Publishers Weekly
09/25/2023
In this unfocused if erudite study, film historian Thomson (Disaster Mon Amour) explores “how the technology of film as a medium and its narrative constructs drove and directed our understanding of war.” He contends that popular war films often reflect the desires and perspectives of viewers, suggesting that the valiant portrayal of battle in the 1925 WWI film The Big Parade likely contributed to its success among audiences “eager to think well of sacrifice and the investment” in the then-recent war. Taking note of cinema’s ability to flatten geopolitical conflict into entertainment, he recounts feeling uneasy about the thrill he gets watching the stylish shots of flying helicopters in Black Hawk Down while having little understanding of the real-life politics underlying the event. Unfortunately, the prose is awkward at times (“It is part of the medium’s being enthralled by the act of firing that it adores power itself”) and Thomson’s discussions can feel like a haphazard collection of reflections in search of an argument, as when a chapter on movies about the losing sides of various wars strings together musings about The Night Porter; Rome, Open City; and Germany Year Zero without delivering an overall takeaway. Thomson’s deep knowledge of film history is not enough to save this scattershot survey. (Nov.)
From the Publisher
"A 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. 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. We are in the hands of a master critic/essayist." — Phillip Lopate
"One of the finest living stylists in the English language." — The Guardian
“Persistently, thoughtfully questioning what filmmakers intend, what conversations they’re accidentally stepping into and how we as moviegoers are implicated as war-story consumers. Thomson is exceedingly well-equipped for the job . . . . bracing and surprising.” — Los Angeles Times
“This stellar book is about how filmmakers simplify the bloody business of war and why audiences buy into it. Readers who enjoy vigorous arguments and good writing will love this book.” — Library Journal (starred review)
“Praise the gods for giving us a writer with a deep moral sense and an epigrammatic prose style who writes as exquisitely about war as he does about film. Thomson's book brims with striking observations and provocative readings of crucial films, the great and the forgotten, from All Quiet on the Western Front to Apocalypse Now to Black Hawk Down and scores more. The Fatal Alliance is an absorbing, uproarious and essential book — about war, about film, about us. And my God, the man can write!" — Mark Danner, author of Stripping Bare the Body: Politics Violence War and Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War
“Thomson’s own genius is his ability to remain one of the leading authorities on cinematic history, without shying away from the controversial. Cinephiles seeking provocative arguments will appreciate his work.” — Library Journal
"Interesting and thought-provoking . . . . Insightful and important.” — Booklist
“With each new book from David Thomson . . . I have the same sensation I have when I enter a dark movie theatre: Anticipation, delight, curiosity . . . . a brilliant writer who writes better about film than almost everybody else . . . . not just a book about how films have treated war, but a fascinating, coruscating study of how films have shaped our minds and feelings about something that terrifies us, grips us . . . . What can I say? David Thomson, you’ve done it again.” — James Grissom
“Insightful, fascinating, and educational . . . . The author's examination of why these types of films continue to resonate, despite their bleak and catastrophic subject matter, is a must read." — PopCultureGuy
author of Stripping Bare the Body Mark Danner
Thomson’s book brims with striking observations and provocative readings of crucial films, the great and the forgotten, from All Quiet on the Western Front to Apocalypse Now to Black Hawk Down and scores more. The Fatal Alliance is an absorbing, uproarious and essential book — about war, about film, about us. And my God, the man can write!”
Washington Post on A Light in the Dark
Highly personal, unapologetically opinionated, intermittently whimsical, charmingly idiosyncratic, and above all deeply impassioned.”
Library Journal
★ 11/01/2023
Two words that recur in discussing the writing of film historian Thomson (The New Biographical Dictionary of Film) are "argumentative" (he doesn't soft-pedal his judgments) and "trustworthy" (he knows his subject well). His 20th book lives up to that reputation on both counts. It offers a rundown of the 100 years of war films made since World War I, fought 1914–18; this book is worth reading on that count alone, so near inexhaustible is it in reach and scope. But what makes it a book any serious cineaste must read is that Thomson has thought about it all and never stops asking questions: If people hate war, why do they watch so many movies about it, and how have these films changed over the century, either in delivery or message? Do they teach viewers anything and capture what war's really like? His answer: not often and not much. Thomson's conclusions are consistently provocative and thoughtful, a pleasure to read. VERDICT This stellar book is about how filmmakers simplify the bloody business of war and why audiences buy into it. Readers who enjoy vigorous arguments and good writing will love this book.—David Keymer
Kirkus Reviews
2023-08-01
A leading film critic examines the long, uneasy relationship between war and cinema.
Robert E. Lee famously said, “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” This is the sentiment that pervades this book, a study of movies about war since the beginning of cinema. Thomson has written numerous books about film, TV, acting, and directing, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the archives is clearly on display again. He notes that many directors and actors are drawn to the subject of war due to the spectacle, historical connections, and inherent drama. War movies practically write themselves, and they usually make money. Thomson admits that there are war movies among his favorites, although he feels conflicted about “loathing war while feasting on it.” Many war movies are direct or indirect propaganda, but some delve into human frailty and the often shadowy motivations of the governments that arrange the conflicts. For Hollywood, war movies in the period after 1945 were usually triumphalist, although after Vietnam there were attempts to capture the ambiguity and pointlessness of the exercise. Thomson worries that recent war movies, especially when enhanced by CGI, are taking the terror out of war, turning audiences into numb spectators. Some are even turned into games. The problem with Thomson’s latest erudite exploration is that it is often difficult to work out what he is actually saying. His tone is portentous and convoluted, with many of his sentences veering around several corners before ending up in a ditch with the wheels spinning. He also likes to throw hypothetical questions at readers—more than 600 of them, in fact. Whether it is worth the effort of wading through all this for nuggets of insight is something that any potential reader should consider before parting with $35.
Thomson is one of the foremost authorities on film, but his tone makes this book a challenge to read.
