In Focus: The Fatal Alliance—A Century of War on Film

March 6–March 27, 2024

We welcome film historian David Thomson back to BAMPFA for this lecture/screening series following the publication of his new book, The Fatal Alliance: A Century of War on Film. Thomson offers a lecture before each film and leads the post-screening discussions.

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  • Paths of Glory

  • A Man Escaped

  • They Shall Not Grow Old

  • 1917

  • Upcoming
    Films
  • Upcoming
    Events
  • Selected
    Objects
  • Past
    Films
  • Past
    Events

Past Films

  • In Focus: 1917

    • Wednesday, March 27 3:10 PM
    Sam Mendes
    United States, United Kingdom, 2019

    Lecture & Screening

    Closed Captioned

    “Astonishing as the filmmaking can be at times, it’s [Sam] Mendes’ attention to character, more than the technique, that makes 1917 one of 2019’s most impressive cinematic achievements” (Peter Debruge, Variety).

    Lecture by David Thomson

  • In Focus: They Shall Not Grow Old

    • Wednesday, March 20 3:10 PM
    Peter Jackson
    United Kingdom, New Zealand, 2018

    Lecture & Screening

    Closed Captioned

    Director Peter Jackson and team took hours of silent war footage, digitally restored and retimed it, researched existing museum collections for correct colors, and added foley effects or veteran’s oral histories to create a contemporary epic of a century-old war and a snapshot of a society—and countless lives—now gone.

    Lecture by David Thomson

  • In Focus: Paths of Glory

    • Wednesday, March 13 3:10 PM
    Stanley Kubrick
    United States, 1957

    Lecture & Screening

    A grand entry in the pantheon of great antiwar films, Paths of Glory stands beside films like All Quiet on the Western Front (1930), Grand Illusion (1937), and King and Country (1964) for its on-target treatment of the terrors of war, but it stands alone for its fearless criticism of the high command and its obvious rank.

    Lecture by David Thomson

  • In Focus: A Man Escaped

    • Wednesday, March 6 3:10 PM
    Robert Bresson
    France, 1956

    Lecture & Screening

    From the true account of a Resistance leader who escaped from a Nazi prison just before he was to be executed, Robert Bresson created a film where the drama is all internal. “Essential viewing” (Jonathan Rosenbaum).

    Lecture by David Thomson