To End All Wars (2001)

Directed by: David L. Cunningham | 115 minutes | action, drama, war | Actors: Ciarán McMenamin, Robert Carlyle, Kiefer Sutherland, Mark Strong, Yugo Saso, Sakae Kimura, James Cosmo, Masayuki Yui, John Gregg, Shu Nakajima, Pip Torrens, Adam Sinclair, Winton Nicholson, Greg Ellis, James McCarthy

‘To End All Wars’ is based on the book by the Englishman Ernest Gordon, who died in 2002. He wrote his book ‘Through the Valley of the Kwai’ in 1962. The book is about his experiences during World War II captivity in the Japanese prison camp, while he and his fellow inmates had to build a railway in the jungles of Burma-Siam (now called Myanmar and Thailand).

The railway has to be built in eighteen months and the prisoners are barely kept alive, so it is not an easy task. This fact was previously the subject of David Lean’s war classic ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai’ (1957), but unfortunately this film does not match its predecessor. The prisoners are under the regime of Captain Noguchi and Sergeant Ito, who are deeply devoted to Emperor Bushido. The viewer can be horrified by this because endless scenes are about the torture of the prisoners. They are chained to the ground for days, beaten with sticks or simply executed in front of their fellow inmates. It’s not so much that this is a violent film, many scenes have to be suggestive or shot from afar. The New Age music of Trevor Jones (Maíre Brennan of Clannad) makes the whole thing a bit milder.

During a conversation about “what to do when the war is over”, Ernest Gordon says he wants to be a teacher. A small group does want to be taught by him and his lessons are inspired by Plato and Shakespeare. Dusty Miller (Mark Strong) uses his infinite faith in Christianity to pass the time in the prison camp. Campbell, meanwhile, is preparing an uprising, and after seeing his hero Colonel McLean murdered before his eyes, he only wants one thing, and that is to escape. His bitterness is strongly portrayed by Robert Carlyle. The other inmates have to choose sides, in other words, what to do with their free time. In short, that comes down to choosing revenge or forgiveness. Jack Riordan, on the other hand, loves everyone and starts a black business with the locals.

The role of Scotsman Ernest Gordon is played with verve by Ciarán McMenamin, and he is assisted in this film by such stars as Kiefer Sutherland, who plays Jack “Yanker” Riordan, the only American, in this film and Robert Carlyle who thus plays the part. by Major Ian Campbell.

The colors of the film are gloomy and brown, a trick of the cinematographer, but it doesn’t work well. It comes across as artificial. ‘To End All Wars’ is slow and the story doesn’t hold your attention. There are moments when the film does touch you, but these are too few. Given the subject, ‘To End All Wars’ will certainly appeal to a select group, but this film passes by the general public.