We all learned a bit about the SecÂond World War in school, or perÂhaps more than a bit. But for a great many of us, what we know of that periÂod of hisÂtoÂry comes less from teachÂers and textÂbooks than it does from movies. World War II as a cinÂeÂmatÂic genre has existÂed since the earÂly years of World War II itself, and at this point it has proÂduced so many films that not even the most avid hisÂtorÂiÂcalÂly-mindÂed cinephile could watch them all. Many such picÂtures, of course, take enorÂmous libÂerÂties with their source mateÂrÂiÂal. But if you conÂcenÂtrate on just the most accuÂrate parts of the most acclaimed movies about World War II, you can piece togethÂer a reaÂsonÂably truthÂful porÂtrayÂal of its events.
Such is the premise, at any rate, of the video above, “TimeÂline of WW2 in Films.” CreÂatÂed by YoutuÂber Salokin, it arranges clips from dozens of films released over the past half-cenÂtuÂry — PatÂton, Tora! Tora! Tora!, BatÂtle of Britain, Dunkirk — in hisÂtorÂiÂcal order.
OpenÂing with footage from Roman PolanÂski’s The Pianist referÂring to the invaÂsion of Poland in SepÂtemÂber 1939, it goes on to covÂer that year by drawÂing from the depicÂtion of SoviÂet-JapanÂese borÂder conÂflicts like the BatÂtles of Khalkhin Go and NomonÂhan in Kang Je-gyu’s My Way, then from the depicÂtion of the titÂuÂlar fights on the KareÂlian IsthÂmus in Pekka Parikka’s The WinÂter War.
As KoreÂan and Finnish proÂducÂtions, respecÂtiveÂly, My Way and The WinÂter War offer perÂspecÂtives on World War II difÂferÂent from the AmerÂiÂcan one takÂen by HolÂlyÂwood movies — HolÂlyÂwood havÂing once been the only motion-picÂture indusÂtry with the resources to re-creÂate the war in a conÂvincÂing manÂner. But the develÂopÂment of globÂal film proÂducÂtion in recent decades has also givÂen rise to wideÂly seen World War II movies from counÂtries like AusÂtralia, GerÂmany, DenÂmark, and RusÂsia, to name a few counÂtries whose films appear in this video. Not all of them agree perÂfectÂly with hisÂtoÂry as taught in the UnitÂed States, but then, AmerÂiÂcan World War II movie enthuÂsiÂasts have unreÂsolvÂable conÂflicts of their own: do you preÂfer SavÂing PriÂvate Ryan, for instance, or The Thin Red Line?
RelatÂed conÂtent:
Watch World War II Rage Across Europe in a 7 Minute Time-Lapse Film: Every Day From 1939 to 1945
Quentin Tarantino’s World War II ReadÂing List
Based in Seoul, ColÂin MarÂshall writes and broadÂcasts on cities, lanÂguage, and culÂture. His projects include the SubÂstack newsletÂter Books on Cities, the book The StateÂless City: a Walk through 21st-CenÂtuÂry Los AngeÂles and the video series The City in CinÂeÂma. FolÂlow him on TwitÂter at @colinmarshall, on FaceÂbook, or on InstaÂgram.
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