A War story

How little a list of casualties tells the real story of war. Based on the diaries of Canadian doctor Ben Wheeler during his internment in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during World War II, this feature docudrama is not a “war story” in the conventional sense of strategy and battles, but rather a glowing account of the spirit and its will to survive physical and mental suffering. Newsreel footage of the fall of Singapore (where Major Wheeler was captured) has been interwoven with dramatic reconstructions of scenes inside the mining camp. An important aspect of this docudrama is that it is seen through the eyes of Ben Wheeler’s daughter as she interviews, in a very moving way, survivors of the camps. (Awards: Edmonton; New York; Ghent.) Cast: Doug Bagot, Rodrigue Deschenes, David Edney, W. Forrest MacDonald, Cecil Grinstead, Doug Kier, Patrick McGuigan, Allan Stebbings, Dean Stoker, Frank Turner, Gerry Whelpton, Tom Whitton.