“To End All Wars” was directed by David L. Cunningham (“The Path to 9/11”). It was based on the autobiography of Scottish Capt. Ernest Gordon. The book was originally entitled “Through the Valley of the Kwai”, but later renamed “Miracle on the River Kwai”. Gordon is played in the movie by Claren McMenamin. He is not the main character in the movie. After the war, Gordon became a reverend and was the Dean of the Chapel at Princeton for 26 years. The translator Takashi Nagase became a Buddhist monk. The two were reunited at the Death Railway Cemetery in Thailand 55 years after the war. The movie was filmed in Hawaii. It is one of the rare movies that was filmed in chronological order.
The movie opens with the claims that it is based on actual events dealing with the building of the Thailand-Burma Railway. You might know this railway from “Bridge on the River Kwai”. The narrator is Ernest Gordon. He is taken captive at the fall of Singapore. He befriends an American named Reardon (Keifer Sutherland). (He is not based on a real person and surely was inserted into the movie to appeal to American audiences.) They are sent to a prison camp in Thailand. They are put to work on constructing the railway. One of the men, a Major Campbell (Robert Carlyle), will play the defiant role. He is beaten for it. They witness the execution of three prisoners who tried to escape. Threat established. The commandant is a drunk, which would be accurate because being in charge of a bunch of honor-challenged charges was not exactly a career highlight for Japanese officers. There is a lot of discussion of bushido in the movie. The camp commanding officer is a Col. McLean (James Cosmo). He ain’t no Col. Nicholson. He insists that the men attempt escape, even though it is virtually impossible. When someone asks him what he is going to do after the war, he replies: “Start preparing for the next one.” Reardon, being a capitalistic Yank, becomes the King Rat/Sefton of the camp. However, Gordon does not become his lackey, instead he is attracted to Miller (Mark Strong) who is very religious. He is water tortured for having a Bible. Meanwhile, Campbell is plotting to not just escape, but take over the camp!
If you want to learn how to construct a railway through a jungle, this is not the movie for you. There is actually little of them toiling. The movie does show the hardships of life in a Japanese prison camp, but then shifts gears midway through. The Brits start working without prodding. The Japanese return their books and hand out the Red Cross packages. Suddenly it’s summer camp. This may be true to the autobiography, but it makes for some head-scratching. And some of the behavior of the prisoners is illogical. Reardon turns himself in for stealing a shovel. This does not fit his narcissistic personality. On the other hand, the saintly Miller suffers a death that is more than figuratively Christlike.
The movie definitely has a spiritual aura. It is #48 on Art and Faith’s list of the top 100 Spiritual Films (one ahead of “Schindler’s List”). In case you’re interested, #1 is “Rosetta”. (Other war movies are #16 A Man Escaped, #66 Hotel Rwanda, #73 Open City, and #80 Life is Beautiful.) I certainly don’t mind some spirituality in my war movies, especially if it is integral to the story. And Gordon’s experiences in the camp did lead to his rebirth. And if you view it, you need to concentrate on that journey, rather than treating it as a movie about the horrors of building the railway. But if that is the intention of the movie, why does it lead off with a reminder that 61,000 prisoners built the railway? The survivors who watch the movie might question the message that you should forgive your neighbor and love your enemy. That philosophy may reflect Gordon’s experience, but he hardly was typical.
The movie does not know what it wants to be. The first half is standard prison camp fare. There is talk of escaping and the Japanese are inhumane. Midway through, it shifts to a live and let live situation. A sympathetic Japanese translator is introduced. He will be the counter to the evil Sgt. Ito. This might conform to the book, but it has an unrealistic feel to it. The tussle between bushido and Christianity is interesting, however. I would recommend the movie to anyone who wants to watch a WWII prison camp movie at Bible camp.
GRADE = C-
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