IN LOVE AND WAR

   This film is directed by Richard Attenborough, written by Allan Scott, Clancy Sigal and Anna Hamilton Phelan, based on the book "Hemingway in Love and War". Cast: Sandra Bullock (Agnes von Kurowsky), Chris O'Donnell (Ernest Hemingway), Mackenzie Astin (Harry Villard), Emilio Bonucci (Domenico Caracciolo) Ingrid Lacey ( Elsie ``Mac'' MacDonald).

   This romantic historical drama is based on the diaries of Agnes Von Kurowsky, who while serving as a nurse during World War I had a love affair with a young man who would later become one of the great literary figures of the 20th century, Ernest Hemingway. In 1918, 18-year-old Hemingway has volunteered to fight in the great war; while he goes into battle imagining it to be a lark, he soon discovers that the realities of warfare are far more grim, and during a shelling attack in Italy, his leg is severely wounded. Hemingway has taken a great deal of shrapnel, and the doctors at the field hospital decide that amputation would be the quickest and most effective way to deal with the injury. However, the idea of losing a leg horrifies Hemingway, and he pleads with Agnes (Sandra Bullock), the Austrian nurse looking after him, not to let the doctors cut off his limb. Moved by Hemingway's concern, Agnes convinces the doctors to pursue other treatments, and she looks after him during his long and difficult convalescence. Love and passion bloom between the young and naive soldier and the 26-year-old nurse, but while he's eager for her to return home with him as he follows his muse as a writer, she regards him not as the love of her life but as a passing fling and thinks that he's too young to marry. Agnes eventually sends Hemingway a "Dear John" letter; later Hemingway would use her as the basis for several characters in his novels and short stories, not always flatteringly.

   I would like to single out the theme. Examining the problem of the impact of war on human nature  in the film , the viewers draw a conclusion that war damages people not only physically but  also spiritually. The main character, Ernest Hemingway is depicted as a very enthusiastic, ambitious and optimistic young man at the very beginning of the film. This American ambulance driver, who serves in Italy,  is in search of adventures  and heroic deeds. His moral values are bravery, love and devotion. However, as soon as his faces his hardship of war his attitude to it starts to change as he himself. Death, pain and loss make it impossible for him to see the world as happily as he used to do. To crown it all, the betrayal of his beloved suppresses his romantic love and he starts to conceal his sufferings under the mask of hatred and fury. Therefore, we can say that war leaves a scar on the person’s soul and  causes  bitter disappointment in his values and ideals.

   I would like to note the acting. I think that Chris O'Donnell and Sandra Bullock were really good in their roles. I believed in their not love but passion. Their feelings, desires were clearly seen in their faces, voices. The last scene is a nice example of conveying of real feelings.

   In conclusion I would like to say that the film impressed me and opened Hemingway from a new side which I had not signed out earlier. Costumes and decorations created the atmosphere of the war and the born of love during the time of death was inspiring.