A War Story

As a kid working my way through the Ontario school system in the 1970's, productions from the National Film Board of Canada (especially in history classes) were a regular part of the curriculum, and, like most kids at that age, I probably sat through most of them bored to tears. I haven't seen an NFB production in quite a while when I suddenly saw this one pop up on TV and decided I'd watch it. Major Ben Wheeler was a Canadian doctor serving in Singapore when the Japanese captured him in 1942. The movie recounts, through the pages of his diary, his experiences as a POW, and it's both very sobering and very powerful.

What I particularly liked was the way four different kinds of productions were put together to create an essentially seamless story. Wheeler's diary (narrated by Donald Sutherland) was accompanied with dramatized scenes of life in the camp. The story of the camp was supplemented by what I call "talking head" segments - interviews with survivors of the camp - and with what I have to assume (based on the obvious level of the starvation of the POWs) was actual archival footage of the camps. Then, interspersed with all that were snippets of Wheeler's life and family back home in Canada (both before and after the war) in segments narrated by his daughter Ann, who was also co-producer, director and writer. It was very well done and offered a sobering view of life in the Japanese POW camps. One thing I appreciated was at least an attempt to look at the harsh, inhuman treatment of the POWs from the Japanese perspective. It was pointed out near the beginning that, in the Japanese culture of that day, a Japanese soldier would kill himself before being taken prisoner, and so they tended to look at soldiers who allowed themselves to be taken prisoner as less than human. Then, at the end, it was noted that many of the Japanese guards at the camp did, in fact, commit suicide rather than become prisoners as the Americans arrived to liberate the camps. I'm certainly not trying to justify the treatment of POWs by the Japanese, but certainly it does have to be seen from the perspective of that culture to be fully understood, and that's often a perspective we fail to see.

There were a lot of "talking head" segments - which I'm not really enamoured of - but I still thought this was very well done. 8/10

"A War Story" is a Canadian documentary about the war career of Dr. Ben Wheeler, a Canadian major who was captured during WWII. He and many others were sent to prisoner of war camps and a huge percentage of the men died there...mostly due to malnutrition and maltreatment by the Japanese soldiers. How he managed to save some lives is chronicaled in the film as well as his struggle to keep his spirits up during this awful time.

The story is told using photos, recreations and inteviews with surviving camp members. Additionally, Donald Sutherland provides a voice for Wheeler...reading Wheeler's letters and recollections about the life in camp.

This is a brutal recounting of the war and the POWs...unflinching and honest. It's not at all pleasant but is an important part of history that shouldn't be forgotten. Well made and well worth seeing.

As the daughter of one of the actors in the dramatized scenes, I can tell you that some of what looks like actual footage is recreated. My father, Gerry Whelpton, was at that time a slim man but did "diet" so to speak for the part. I don't believe any actors were harmed in the making of this movie and I am sure their health was monitored to some degree. To their credit and to the producers and directors, they were simply very good at their jobs!

Actors can make you believe in just about anything and it was incredible shot, directed, edited and produced in such a way as to take you back as if you were living the horrors through these talented actors. I have always thought this is one of my father's best work. I first saw it as a child at the NFB library and I can tell you that I carried it with me long after the viewing. If I didn't know it myself, I would have thought the same as the two previous reviewers here.

I may be a bit biased but I was very moved by this film. It was an eye opener for me then, and now, as to the horrors of war and why we should try to be humane no matter what the world gives you, towards every living thing.

Donald Sutherland narrates the story of POWs in the Pacific, held by the Japanese. Donald tells us of daily life, the working conditions, prisoners dying of disease and malnutrition every day.

The film is entirely in black & white and the most incredible part is that it seems to incorporate actual footage from that time with modern day actors. It's amazing because the actors are bone thin so I'm wondering if it's all film that the Japanese took, would actors starve themselves for a part? If anyone knows about this please let me know.

This is a depressing film, you will not feel very good after having watched it but you will feel a lot of compassion for what our soldiers went through in the camps. A must see.