Patching gaps in my western education: interesting movie, Shenandoah, in spite of being clumsy mainly due to McLaglen´s inadequate skills as a director and especially actors´ director.
I see it clearly as an anti-war movie (and anti-racist) - the speach Stewart's character makes at his wife's grave in the end sums it up - but not blatantly so; the story sets many more questions than gives answers and that is usually a good thing, that a film makes one think still the next day and week after seeing it. Shenandoah doesn't even give a straight answer to the question whether some things are worth fighting for - the family's riding out for vengeance is not in vain, but for the family it brings more grief.
There are also questions about independence, neutrality and loyalities that could be understood meaning not only one family but countries in war-situation.
