War (2004)

With just a small, black & white, hand-cranked camera, filmmaker Jake Mahaffy spent four years documenting the lives of three Pennsylvanian farmers.

Director:

Jake Mahaffy

Writer:

Jake Mahaffy

Stars:

Dustin Bertch, Jeff Clark, Jeff Clark

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Dustin Bertch	...	Samuel Jenkins
Jeff Clark	...	Pastor Jack Masters
Jeff Clark	...	Pastor Jack Masters
Charles Cullen	...	Narrator
Richard Kirkwood	...	Radio Reverend Hiram Hill
Paul Mahaffy	...	Hanky the Junkman
Andy Yurick	...	Jacob 'um-daddy' Jenkins

Storyline

With just a small, black & white, hand-cranked camera, filmmaker Jake Mahaffy spent four years documenting the lives of three Pennsylvanian farmers.

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Genres:

Documentary | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Handcranked films

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 January 2004 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Pennsylvania, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min 84 min

Color:

Black and White (Eastmancolor) Black and White

Did You Know?

Quotes

Pastor Jack Master: Facts are the propaganda of Satan.

User Reviews

Post-apocalyptic mood

I'm assuming this is the same film that I watched in the Rotterdam film festival based on the names of the title and director. The first plot description here though couldn't be more different than the one that I had read before watching the film. Rather than a documentary, 'War' seemed to be a chronicle of the after-effects of a war that we never see on a slowly disappearing country life. The minister mentions the rapture early on and from what see for most of the film there doesn't appear to be anyone left apart from our four protagonists. Actually, 'protagonists' is probably the wrong word as they don't actually do all that much and we see very little interaction between them. When the minister calls his 'sweetie-pie' turns away from the camera so we don't actually see him speaking on the phone, suggesting she might not be on the other end of the phone.The characters are simply going through their routines, unable or unwilling to do anything else. Radio's buzz with the voices of preachers, proclaiming and preaching for all their worth. Towards the end there is a suggestion of hope for the future when the boy drops the radio from the bridge, silencing the past. Personally, I thought the film might have worked before as four separate pieces, each one focusing on a different character and lasting 10 minutes. But that's just me.