THE HISTORY OF WAR IN FILM
Is there such a thing as a genuinely anti-war movie? The acclaimed, late French filmmaker Francois Truffaut thought not, as even the most brutal and honest depictions of war in film cannot help but valorize sacrifice and arouse something primordial in certain members of the audience. Nevertheless, some of the greatest films of all time are regarded as "anti-war classics" and not a few might be labeled "pro-war." Critically examine more than fifteen full movies (and parts of many more) from across this spectrum and from around the world. In addition to testing the "Truffaut Rule," evaluate the movies as both fictionalized secondary sources (conveying knowledge and influencing memory) and as primary sources that shed light on the moment and place in which they were created.
Prerequisites & course information
Requisites: None Course Designation: Core GenEd - Humanities & Arts Breadth - Humanities Level - Elementary L&S Credit - L&S Liberal Arts and Science Repeatable for Credit: No Last Taught: Fall 2026 Learning Outcomes: 1. Critically examine war movies as media for communicating the experience of combat in different historical eras Audience: Undergraduate 2. Grasp the unique power of motion pictures to convey “truth” and attitudes about war as understood in context (i.e. place, time, subject, and intermediate interpretation) Audience: Undergraduate 3. Evaluate the ways in which war and movies about it have essentialized gender roles and promoted competing ideals of virtue, martial and otherwise Audience: Undergraduate 4. Consider war movies as instruments of propaganda and evaluate the relationship between their effectiveness and their accuracy Audience: Undergraduate 5. Apply the methods of historical research and writing Audience: Undergraduate Learning Outcomes: 1. Critically examine war movies as media for communicating the experience of combat in different historical eras Audience: Undergraduate 2. Grasp the unique power of motion pictures to convey “truth” and attitudes about war as understood in context (i.e. place, time, subject, and intermediate interpretation) Audience: Undergraduate 3. Evaluate the ways in which war and movies about it have essentialized gender roles and promoted competing ideals of virtue, martial and otherwise Audience: Undergraduate 4. Consider war movies as instruments of propaganda and evaluate the relationship between their effectiveness and their accuracy Audience: Undergraduate 5. Apply the methods of historical research and writing Audience: Undergraduate
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026-2027