Historical Memories In 'Hope And Glory'

Memories make up the past and what individuals have experienced in life over time. Memories do not allow for us to forget what has happened, this is why preserving memory is so important. If something is forgotten, it is as if it never happened, which is tragic since that history was not kept alive. This section of movies focused on how filmmaking preserves historical memories. I have come to the conclusion that films preserve historical memory by making the background the memory they want you to remember. We see this in all three films that war is the canvas of the film and is preserved through the details of the individual's own recollections of the events. In this paper I will focusing on Peter Davis’s documentary Hearts and Minds; John
The memory that is being focused on in this film sets the background in London during World War II. Specific memories that are reenacted is when Boorman is taken by the other children to a house and joins their gang by saying a cuss word. These children play in the rubble of the bombed houses, this shows us that during the war children became violent and desensitized if they weren’t sent away. Boorman recalls a time in the second hand clothes shop where all he saw was women because most men were away at the war. We hear a reenacted statement from Boorman's mother that she said she liked being on her own and enjoyed taking care of everything. We also see the scenes of Boorman watching bombing war movies in the theater and we compared that to the actual bombing that was going on in his backyard where Boorman and his family have to run to the bunker in the middle of the night. To Boorman, it seemed more real on the scene than it does in his actual life. We see more destruction of his school being destroyed, but as a nine year old boy Boorman was glad of this. The view Boorman gives of his sister seems that some people during this time became rebellious. As Dawn went out late to dance with soldiers, then meeting a soldier and sneaking around with him and in the end having a
The difference with Malle’s film is that his film is centered around a single event in his life instead of a period of time like the previous two films. However, the canvas of this background is till World War II as in Hope and Glory. In Louis Malle’s recollection, he views himself as a detective in finding out what his classmate Jean Bonnet is hiding.What starts the beginning of Malle’s detection is when he is with Father Jean and Father Jean asks him about Jean and tells him to look out for him and be nice to him. One scene we see Malle being a bit of a detective is when he looks in Jean’s locker and sees Jeans book with the last name Kippelstein. This causes Malle to start being even more suspicious. Additionally, the war helped give Malle clues. We notice in the background that indicates war was the bombing air raids and having to go into the bunkers, the soldiers that found the boys in the woods, and the interaction with the soldiers in the restaurant. Malle at this point in the restaurant knows that Jean is Jewish and understands that means danger, but he is unaware just why this is so dangerous. The last major scene is when the school gets shut down and a few of Malle’s classmates are taken by the soldiers including Jean and Father Jean. At