To End All Wars: Movie Analysis

In the movie “To End All Wars” we see a group of soldiers during World War II who get captured by the Japanese and try to survive until the end of the war. This movie gives the viewer a great example of the power of forgiveness, self-sacrifice and God’s peace in the midst of the most terrible of circumstances still remains. Throughout this paper, we will look at cultural texts for the movie “To End All Wars” and see how this movie helps us as viewers change the way we think when watching movies. I will theologically compare how this movie portrays the power of forgiveness.
The World “Behind” the Text: “To End All Wars” is based on a true story based on a group of soldiers that become prisoners of war. These soldiers fight to stay alive and at the same time treat their captors in a way that goes against natural human tendencies. This film gives us great examples two different cultures that also have two differing religious beliefs, the Bushido Code and Christianity. This film also gives us an example of how we are to forgive everyone even those who oppress us. We see a group of soldiers try to make the best of their situation. They found ways to improve their lives in the camp by caring for each other, starting a …show more content…
This film give us a great example of looking underneath the surface past a person’s evil actions and realizing they are also made in God’s image. We are called to show love to our enemies through prayer and good actions. God calls us to be different from the rest of the world. To be in the image of God is to be separated from the rest of the world. Ernest Gordon shows us a perfect example of this at the end of the movie. When the Japanese prisoners came to the camp he did not see what the others saw. Major Campbell forbid Ernest from helping the enemy because they were the enemy. Ernest did not see them as enemies; rather he saw them as humans being created in God’s image that were in need of