Just saw the movie Paeschendaele last night. It was our anniversary and Sharon agreed to watch this romance/war movie for our 12th. Actually stopped at The Fyxx for supper and though I wasn't hungry we had the perfect meal for the situation. Anyways, we went to see this movie by Paul Gross, the guy who played the Mountie in Due South. Turns out he is a good writer and director as well as actor. This movie should win a boatload of Oscars. Several thoughts emerge from my viewing of this flick:
1) Canadian movies used to suck. Note "used to". This film is as good as any on the silver screen today, maybe even the best. There was a story, a well thought out plot and character development. The effects were very well done (I knew the movie was shot entirely in Alberta but forgot convenientlly when the army was supposed to be in France).
2) The brother and sister, Sarah and David Mann, were of German descent. Their father, a twist in the movie plot, when thought to have died for Canada at the battle of Vimy Ridge, actually fought for the Germans. This brings a terrible result on the children back in Canada. It made me think of our Mennonite anscestors and what they must have gone through having spoken mostly German in a nation that believed all things German to be evil. What did our people experience in terms of persecution, not for their faith, but for their culture. I know that some of our young men signed up and fought for the Canadian army in World War 1. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, went to war. Why? I am curious to know what persuaded them to do this. We will probably never know. I do know that when they returned they were kicked out of their churches and either turned their back on the church or joined mainline churches.
3) Another thought springs from my watching of this movie. How can we forget? My Mennonite forefathers enjoyed the privileges of a country that allowed them to school their children in German; possess religious freedom; and abstain from military service. These freedoms were bought with the blood of other Canadian citizens. Now war is hell, there is no doubt, but if we truly believe in Nonresistance and promoting peace "at all costs" then there is no way we can claim the freedoms of our nation and call it "our nation." We must in response be a landless people, a people without a country. Either that or accept that we are Canadians and understand that to bear that title is to be baptized in the blood of others. This is harsh, I know, but any nationality we assume is grounded in the same truth. You cannot be American, or German, or Mexican, or Bolivian, without comprehending that those titles and privileges came at a cost. Perhaps as the Apostle Paul said, we must claim only one citizenship, the citizenship of heaven (Ephesians). One thing I know, we are pretending if we think we can be Canadian and ignore the message of Paeschendaele.
1) Canadian movies used to suck. Note "used to". This film is as good as any on the silver screen today, maybe even the best. There was a story, a well thought out plot and character development. The effects were very well done (I knew the movie was shot entirely in Alberta but forgot convenientlly when the army was supposed to be in France).
2) The brother and sister, Sarah and David Mann, were of German descent. Their father, a twist in the movie plot, when thought to have died for Canada at the battle of Vimy Ridge, actually fought for the Germans. This brings a terrible result on the children back in Canada. It made me think of our Mennonite anscestors and what they must have gone through having spoken mostly German in a nation that believed all things German to be evil. What did our people experience in terms of persecution, not for their faith, but for their culture. I know that some of our young men signed up and fought for the Canadian army in World War 1. Hundreds, maybe thousands of them, went to war. Why? I am curious to know what persuaded them to do this. We will probably never know. I do know that when they returned they were kicked out of their churches and either turned their back on the church or joined mainline churches.
3) Another thought springs from my watching of this movie. How can we forget? My Mennonite forefathers enjoyed the privileges of a country that allowed them to school their children in German; possess religious freedom; and abstain from military service. These freedoms were bought with the blood of other Canadian citizens. Now war is hell, there is no doubt, but if we truly believe in Nonresistance and promoting peace "at all costs" then there is no way we can claim the freedoms of our nation and call it "our nation." We must in response be a landless people, a people without a country. Either that or accept that we are Canadians and understand that to bear that title is to be baptized in the blood of others. This is harsh, I know, but any nationality we assume is grounded in the same truth. You cannot be American, or German, or Mexican, or Bolivian, without comprehending that those titles and privileges came at a cost. Perhaps as the Apostle Paul said, we must claim only one citizenship, the citizenship of heaven (Ephesians). One thing I know, we are pretending if we think we can be Canadian and ignore the message of Paeschendaele.
1 comment:
Good blog,
Nice to see you back :)
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