Strongly Christian
TO END ALL WARS
Cert. 15
Argyll Film Partners, 2001
Available to rent on video and DVD
Who is my neighbour? How many times shall I forgive my brother? What does it mean to love one's enemies? These are some of the questions explored in the most extreme of crucibles - a POW camp in Thailand during the Second World War.
Based on the true story of Scottish soldier Captain Ernest Gordon, To End all Wars is about prisoners who were forced to build a railway in the wilds of Asia under brutal conditions. Although there are the sort of the necessarily shocking scenes one associates with war films, the emphasis here is on a different level. In the face of such a horrible and hopeless situation, it is the spiritual and philosophical life of the prisoners, nurtured by the 'jungle university' originally organised in secret from the Japanese captors, that enables these men to live with a measure of hope and strength under such cruelty and deprivation.
The film is underpinned by strongly Christian themes, perhaps why it has not made it to the cinema in the UK. The tale is compelling, the acting superb, the characters believable (for the most part) and sympathetically drawn, and the complexity of the issues are not trivialised or simplified. I felt the struggle in my own heart as I watched the story unfold. These men were in unspeakably terrible circumstances and the right thing to do was not always clear. One question that plagued me about the film was how much was factual and how much artistic licence. In as much as it represents real events there is little to criticise. To End all Wars ends with clips of the real life re-union between Gordon and one of the prison guards, 50 years after the war - this was particularly moving. With its challenging message it is a worthwhile film plumbing the depths of love and hate, and the power of forgiveness.
