Request input for COIN related movie bits

I'm putting together draft COIN OPD/NCOPD presentations and wanted to add some relevant multi-media stuff IOT demonstrate successful/unsuccessful practices and stimulate discussion. Of course, I have in mind all the usual suspects (Battle of Algiers, LofA, etc), but thought I might find something less stale from the forums.

Oh, BTW, anyone have any input re: copyright infringement for use of, say, a film clip from The Man Who Would be King? The use of said clip for instructional purposes only as presented to Soldiers/Marines, etc.

Tanx,

"THIS is my boomstick!"

Viktor,

Nice to see you are out and about. I have not seen any of your planes since I left the Congo.:D

Maybe you could introduce yourelf to the council and offer some details concerning the audience of this presentation.

Thanks in advance,

Tom

In Go Tell the Spartans (1978), there is a classic scene between Burt Lancaster and a nerdish young MI officer (played, I think, by David Clennon - or was it Joe Unger?). The MI officer is armed with statistics, charts, and computer readouts and is trying to advise Lancaster where and when the next VC attack will take place. He, of course, is the world-weary US adviser who relies on instinct and experience. Illustrates the tension between warfighters, theorists, and analysts - much like what you get on this forum. A lot of other great material in this lesser-known gem.

Would also recommend the knife-fight from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Thanks Tom. It's amazing what a few baht strewn about can do.

I should have mentioned that the OPD (officer professional development)/NCOPD (non-commissioned officer development) presentations will be directed at leaders at the tactical level...prolly battalion and below. Kind of a COIN grassroots kick-start primer. Anticipate primary audience to be units, National Guard, Reserve and Active, that haven't deployed or have had a lengthy lag between deployments.

Red Dawn, discussed on this site as Guerilla War classic. Movie is much deeper than one would suspect from Patrick Swayze, though Roadhouse was Tao. Hard to pick one scene.

The Quiet American. Graham Greene's novel of an American trying to help "the locals" with the best of intentions, though his methods are suspect and dangerous. Michael Caine, playing the expatriate reporter, realizes Brendan Frazier, Aid worker's true identity.

Breaker Morant. What is ethical, who is a combatant, what is justice in war?
Australian Soldiers are tried for murdering a priest accused of aiding the Bo'ers in South Africa. Again, hard to pick just one scene. maybe the "confession" by the Australians, talking about what really happened.

In a 2006 Washington Post article
T.X. Hammes recommends "In the Name of the Father" as a cautionary tale regarding overly zealous interrogations of suspected insurgents.

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Originally Posted by patmc

Breaker Morant.

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Good one.

Vic,

Here is a link to a 12 minute video I put together using Kennedy's speech. I have a high def (75 Meg) version I could mail you if you are interested.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=27e_1205470676

Buck

+1 Breaker Morant

There are some great scenes in Farewell to the King, in general one of my favorite niche movies. But they are far more IW / SF or something else other than COIN.

You asked re copyrights. I attempted one time to get legit permissions for use of a clip from the Siege for an official homeland defense presentation. It is an unbelievable nuisance. You have to get multiple permissions from the studio, the individual credited actors who are on screen in the clip(s) you intend to use, etc. etc. Even with a Hollywood LnO, it proved untenable in our timeframe. In my naivete I figured it must be doable. It probably is, but too hard for 99%+. I now understand why the "don't do it" and "don't ask" COAs are so popular.

Here's a good resource on copyrights, http://fairuse.stanford.edu/

I personally liked 'Lost Command', a film starring Anthony Quinn, as a French paratroop officer, starts with Vietnam and ends in Algeria. Link to amazon site: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Command.../dp/B000065UHS and a better reviews: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0060637/usercomments and http://www.epinions.com/content_115767742084

davidbfpo

The University of Ulster has assembled a list of films that include "The Troubles", alas the direct link does not work and the Google cache does:
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache...lnk&cd=1&gl=uk

Quite a range there to chose, my favourites are Harry's Game, The Crying Game and Bloody Sunday. I will not comment on whether they are accurate - as that will start another debate.

davidbfpo

There are a number of films on Ireland (some include Northern Ireland themes), with classics on the struggle for independence, like Michael Collins and the Irish Civil War The Wind that shakes the Barley. Take a peek at this list: http://www.lclark.edu/~campion/hist400/films.htm

davidbfpo

I'll add my favourite items of "obscura."

