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2.
In the CTirrent I'var the value of this vvea_pon has been, as far as we iLnoYi , denied, oj no Oxie, .j-o.t its use, in filra terns, after four riionths of ¥;ar, appears to oe in d-nger of neglect. On this point the flovv of oritioisn is strong, although there is surely a limit to ill-considered atte^npts to allocate blarae rather than to iTxaKe constructive suggestions. To us, at any rate, it is more urgent to evali;atc, end to understand clearly, the various roles v/hicn the doc^jjnentary idea can nov; fill.
Y/er, Wiiatever its iif^modiate aims, tends to produce dislocation economic, socj.al, and L'Oral. To vjrge v;ar successfully it is necessnry to overcome these dislocations. To neglect them, even among the many U-i^gencies of combo t, is to lay up a snore of miseries in the imxiiediate end in the more distent future. Var dislocates (not rlv^cys adversely) the indivicu-'^l end the community life v^/ith equel impertin.l'ity. It tends to crush into
a short spaco movemients vvhich in peace v^/ould develop slov^ly, end v/ith the blessed out-of-stepness vvhich is the strength of democratic system.
For ex^imiple , this v-'-r may produce ^n rd p.o_Q_ concentre tion of industries in a given r^ren vvhich v.ill l-'-t^r becoFie second Jarrov;. This sort of problem must be foreseen, stated, and a solution must be offered. On the other hand, the v.ar produces a mass-movement like Evaci:.ation, vjhich bears vvitiiin it the irmnediate seeds of social progress the chance to revie^'v and to reform the Educational system. Public Health Gerviees, Child \.'elfare , the Housing Problem, and indeed the vhole relation bet\/een l.'ovm and Country life. Sucn possibilities ere neither chimerical nor unattainable; and examples could be multiplied.
It is necesvsary, therefore, to studj'" the im_pact of war on
the social schemie , and to do it ceaselessly throughout the period
of conflict. Here the documentary idea in film, has a great contrioution to make. It can undertake this basic v>/ork -v.hich,
because it is m.ore ia danger of neglect v;e mention first. It
can also, often in the samie act, contribute forcefully to ad ho_c_
efforts in m.any branches of "war activity. Technical training,
both civil and military, public instruction in m^atters like
rationing and agriculture, propaganda and civic education on the
home front, in the Erapire, and in neutrcl coijuitries all these
are typical endeavours in v/hich the docijimentary idea is of vital
importance. I\fo thing could be better propaganda both internal
and external than a v;ide analysis of the effect of the v«ar on
our demiocratic stete, and of the coiistructive actj.ons vvhich a nation
can if it yjHI initiate in the midst of a v^orld vvhich seems
bent on self destruction.