ToW 24: Paths of Hate

http://www.platigeshorts.com/paths-of-hate.html

     This short film, by Platige Shorts and directed by Damian Nenowis, as its director describes, "a short tale about the demons that slumber deep in the human soul and have the power to push people into the abyss of blind hate, fury and rage." This summarization is fairly accurate, but over simplified. The short film puts on display the ugly side of human nature, and its tendency to resort to needless violence.

     It starts out with what seems to be a fairly normal scene from a WWII film: two aircraft dueling. However, as the scene moves on, each pilot loses their humanity it by bit as time goes by, starting with flashes of red in their eyes, and ignorance of vital warnings, such as fuel,  moving until each pilot is fully driven by hate. Subtle details are added, one example is that one pilot has a picture of his wife in the cockpit, which flies into his face before being whipped out of the cockpit, without him even noticing. This represents the will to return being overpowered by the simple will to kill the other. Meanwhile, in the other aircraft, the pilot has a cross necklace wrapped around his hand. As he squeezes tighter, the chain snaps without him noticing, symbolizing the pilot moving away from anything tying him to his humanity.

     After both pilots run out of ammunition, their skin cracks and peels away, representing their facade peeling away to show their true form of hateful demons. An interesting note is that while before, you could tell the two pilots apart, they look the same in their demon form, showing that both pilots are exactly the same- beings of pure hatred.

     After their transformation, they two demons ram into each other, then parachute to the ground only to continue their fight there, showing how they have both completely given up on survival, and are willing to destroy themselves in order to destroy each other.

     The scene then transitions into a much more abstract work, and the music picks up. Outlined are several known acts of pure hate, such as brawling, executions, and suicide bombing. This final piece both makes the purpose of the film clear- an anti-violence film, and really drives that point home.

     Paths of Hate is an amazing short film that really drives its point home, with its beautiful animation, music, and unique plot direction.

ToW 23: Tragedy in Icy Seas

     In the spirit of the incoming APUSH Unit on WWII, I pulled out an old magazine and found an insightful article on one of the greatest naval tragedies of WWII that nobody knows about: The sinking of the German Evacuation ship MV Whilhelm Gustloff.

     The Gustloff was sunk by a Soviet Submarine, early January, 1945. Carrying anywhere from 8,000 to 10,500 passengers and crew, most of which was refugees and wounded soldiers. When sunk, an estimated 9,500 people perished in the icy waters of the Baltic.

     What the author of the article, Chuck Lyons, discusses is the legitimacy of the Soviet attack, and references several historians who all have different views. Some argue that it was not a legitimate target, and that it should've be considered a war crime because of it's purpose, which was evacuation. The other side of the debate is that, because the Gustloff was not officially marked as a hospital ship and was armed with AA guns, it was a legitimate target.

     Overall, Lyons achieves his dual purpose of both informing people of a naval tragedy that is almost unknown, especially considering that there was more civilian lives loss than triple that of the combine loss of both the Lusitania and the Titanic,  as well arguing that the sinking of the Gustloff was one of the greatest naval tragedies in Naval history.

ToW 22: The 5th Wave Closure

     The end of The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey continues the excitement from the first part, and continues with the themes of trust- as Cassie and Ben struggle to figure out who's to be trusted- between camp haven, Evan Walker, and each other. This also creates several types of conf lice between each of the main characters and other overarching characters and forces, such as the leaders of Camp Haven and the alien invaders- the 'Others'.

     Eventually, a truth is found about Camp Haven's real intentions- to train youth to go an exterminate the remaining human population, making room for the others to inhibit earth. This creates even more conflict in turn- as members of the small band of survivors, including both Cassie and Ben, struggle to figure out who they can trust, especially with Evan Walker- an other who seems to have been more affected by his human upbringing than his keen.

     This ends the book in a cliffhanger, setting up the second book in the series to pick up where the first one left off.