Sisters of War

Sisters of War | Telemovie | 8.35pm Sunday 14th November, ABC1
Sisters of War is a right horror story. It follows a small group of Australian women trapped by the Japanese Army on the island of Rabaul (near New Guinea) during WW2. Just in case you had any doubt's about how awful war can be, this movie shows it to you in excruciating detail. And it's not just the physical difficulties (like torture), but the mental strain of knowing horrible things are happening and there is nothing you can do about it. And then there's not knowing what is going to happen, or if the information you are given is correct or meant to deceive you. No wonder people bitch about war. Of course you could eliminate all this mental anguish by getting yourself killed, but there is no guarantee that your death would be quick or painless. So unless you have got a sure way out, you don't even want to consider it. However, if you decide to stick it out, and you survive (always a dubious proposition) without too much brain damage, you should be well equipped to deal with the kind of everyday bullshit makes the evening news cycle, i.e. turn it off.

Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino

Picture Clint Eastwood in Gran Torino taking his WW2 battle rifle and telling those kids to get off of his lawn.

P.S. We have a picture of the Gran Torino because when I first wrote about this movie eleven years ago I couldn't find a decent picture of the car, and even now this is the only one of the movie car I could find.

P.P.S. According to my post about the New Guinea rescue operation, we never attacked Rabaul. I'm going to reconcile that with this story by saying even a little scouting mission could easily result in significant damage. I mean, here we are sending our headstrong boys, mounted on fire breathing dragons, to go take a look at the enemy, and hey, if you happen to see any 'targets of opportunity', give 'em a lickin'. Now a clot of white clothed nurses might not be the most likely looking target, but coming in at 300 knots and 300 feet of altitude, it might be a little difficult to positively identify an enemy target.