Staff Pick of the Week: War and Father's Day

Originally submitted by: jadelay

On this father's day, I would like to recommend two movies that explore the sorrows of fathers, fathers who lose their sons, and in recent years their daughters, to war. First, however, it is worth mentioning that today, there are 175 families in Michigan whose father's day is also a memorial to the dead. Notably, of the soldiers from Michigan who have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war in 2003, 88% were in their 20s and 30s. Their average age was 26. Two of the lost sons came from Ann Arbor: Curtis Howard,II and Minhee (Andy) Kim. Two were from Ypsilanti: Donald McCune,II and Gary Koehler. The two movies I have picked which look at fathers and what befalls them when they lose their sons in violent conflict are not new. The first was a docudrama that came out in 2004. It is called simply enough "Omagh." Loosely based on the actual event, it is about the consequences to the families of the 29 victims of a car bomb attack in 1998 in sectarian-weary Northern Ireland. The bomb destroyed the central market area of the small town of Omagh, and was considered the work of the Real IRA, a splinter terrorist group, that opposed the peace process which later resulted in the Good Friday Agreement. The film focuses on the trials of one of the fathers, Michael Gallagher, a mechanic, who lost his son Aidan, in the bombing as well as his quest to bring the men who were responsible for the bombing attack to justice. The second is one of the many Iraq movies that have come out since the war began. This one was released in 2007. It is called In the Valley of Elah. It, too, is conceived on an actual event, first reported in a magazine article, about the stateside murder investigation of a soldier, who had recently returned from a tour in Iraq. The story revolves around the murdered soldier's father and his quest to understand why his son was murdered, in addition to who killed him. Like other such movies which focus on the deaths of children, each of these films approaches the theme of loss from many different directions. These two films, however, earn an ethical star for attempting to deal directly with the role of fathers in contributing to the ethical ambivalence and moral regret surrounding what exactly is lost when sons die as a result of terror and war. Both films are available on DVD. You might want to check them out. And to offer your recommendations about any other films about fathers,families, war and loss that you think we should see.