两部电影诊查战争伤痛（在线收听）

Two New Films Examine Trauma of War

两部电影诊查战争伤痛

War, it has often been said, is hell. Less often noted are the ways that hell can continue for soldiers and civilians long after the guns of war have been silenced. A new documentary film, Voices in Wartime, focuses on the firsthand experience of war and its aftermath. It was produced in tandem with another short film, Beyond Wartime, designed to help communities understand and heal the traumas caused by war.

That is the opening music of Voices in Wartime which plays over a horrific montage of battle scenes culled from the world's many wars. The uniforms on the soldiers and the rationale for sending them into battle might differs from war to war, but the looks of fear and grief on their young faces are uncannily similar.

"These are emotions that anyone can relate to, regardless of one's politics. That is exactly the point." says Andrew Himes, the films' producer.

Andrew Himes: I did not want to make a film about politics. I think all of us have had too much of politics. I wanted to make a film about the core human experience; the values that we all share and we all have together. A crucial question that both of these films raises is how do we heal the trauma of war, and how do we heal the societies and the individuals who are damaged by war in order to diminish the chances of war's reoccurring?

Through simple truthful storytelling according to Mr. Himes, unlike traditional documentaries, there is no outside narrator in Voices in Wartime. It consists mostly of personal accounts and poetry about the horrors of war spanning the millennia from ancient Greece up to the present. Mr. Himes says he hopes soldiers and veterans and others affected by war can find in those narratives a path to healing.

Andrew Himes: If you are able to tell the story of what happened to you and say 'let me tell you what happened. I was at this place. This thing happened to me. Here is how I felt about it,' suddenly you are enabled to move through and past the trauma. You don't have to just flick that switch of anger and resentment and hyper-vigilance.

Writing poems about his wartime experiences and sharing those poems has helped David Connolly, a veteran suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

(poem)

He lifts his head just a little, but just enough, for the bullet to go in one brown eye.

And I swear to Christ out the other.

And he starts thrashing, bleeding and screaming and trying to get the top of his head to stay on.

And we have to keep shooting.

That sort of battlefield carnage can be difficult for non-combatants to comprehend, and returning veterans often feel misunderstood. But the effects of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder are keenly perceived in the community. That is why a short companion film, Beyond Wartime, is being shown in living rooms, community centers and veterans halls nationally to promote awareness, dialog and empathy.

Eric G. Glaude, is a readjustment counselor at the Harlem Vet Center in New York City. He was wounded in the Korean War. Mr. Glaude supports the film's message.

Eric G. Glaude: The community that I know of, that I am from could benefit from knowing that there are people who really have been affected by war. Not only hurt -- but damaged! The smell of fear, the smell of death. When it gets in your nose, you can never get rid of it. People at home won't know that.

The two films also focus on veterans' families and friends, many of whom experienced the pain of war indirectly through its effects on their loved ones. Poet Emily Warn’s dad was a U.S. paratrooper during D-Day in World War Two.

Emily Warn: He was a war hero and the rest of his life he suffered from being a war hero. He drank a lot. He fought a lot. He was unable to hold down a job, and the marriage ended when I was quite young. He died at the age of 53 walking home from a tavern and he was found in a snowdrift the following day.

Producer Andrew Himes says that ultimately, wars hurt everyone - including soldiers and those they return to but that opening our hearts to those who fight can help heal us all.

Andrew Himes: When you hear that they have the same thing inside of them that you have. That kind of terrified soul, that piece of them that can be so awfully sad, so terribly desolated, you can identify with them …you can really understand what their pain is all about. And I think that is what is required for us to have compassion for another person.

注释：

documentary film 记录片

trauma [5trC:mE] n. 损伤，伤痛

horrific [hC5rifik] adj. 令人毛骨悚然的，恐怖的

montage [mCn5tB:V] n. 蒙太奇，文学音乐或美术的组合体

uncannily [Qn5kAnili] adv. 惊异地

regardless of 不管，不顾

narrator [nE5reitE(r)] n. 讲述者，叙述者

millennia [mi5leniE] 几千年，millennium的复数

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 简称PTSD，创伤后症候疾患

thrash [WrAF] v. 打，敲击

carnage [5kB:nidV] n. (尤指在战场上的)残杀，大屠杀

paratrooper [5pArEtru:pE(r)] n. 伞兵

D-Day 指二战时的诺曼底登陆日