"The Last grenade" adapted from the Novel, "The Ordeal of Major Grigsby."
"Contact" adapted from the Novel, "Contact" by AFN Clarke. - about Para Regt in bandit country Circa 1979.

....and "The Lost Command." - the adaptation of "The Centurions," by Jean Larteguy.

In 'Henry V' (either the old Olivier version or the 1989 Branagh version) there is a part where the king gives this 'commander's intent' to his troops when explaining his decision to punish a soldier caught looting:

"...we give express charge that in our marches through the country there be nothing compell'd from the villages; nothing taken but paid for; none of the French upbraided or abus'd in disdainful language; for when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner."

So, that's where Mao got it:rolleyes:! All the more impressive since the soldier to be hanged is an old buddy of Prince Hal, now Henry the king.

Cheers

JohnT

A colleague recommended 'The Odd Angry Shot', issued in 1979, which I have not seen, so anyone here who has?

The move is described on: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079652/ and on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odd_Angry_Shot

davidbfpo

Chuck Heston in "Major Dundee" except he's the guerilla vs. French and conducting COIN vs. Apaches. One of my favorite movies.

I am sure the topic of films has appeared before, hopefully this is the best place for an update:http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2010/02/films/

And has links to several trailers.

Three cups of tea... and some buzkashi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUlVXdoqITk

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Originally Posted by Vic Bout

Oh, BTW, anyone have any input re: copyright infringement for use of, say, a film clip from The Man Who Would be King? The use of said clip for instructional purposes only as presented to Soldiers/Marines, etc.

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You should covered under fair use for educational purposes.
for more info:
http://www.infotoday.com/IT/jun08/Pike.shtml
http://copyright.syr.edu/uses.php

The field is a mess and it is a few years since I taught in the States.

A few of my favorites...

For revolution and insurgency theory, watch Fight Club, Mississippi Burning, and Red Dawn.

To learn to how to deal with tribal elders, watch Frost/Nixon and Rounders.

For SFA/FID, watch Glory and Dear John.

To deal with multiple tours, I'd recommend Animal House and The Hangover :).

v/r

Mike

Do you want to focus on military operations in foreign insurgencies, or COIN?

Movies like Ghandi or Malcolm X off the top of my head might help your crew to step back and expand their perspectives a bit. This is all about populaces under a governance they find intolerable, illegitimate, or both; who also have no legal means of redress to ragain or gain control of, or even shape their governance; so they resort to violence.

The military aspect is usually one of pipehitter for that government. Much like the goons who would be set upon workers attempting to unionize a century ago in the states.

I suggest taking a look at "Broken Arrow" the one from 1950 with Jimmy Stewart. If you ignore the Hollywood insurance policy romance and one or two slightly too noble savages, it was pretty good. It had a lot to say about knowing the enemy, knowing why he was the enemy and showing him due respect. I think there is a lot from the conflicts with the Apaches that could be applicable to things today.

Cromwell

Michael Collins

defiance

wind that shakes the barleys

Law Abiding Citizen

Or, slightly more seriously, The Odd Angry Shot.

Thomas Rid at KOW: Great Films on Small Wars

Entry Excerpt:

Great Films on Small Wars - Thomas Rid, Kings of War.

Here is our list of 20 outstanding movies on political violence, insurgency, and counterinsurgency - small wars, somewhat liberally defined. This selection has been included as “recommended viewings” in a forthcoming textbook, Understanding Counterinsurgency - with a permalink to this post and of course a note of acknowledgement to the fine readers of this blog...

Get the low-down at Kings of War.



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Read the full post and make any comments at the SWJ Blog.
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Originally Posted by ptamas

You should covered under fair use for educational purposes.
for more info:
http://www.infotoday.com/IT/jun08/Pike.shtml
http://copyright.syr.edu/uses.php

The field is a mess and it is a few years since I taught in the States.

