Directed by François Reichenbach • Documentary • 1957 • 21 minutes
François Reichenbach follows a group of young men from the day they enlist in the US Marine Corps, all the way through basic training. The power of this is twofold. It lies in the poetic visuals focused on the men’s faces and expressions (scared, determined, chastened), and in the critical commentary, which questions the need to humiliate, threaten, and even endanger the lives of these recruits. Filmed around the time of the Ribbon Creek incident, which saw the drowning death of six Parris Island recruits on a night-time forced march, this original version of the film was suppressed by the US military, which demanded changes to Reichenbach’s anti-militarist commentary.
Up Next in War & Peace
-
Aida's Secrets
Directed by Alon Schwarz, Shaul Schwarz • Documentary • 2017 • 95 minutes
In this moving documentary, the discovery of records from WWII sparks a family’s quest for answers as two brothers separated as babies reunite with each other and their elderly mother, who hid more from them than just each...
-
The Troubles We've Seen Part 1 (Marce...
Directed by Marcel Ophüls • Documentary • With Christiane Amanpour, Walter Cronkite, John Burns, Martha Gellhorn, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Slobodan Miloševic • 1994 • 230 minutes
One of the most important films of director Marcel Ophüls' career is also his least seen, facing backlash time and time ag...
-
The Troubles We've Seen Part 2 (Marce...
Directed by Marcel Ophüls • Documentary • With Christiane Amanpour, Walter Cronkite, John Burns, Martha Gellhorn, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Slobodan Miloševic • 1994 • 230 minutes
One of the most important films of director Marcel Ophüls' career is also his least seen, facing backlash time and time ag...
