Dave Mullins & Brad Booker On Translating John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s Anti-War Anthem for ‘WAR IS OVER!’

As explosions stretch out the timeline of war, a small, curious pigeon flies precariously through the destruction. You marvel immediately at how something so small and resilient can travel so close to violence. This bird flies from one side of war to the other, and we see how weary these soldiers are. Will it ever end? In Dave Mullins’ WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko, we are confronted with why we continue to let war rip our humanity apart.

Mullins’ film uniquely puts us in the perspective of this pigeon from the first few frames of his film. He and producer Brad Booker explain that while they wanted to create a familiar look with the weapons and time period, WAR IS OVER! never announces who is participating in this conflict. We meet two soldiers who spend their time playing chess from across the trenches, and it signals a commonality between them. The chessboards are even identical, but each player doesn’t know his opponent. The pigeon must be so thrilled to take part in this nerve-inducing game, and it sits close as it watches these men make their moves.

Mullins and Booker reveal the pressure they felt in placing this famous song in their film. How do resist being obvious or melodramatic with it and allow its lyrics and melody have the most impact? Every time I watch the film, I get chills when the song begins to play. You cannot forget that human beings are the ones to create war, fighting, and conflict. In one incredible shot, a soldier steps into fresh snow, and his footprint immediately floods with blood. This film echoes that even the ground we fight on feels the effects of such violence.

We all have the capacity to spar and to shed blood, but it can also be replaced with love and harmony. The most innocent ones will pay with their lives, but that doesn’t need to happen. WAR IS OVER! is a gorgeously told fable of how we must stand up for peace.