Abstract The relation between war and cinema, propaganda and cinema is a most intriguing area, located at the intersection of media studies, history and film aesthetics. A truly tragic moment in human history, the First World War was also the first to be fought before film cameras. And while in the field, airborne reconnaissance became cinematic (Virilio), domestic propaganda occupied the screen of the newly emergent national cinemas, only to see its lucid message challenged and even subverted by the fast-evolving language of cinema. Part one of this paper looks at three non-fiction films, released in 1916: Battle of Somme, With Our Heroes at the Somme (Bei unseren Helden an der Somme) and Battle of Somme (La Bataille de la Somme), as paradigmatic propaganda takes on the eponymous historical battle from British, German and French points of view. Part two analyses two war-time Hollywood melodramas, David Wark Griffith’s Hearts of the World (1918) and Allen Holubar’s The Heart of Humanity (1919), and explains the longevity of the former with the powerful “text effect” of the authentic wartime footage included. Thus, while these WWI propaganda works do validate Virilio’s ideas of the integral connections between technology, war and cinema, and between cinema and propaganda, they also herald the emancipation of post-WWI film language.

中文翻译：

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大战：电影，宣传和电影语言的解放

摘要战争与电影，宣传与电影之间的关系是一个最有趣的领域，位于媒体研究，历史与电影美学的交汇处。第一次世界大战是人类历史上真正悲惨的时刻，也是在胶片相机之前进行的第一次战争。在现场，空中侦察变成了电影（Virilio），国内的宣传占据了新兴国家电影院的屏幕，却看到其清晰的信息受到电影院快速发展的语言的挑战甚至颠覆。本文的第一部分介绍了1916年发行的三部非虚构电影：作为典范性宣传的索姆河战役，与我们的英雄在索姆河战役（Bei unseren Helden an der Somme）和索姆战役（La Bataille de la Somme）从英国，德国和法国的角度进行同名的历史战役。第二部分分析了两个战时好莱坞的情节剧，大卫·沃克·格里菲斯（David Wark Griffith）的《世界之心》（Hearts of World）（1918）和艾伦·霍鲁巴尔（Allen Holubar）的《人性之心》（The Heart of Humanity）（1919），并通过真实战时镜头的强大“文字效果”解释了前者的长寿。包括在内。因此，尽管这些第一次世界大战的宣传作品确实证实了维里里奥关于技术，战争与电影之间以及电影与宣传之间的整体联系的思想，但它们也预示了第一次世界大战后电影语言的解放。