Up until a couple of years ago I used to be a member of the environmental movement and the modern environmental movement owes much of its genesis to the Quaker faith , Greenpeace for example was founded in 1970 by Canadian Quakers opposed to nuclear testing . Without going into much detail I eventually left the environmental movement due to disillusionment and I have little good words to say about Quakers / pacifists and their dubious moral stance . When I learned about the plot of FRIENDLY PERSUSION which centres around a Quaker family who find themselves caught up in the American Civil War and having to find themselves choose between practical necessity and principal I just knew I'd have to see it . Here is a movie that personifies what great drama is all about where the protagonists have to make deep decisions and hopefully illustrates the hypocrisy of pacifism , but after seeing the movie I was aghast at its lack of drama and complexity. Worse still it lacks moral courage
The opening scene is straight out of a Walt Disney production . Filmed in glorious and beautiful technicolor we see a young child little Jess Birdwell being attacked by a goose with entirely human mannerisms . The character interaction between goose and child is amusing and becomes something of a running theme in the movie . The story continues as the Birdwell family and their Quacker friends discuss the war and how they're going to stick to their self righteous principles and not take part in it and you just know that they'll have to discard their principles and take part by the end . Alas as the film continues I started to notice more and more wasted potential as to the drama
What is the film trying to say ? Is it saying that war is wrong or is it saying pacifism is wrong ? . We see large portions of the running time dedicated to the pacifist characters self righteously saying they'll not take part in the conflict then the most self righteous critic Purdy takes up arms when is farm is burnt down by the Rebs . Is Purdy condemned as a hypocrite ? Possibly but it's understandable he wants revenge , what's not so understandable is why the elder Birdwell son Josh joins the Union home guard , especially since he's watched his parents condemn Purdy's actions . When Jess Birdwell Snr realises his son might be dead he picks up arms in a character arc that's not entirely convincing and it's here that the movie starts to fall down .Jess narrowly survives being killed by a Reb who he overpowers but eventually sets free . Wouldn't it have been more dramatic if he'd killed his prisoner ? And while he's away his homestead is visited by Confederate forces ! Oh no his wife and daughter will get gang raped before they're murdered with young Jess ! Actually they won't because these soldiers are very polite and appreciate Mrs Birdwell looking them dinner , they're so appreciative they even apologise for thinking of the family goose as lunch . And the movie ends with with the Birdwell family intact except for Josh who has his arm in a sling
The problem with all this is that there's little involving the fundamental core of drama - Internal conflict . People easily pick up guns but their motives for doing so are not always convincing . When they come back from the war nothing as really changed from a dramatic viewpoint , they're still alive and everything they hold dear is still there . It might involve making changes to the original book but wouldn't it have been far more poignant if a couple of the Birdwell's had died thereby illustrating the cruelty of war along with the need to fight ? Director William Wyler and many of the contemporary audience of FRIENDLY PERSUSION had seen the first hand horrors of war , whilst here the movie points out that the enemy are not brutal and everyone goes home to their family after a conflict . What a dangerous and hypocritical message to send out
The opening scene is straight out of a Walt Disney production . Filmed in glorious and beautiful technicolor we see a young child little Jess Birdwell being attacked by a goose with entirely human mannerisms . The character interaction between goose and child is amusing and becomes something of a running theme in the movie . The story continues as the Birdwell family and their Quacker friends discuss the war and how they're going to stick to their self righteous principles and not take part in it and you just know that they'll have to discard their principles and take part by the end . Alas as the film continues I started to notice more and more wasted potential as to the drama
What is the film trying to say ? Is it saying that war is wrong or is it saying pacifism is wrong ? . We see large portions of the running time dedicated to the pacifist characters self righteously saying they'll not take part in the conflict then the most self righteous critic Purdy takes up arms when is farm is burnt down by the Rebs . Is Purdy condemned as a hypocrite ? Possibly but it's understandable he wants revenge , what's not so understandable is why the elder Birdwell son Josh joins the Union home guard , especially since he's watched his parents condemn Purdy's actions . When Jess Birdwell Snr realises his son might be dead he picks up arms in a character arc that's not entirely convincing and it's here that the movie starts to fall down .Jess narrowly survives being killed by a Reb who he overpowers but eventually sets free . Wouldn't it have been more dramatic if he'd killed his prisoner ? And while he's away his homestead is visited by Confederate forces ! Oh no his wife and daughter will get gang raped before they're murdered with young Jess ! Actually they won't because these soldiers are very polite and appreciate Mrs Birdwell looking them dinner , they're so appreciative they even apologise for thinking of the family goose as lunch . And the movie ends with with the Birdwell family intact except for Josh who has his arm in a sling
The problem with all this is that there's little involving the fundamental core of drama - Internal conflict . People easily pick up guns but their motives for doing so are not always convincing . When they come back from the war nothing as really changed from a dramatic viewpoint , they're still alive and everything they hold dear is still there . It might involve making changes to the original book but wouldn't it have been far more poignant if a couple of the Birdwell's had died thereby illustrating the cruelty of war along with the need to fight ? Director William Wyler and many of the contemporary audience of FRIENDLY PERSUSION had seen the first hand horrors of war , whilst here the movie points out that the enemy are not brutal and everyone goes home to their family after a conflict . What a dangerous and hypocritical message to send out