From one of the greatest living writers on film, a magisterial look at a century of battle depicted on screen, and a meditation on the twisted relationship between war and the movies.Thomsons own genius is his ability to remain one of the leading authorities on cinematic history, without shying away from the controversial. Cinephiles seeking provocative arguments will appreciate his work.Library JournalInThe Fatal Alliance the acclaimed film critic David Thomson offers us one of his most provocative books yeta rich,arresting, and troubling study of that most beloved genre: the war movie. It is not a standard history or survey of war films, although Thomson turns his typically piercing eye to many favoritesfromAll Quiet on the Western FronttoThe Bridge on the River KwaitoSaving Private Ryan.ButThe Fatal Alliancedoes much more, exploringhow war and cinema in the twentiethcentury became inextricably linked. Movies had only begun to exist by the beginning of World War I, yet in less than a century, had transformed civilian experience of warand history itselffor millions around the globe. This reality is the moral conundrum at the heart of Thomsons book. War movies bring both prestige and are so often box office blockbusters; but is there something problematic at how much moviegoers enjoy depictions of violence on a grand scale, such asApocalypse Now, Black Hawk Down, or evenStar Wars? And what does this truth say about us, our culture, and our changing sense of warfare and the past?
