Movie Forums Top 100 War Movies - Group Watch

Quo Vadis Aida


I'm a bit late with this one, but I am glad I watched it. A very well made, well acted film.


There are some place names that are just inextricably linked with the atrocities that have happened there, like Hiroshima, Nanking, Srebrenica. I thought the way they showed the human, emotional effects through showing the story through the eyes of one character and her attempts to save her family was well done. Sometimes the personal stories of fictional characters can sideline the true events but here it worked well to distil the real events. It's almost impossible to convey the scale of a massacre like the one that happened at Srebrenica, but imagine this one tragedy multiplied thousands of times, every family there had such a story.


Making the main character a translator, someone who is part of the community under attack but at the same time part of the UN and yet not , protected to an extent but not fully was interesting. The ineffectiveness of the UN was both scary and entirely plausible. There are always similar stories about translators and other staff in conflict zones so I thought that was an interesting angle.

What I thought was interesting as well was the aftermath, how people have to go on living together after a war, the terrible compromises people have to make for the sake of peace and the next generation.


I feel like I've watched a lot of films about the horrors of war at this point - it would be easy to become desensitizing, I supposed. What I found particularly affected me about this film was that it felt closer to home: I could identify closely with Aida as a character, partly as she was a mother with teenage sons and partly because it was all so recent. A lot of war films seem like history but I remember this war, it isn't a million miles away from what is happening now in Ukraine.

A powerful movie and a strong contender for my list.

Nomination #17

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Siddon messaged me with his nomination a couple days ago, so I figured I'd just post it now.

Also, I'll check it out tomorrow.

Ooh. I remember him talking about this before and it looked really interesting. Hoping to get to it this week.
It is available on both Criterion and Tubi, btw.

White Material (2009) sounds interesting, I've not seen it nor have I seen anything about the conflict. Hope to watch it soon.

At first I was stoked to see this as I'm very interested in the subject matter of civil war in west Africa. I seen a good documentary about the chaos and utter lack of democracy that is west Africa and I think this film reflects that situation accurately.

I usually respond well to films that were directed by women. Women directors often bring a humanistic touch and exploration of their characters that some male directors can skip for more action packed scenes. I prefer character development and humanity over action & thrills.

The film worked great for me until towards the end where it got more convoluted with characters seemingly doing the wackiest of things...Which ended up making me feel like I was watching a movie and not real people and real events.

I can't help but compare this to Quo Vada Aida, in that movie I believed and cared about what was happening to the characters. In White Material when people were killed I just viewed them as actors holding really still. The film then lost it's believeability for me. It lost me because the secondary characters were one dimensional with no weight, they seemed contrived by a writers mind. Point: The Boxer, why not just make him a wounded rebel solider who had once worked for Maria? I kept waiting for some explanation as to why the film had built up The Boxer to some mythical proportion, but no that explanation never came.

Same with Maria's son. At first his character seemed interesting. He's described as lazy and seems self centered and spoiled...a rich white kid in a poor African nation, that's a good dichotomy. When the son is attacked by two little African kids wielding weapons, then stripped of his clothes and has his hair cut off by them, he's humiliated and emasculated. The next scene he shaves his head and grabs a shotgun which makes him look like an angry white supremacist...and he then brutally attacks his father's black girlfriend reinforcing that. That violent change in her son seemed like it would be the crux of Maria's story and his actions would bring destruction to the coffee villa and Maria. But when the town's militia arrives on a murderous vendetta, he joins them??? What? And don't even ask me what I think of Maria killing her father in the end with a machete. I guess the director felt a good horror moment would make her film better.

I hated the music score, it was overpowering...

On the plus side Isabelle Huppert was all kinds of great! I just loved watching her. Her mannerisms and screen presences elevated this film to something worth watching if just for her.

Saving the Private Ryan

I liked White Material when I saw it a few years ago, although it hasn't lingered in the memory. Huppert's performance, as always, elevates the film.

Just finished White Material, and I thought it was fine. I felt the film didn't do enough with the most interesting characters (Manuel and The Boxer), but I enjoyed what we got of them, especially Manuel's actions in the final act. The rest of the film was fine, even though I wasn't invested much in Huppert's character (in spite of the film's attempts to provide an emotional core surrounding her). Overall, I don't think this will stick with me, but I'm glad to have watched another Denis film.

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@ScarletLion

Hopefully ScarletLion gets back to you sooner this time, I need more war films!

I'll DM him to be on the safe side. If you participate in a round in this thread, try to check the forum once the deadline passes as there's a possibility you might be the next host.

Nomination #18

I watched that one a while ago. I don't remember much about it (I might rewatch it), but I remember it being pretty good.

There's a restored bluray copy on Internet Archives. I'll watch that in a couple days.

I watched Westfront 1918 just over a year ago. I bought the double Blu Ray and said this:

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