Poster of Theater of War

Theater of War

Documentary

Director: John W. Walter

Release Date: April 1, 2008

Where to Watch

Theater of War is a documentary about how the play analyzes and portrays war (interesting), the context for the audience in this production (Iraq War, slightly pedantic & dated), the personal effect of historic events on Bertolt Brecht when he wrote the play (transcendent) & the process of creating a play (including Meryl Streep’s perspective). Not necessarily required viewing unless any of those topics interest you, but I would have felt differently if the documentary began with Bertolt Brecht’s story & proceeded from there–his story really illustrates the effect of war on a person’s life & somewhat diminishes the first part of the film dealing with the Iraq War as people protest it by riding bikes & talking about it from the comfort of their offices or their picturesque streets–not that those actions aren’t valuable, but they pale in comparison with Brecht country jumping to escape the Nazis then country jumping to escape McCarthy.

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