Edward Piercy

The Continuing Cost of War

Friday, 25. July 2008, 19:07:37

Inspector Christopher Foyle
and Dr. Josef Novak.

I happened to catch a very good episode of Foyle's War the other night
on PBS. The episode was called "Broken Souls" and it dealt with, in
one way or another, the costs of war that can stretch far beyond the
time and place of the war itself.

We meet a wounded man who returns home to a wife who he has become
estranged from across five years and a son he doesn't even really know.
We meet soldiers suffering from "shell shock" (Post Traumatic Stress)
staying at a type of half-way house where they can get counseling and
try to find their way back into the "normal" world. We meet a teenager
who has run away from bad circumstances in London precipitated by the
war. We meet a young German P.O.W., trying his best to separate himself
from the past. And we meet Dr. Josef Novak, a psychiatrist and Polish
Jew whose family has been lost in the Nazi camps. All of these are
casualties of war.

Each of the characters in this episode, and to a great degree those
around them, must deal with their hatred, or pain, or grief, or their
own human frailties that have been triggered by the war.

It was a very timely episode, one deserving of a much wider audience
than it no doubt received being shown a few times on PBS.

There is something very Sophoclean about "Broken Souls." I give it my
highest recommendation, both as a good murder mystery and as a narrative
of a past (and current) war.

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Comments

PainterWoman # 26. July 2008, 13:25

War is a very sad state of affairs. The present one has lasted far too long.

deborah # 29. July 2008, 06:53

the "present war" you wrote about in your comment has been ongoing for centuries PW. but our countries' involvement hasn't been going on as long as it will -- our political leaders from many nations are seeing to it that we remain in a state of warfare in the middle east, while the problems of many third world countries keeps worsening by the moment.

edward, i'll watch the movie with you if you'll bring the popcorn and the cold drinks! if i ever get enough time off work to actually sit down and enjoy a good film without the phone ringing or me falling to sleep because i am sitting still!!!!!!!!

Edward Piercy # 29. July 2008, 12:06

I just watched the final epidose of Foyle's War the other night. It was very disappointing compared to the "Broken Souls" episode.

Deb, I can't really eat popcorn anymore but I usually have plenty of ice cream, so if you're up for that...