By Mary Shaffer
and Jerry Bunin
Telegram-Tribune

Men at war.

It's a metaphor for life, the defining experience in many men's lives and the psychological landscape of many influential films -- from the silent classic "The Big Parade" (1925) to potential 1998 Oscar nominees (announced on Feb. 9) "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Thin Red Line."

Filmmakers use combat to explore class struggle, racial tension, the American "melting pot," political conflict, teamwork, the torment of leadership, the transformation of boys to men, individual tragedies and triumphs, as a patriotic call to arms and as an argument against war.

While "Private Ryan" and "Thin Red Line" are far more graphic and realistic than their predecessors, neither is any more emotionally powerful than "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1930), a prestigious and expensive early sound film that was a critical and commercial success, earning Oscars for best picture and direction.

Adapted from Erich Maria Remarque's classic antiwar novel, it follows a group of German schoolboys from the patriotic fervor of their classroom to the grim reality of the trenches in World War I (WWI).

As fresh fodder for a relentless war machine, they endure endless rain, mud, shelling, shell shock, dismemberment and death, and dream about home and life after the war, without ever understanding why they fight, a lack of knowledge many films emphasize.

Their transformation from wide-eyed innocence to disillusioned cynicism is reflected in the haunted eyes of Paul (Lew Ayres, whose acting career suffered when he was a conscientious objector in WWII) when he returns home on leave only to find he no longer belongs there. After futilely trying to convey the truth about war to the next class of schoolboys eager to join up, Paul quickly rejoins his comrades at the front.

Director Lewis Milestone (a WWI veteran who also made "A Walk in the Sun" in 1945 about WWII and "Pork Chop Hill" in 1959 about Korea) creates several unforgettable images -- a pair of boots passing from dead soldiers to living ones and the final shot of the hand of a soldier fatally wounded while reaching for a butterfly.

A recurring theme in this and other combat films is the tough veteran teaching raw recruits to fight. No where is this more evident than in "Sands of Iwo Jima" (1949) about the Marine victory over the Japanese in WWII.

John Wayne stars as Sergeant Stryker, a surrogate father, lonely and estranged from his own family, who melds a group of boys of various ages and backgrounds into a fighting unit, letting them hate his guts but eventually earning their respect on the battlefield.

"Sands" blends actual combat footage with filmed segments in a documentary style. The Marines provided equipment and other assistance in exchange for the filmmakers glorifying the legendary flag-raising on Mount Suribachi. Three surviving Marines from the actual event had bit parts in the film.

The hugely popular film earned Wayne his first Oscar nomination, cemented his stardom and helped create his enduring image as a military hero despite his never having served in the military. The film also boosted Marine Corp. enlistment and influenced a generation of American men.

Newt Gingrich, whose stepfather was a career Army man, called the film "the formative movie of my life," and it inspired Ron Kovik and Oliver Stone (who filmed Kovik's autobiography, "Born on the Fourth of July" in 1989) to become Marines and go to war in Vietnam.

In "Platoon" (1986), Stone ironically refers to its influence when he has the psychopathic, scar-faced Sergeant Barnes (Tom Berenger) order his squad out on patrol using Stryker's signature phrase: "Saddle up! Lock and load!"

But unlike earlier war films, there is more conflict than esprit de corps in "Platoon."

The deadly war of wills between the ruthless Barnes and compassionate Elias (Willem Dafoe) becomes a metaphor for the painful rift the war created in America. The boys they lead wantonly destroy a village and are as likely to be killed by "friendly fire" as by the booby traps and sudden ambushes of their elusive, nearly invisible enemy.

"Platoon," based on Stone's experience as a "grunt" in Vietnam, is his most personal film and established his no-holds-barred style and reputation as a social-political critic. A critical and commercial success, the film took home four Oscars -- including best picture and director -- and helped heal lingering wounds from the war nearly 20 years after it ended.

Using combat as a metaphor for larger political and personal themes isn't unique to American films or the two world wars.

In "Gallipoli" (1981), Australian director Peter Weir criticizes his country's estranged relationship with Great Britain through the true story of the Australian army deliberately and senselessly sacrificed by the British to the Turks in WWI.

The thin red line between cowardice and courage sends a young Union soldier (Audie Murphy, the most decorated U.S. soldier in WWII) both fleeing in panic and rushing headlong into Civil War battles in "The Red Badge of Courage" (1951).

In "Red Badge" and many combat films, a recurring image shows sunlight filtering down through trees overhead. Is it the last thing seen by a dying soldier or a ray of hope in the bleak world that so many war films portray?

Mary Shaffer works for Cal Poly. Jerry Bunin is a staff writer for the Telegram-Tribune.

Filmmography:

• Battleground (1949)
• Breaker Morant (1979)
• Courage Under Fire (1996)
• Fort Apache (1948)
• Glory (1989)
• Go Tell the Spartans (1978)
• Paths of Glory (1957)
• She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949)
• The Story of GI Joe (1945)
• Ulzana's Raid (1972)