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“When the Battle's Lost and Won:” Narratives of Peace in the Afghanistan Film A War
Author(s) -
Heck Axel
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
peace and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1468-0130
pISSN - 0149-0508
DOI - 10.1111/pech.12393
Subject(s) - battle , narrative , danish , spanish civil war , wife , nomination , sociology , media studies , law , history , gender studies , political science , literature , ancient history , art , philosophy , linguistics
This article examines the ways in which cinematic film underscores the latency of structural violence in its visualization of peace, specifically through the juxtaposition of the life world of the two main protagonists in the Danish film A War (2016): Captain Claus Pedersen who serves as a Danish soldier in Afghanistan and his wife Maria who takes care of the family in peaceful Denmark. The analysis centers on the internationally acclaimed film A War , directed by Thomas Lindholm, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language film. In contrast to many other films about war in general and the Afghanistan war in particular, it intimately portrays how the young family struggles with the consequences of a war taking place in faraway country and right in the middle of their life.