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This is a current battle in my world. We assume that when a non-profit or governmental institution uses it (such as the Army), then Fair Use may apply, depending on the size of the clip in relation to the whole from which it was taken.

However, for a for-profit enterprise (such as a for-profit defense contractor), this may not be the case. A possible solution here is to ask the customer (Govt) if they have or can acquire permissions to show the clip.

http://www.pbs.org/pov/thebrooklynconnection/

Have any of you screened this film?

Quite interesting though it has a distinguishable political spin on it.

I have only seen previews but the new "Robin Hood" movie with Russell Crow.

The Intimate Enemy is a French film (DVD zone 2) which is basically the French version of Platoon in Algeria it has englich subtitles and is a very well thought out and put together film.

Michael Collins with Liam Neilson is also a good one as well.

If you are looking for a good documentary on Algeria all in french with no sub title unfortunately it is called La Guerre Sans Nam The war with no name.

Kelly

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Originally Posted by sabers8th

The Intimate Enemy is a French film (DVD zone 2) which is basically the French version of Platoon in Algeria it has englich subtitles and is a very well thought out and put together film.

Michael Collins with Liam Neilson is also a good one as well.

If you are looking for a good documentary on Algeria all in french with no sub title unfortunately it is called La Guerre Sans Nam The war with no name.

Kelly

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Sorry, do you mean la guerre sans nom?
I could not resist to make the orthograph correction ;)

M-A

Yes you are correct unfortunately I cant type and spell at the same time... LOL

Starring William Holden. This was on Turner Movie Classics last week. Deals with an American Rubber Plantation owner in Malaya during the British response to the Insurgency. Does not portray the UK handling of the situation in a terribly good light in the movie. Fantastic scene of what happens when you destroy a village as part of a pacification effort.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057813/


short you tube clip from the beginning of the movie.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRZiO...eature=related

Something different, I think I've seen the film and IIRC it is graphic. It is on show next week @ Oxford University CCW and from their email notice:

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Come and See; a 1985 film by Russian director Elem Klimov, based on a semi-autobiographical script by Ales Adamovich who fought with the Belorussian partisans against the Germans in the Second World War. Produced to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Soviet victory, and during the slow transition between the Brezhnev and Gorbachev eras of the USSR, there is an undoubted element of revenge fantasy and Soviet propaganda about the film. The frightening thing therefore is how accurate it actually is.
The film has often topped lists of great war films. It also often appears in lists of horror films. It is not easy viewing, described by Roger Ebert as "one of the most devastating films ever about anything".

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See:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/

Come And See (1985) pt. 1 (1hr)

Come And See (1985) pt. 2 (1hr)

Come And See (1985) pt. 3 (18min)

Regards

Mike

Take a look at "Amigo" from 2010. It's about the US effort in the Philippines around 1899-1901. Saw it on Netflix but I don't think it's there now.

From the UK Defence in Depth blogsite a summary of an article in Small Wars & Insurgencies, as it is film and not a book it fits here (there is a thread on Vietnam War books). It opens with:

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In a recent article in a special issue of Small Wars & Insurgencies, we considered the contribution Hollywood has made to our understanding of counterinsurgency and nation-building during the Vietnam War. The war has been the subject of so many blockbuster films that it is inevitable that they play a leading role in shaping perceptions of the conflict. Students who have never lifted up a copy of classic Vietnam books such as Jeffrey Race’s War Comes to Long An or Neil Sheehan’s A Bright Shining Lie can be sure to have sat through Platoon or Apocalypse Now. But are these films educational as well as entertaining?
In considering this question, we split films on the Vietnam War into three broad chronological categories. The first are those dealing with the earliest period of US involvement, when the focus was on CIA-led ‘political action’. The second is the advisory period, when US forces began to be deployed to advise and support the South Vietnamese military. Finally, we looked at films that deal with the full ferocity of the Americanized war of post-1965. Put another way, the films we looked at have three main groups of protagonists – spies, advisors, and grunts.

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Link:http://defenceindepth.co/2015/11/02/...ng-in-vietnam/