WW2 films for 10 year old DD

[Thirtysomething123]

Dd(10) is learning about works war two at school and is fascinated! We planned to watch a film this afternoon and I was thinking I could show her a war themed one.

What films are good for this age that are related to World War Two? Thank you

Actually, maybe not Cabaret for a 10 year old. I’d seen it by that age, but I guess it depends on the child.

I know @BlueEyedBogWitch but I assume they'll need to watch something age appropriate. Having said that, I had the benefit of first hand accounts from my parents so I agree, Ice Cold in Alex is pretty tame by comparison with the real thing. As for the beer, not something I'd judge (my DDad made his own so I was drinking beer from a very young age) but you have to be careful with schools these days.

The Dam Busters and if you can find one, an adaptation of Anne Frank's Diary. She wasn't that much older than your daughter when she started it.

And the book is wonderful as a followup. I was a teacher librarian in a primary school in Sydney, and read it and sobbed my way though the book when it was first released. I recommended it to many of the kids, and they loved it, and a couple in their turn recommended it to their mums who also loved it. It's definitely one of those books that has an appeal to ALL ages (10+).

@Catpiece God NO ! I can't watch it again, never mind a child. Really not suitable at all.
I can't watch The Railway Man either.

Please not this. It is a terrible story that could never happen.

I wouldn't recommend the dam busters just because of the name of the dog and the huge number of deaths caused by it.

The great escape isn't that great when it gets to the murder of the escapees.

And Bridge over the River Kwai is not, IMHO, suitable for a 10 year old.

A matter of life and death is set during the war but not actually about it, I think it would be fine for a 10 year old.

They drove all night - basically women in the army driving all night, it is a propaganda film.

Operation Mincemeat would be good but there are a couple of explicit sex scenes so you would have to edit it. I wish they would do films like they used to, where they were cut to be shown on airlines.

Hidden in Silence a polish teenager rescues Jews from the Ghetto, it is based on a true story.

There is a more modern version of the story called The Light in Hidden Places.

The six triple 8 - The only coloured (using that word in it historical context) women's army Corp to serve in Europe.

Blitz? It's suitable for older children as far as I can remember and about an evacuated child

Von Ryan’s Express was my favourite film as a child.😂

Escape to Victory

Jo Jo Rabbit
The Book Thief

What happens to the mum in JoJo Rabbit would be very upsetting for a 10 year old.

Following

What about that one with the pigeon? I think it's called Valiant

Films, definitely the Dam Busters, Hope & Glory, Carve her name with Pride, Odette, In which we Serve, Ice Cold in Alex.

TV - if you can get hold of Wish Me Luck from the late 80s, that's well worth a watch. Also Tenko. All the Light we Cannot See is on Netflix I think.

I'd also watch the World at War series with her if she's interested in this period. Not the Holocaust episode, I watched that with my father when I was about 10, and never again.

This thread is nuts!! The OP is looking for a suitable film for a CHILD. So many inappropriate suggestions. They don't teach the holocaust in schools until secondary age, for good reason.

OP, Goodnight Mister Tom is probably your best bet, although the book is much better.

Went The Day Well.
A true piece of propaganda made at a time when the outcome of the war was still very much an unknown factor.
Very gritty for its day but it showed rural life in WW2 with rationing, evacuees, Home Guard, land girls etc.
In a double bill with Hope And Glory, would really show how life was lived on the home front.

I totally agree.

At ten you learn about evacuees, men going to war, women enrolled in various occupations to support the war effort.

And the suggestions of TV, Tenko? I still remember some of the scenes when women were tortured. Stillbirth, child death, sexual favours to the guards to get cigarettes. Not exactly family viewing.

World at war is adult viewing, I did see it I think because it was the days of only 1 TV in the house before video recorders.

Jojo Rabbit is a great film and a 12A

Monuments Men is also good and nothing too traumatic- you get to learn about art too.

but I agree, most 10 year olds need to learn a bit about evacuees and that’s it.

I just remembered Life is Beautiful because it's streaming on Prime.
Okay okay I know it's in Italian with subtitles but it really is my favourite war film and I love telling people about it.
The storyline is how the dad is a funny guy who protects his son from the horrors of war by turning it into a game. It's tragic but also full of hope.

most of the "Golden Age" 50s - 70s classics should be okay - Where Eagles Dare, ...River Kwai, Battle of Britain etc

They're kinda violent but only as much as expected from a war film - generic gunfire and explosions, without the harsher gore that
came later in Private Ryan or Vietnam films

(Dunkirk and War Horse are more modern but also totally appropriate for 10+)

There is a film/TV film version of Carrie's War 👍

Casablanca, The Sound of Music, The Enigma Code

I absolutely loved The Empire of the Sun at that age. It shows a different theatre of the war in Asia, China specifically.

Hope and Glory, I used to love that growing up, maybe slightly older than 10 but not loads.