If an anti-war film's goal is to show the physical and psychological destruction warfare causes to soldiers and innocent civilians, then "The P.O.W." is one of the most unpretentiously profound dramas in the history of anti-war films. Praised by critics including the New York Times, the movie follows a young paralyzed vet named "Howie" recently discharged from a VA hospital as he gradually slips away from the world and the world little notices or cares.
It is a quietly unfolding tale of low?key treachery by almost all around him with the exception of his immediate family.
In its relentless gaze this little gem of a movie is a great one, with keenly observed direction and a finely shaded, no-nonsense script by Philip Dossick and a magnificent centerpiece performance by a young actor named Howard Jahre in the title role. Jahre invests the character with heartbreaking honesty and puts a human face on the countless young people i.e. "soldiers" conscripted to fight in the endless wars the world has endured over the centuries.
Dossick's message here is not only that most wars are stupid and pointless, but also that after they end, the only people who seem to care about them are the people who fought in them. The public at large and the politicians who sent them into battle could not care less. And the god-awful vipers of the media? The Press? They are skewered here in a way never before seen in an anti-war film. They are shown to be the heartless bottom feeders they are. Quite prescient and amazing for the 1970's when this film was made.
Ida Lind