knowledgeable and insightful writers on film, it is filled with surprises and witty asides.Ā Though Thomson is quick to pounce on the hypocrisies and historical omissions of some of these war movies, there is nothing compromised about his own daredevil judgments.Ā We are in the hands of a master critic/essayist.āāPhillip Lopate
From one of the greatest living writers on film, a magisterial look at a century of battle depicted on screen, and a meditation on the twisted relationship between war and the movies.
InĀ The Fatal Alliance the acclaimed film critic David Thomson offers us one of his most provocative books yetāa rich,Ā arresting, and troubling study of that most beloved genre: the war movie. It is not a standard history or survey of war films, although Thomson turns his typically piercing eye to many favoritesāfromĀ All Quiet on the Western FrontĀ toĀ The Bridge on the River KwaiĀ toĀ Saving Private Ryan.Ā ButĀ The Fatal AllianceĀ does much more, exploringĀ how war and cinema in the twentiethĀ century became inextricably linked. Movies had only begun to exist by the beginning of World War I, yet in less than a century, had transformed civilian experience of warāand history itselfāfor millions around the globe. This reality is the moral conundrum at the heart of Thomsonās book. War movies bring both prestige and are so often box office blockbusters; but is there something problematic at how much moviegoers enjoy depictions of violence on a grand scale, such asĀ Apocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, or evenĀ Star Wars? And what does this truth say about us, our culture, and our changing sense of warfare and the past?Ā
This book title, The Fatal Alliance (A Century of War on Film), ISBN: 9780063041417, by David Thomson, published by HarperCollins (November 14, 2023) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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