In Which We Serve (1942)

I like War movies, but I probably like War movies that spend more time and effort asking, "What are we fighting for?"

There's gotta be some sort of balance. I don't like War movies that go so far over the line the other way that everyone is just dying to end the war and get home. If there's a war, then let the people fighting it have a reason to fight it, and let them be into fighting it, sure. But don't give me 100% propaganda, either.

As I watched this film, I started thinking: Maybe the problem is that this is more propaganda film than war film. It was made right in the middle of World War II, and while the Allies were "winning" the war in 1942, maybe they didn't completely realize that yet.

After all, Hitler has entered Paris, and the British are being bombed and they've had to evacuate Dunkirk...

This film mentions details like that, but it's more interested in following the lives of a few men who have survived having their vessel bombed out from under them. They hang on to a life raft of sorts, waiting for the longshot of being rescued. While they wait in the water, the memories of their lives fill in the rest the movie. They came from different regions and different backgrounds, but they are all united in the grand cause.

Some people die, and that's sad, but they all understand that deaths happen in wartime. They all maintain a stiff upper lip, with the idea being that they must do what needs to be done, and showing emotion does little good at helping them meet the objective.

At the end of the film, the Captain (Noel Coward) shakes hands with all the survivors. Probably not all of them, but maybe twenty or more. It's a somewhat long, drug-out scene. I get the idea, but it's not necessarily the most exciting conclusion to the film. The war goes on, but this "unit" is being split up to fill in the missing pieces left by other deaths in the fleet. Where the Captain is going, I'm not 100% sure. He's lost his vessel, so does he no longer have a command? Maybe it doesn't matter, because he will simply serve where he's needed. Everyone will do what they're called to do. Duty will prevail, and in that way, they will win the war.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

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