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Beautifully written, superbly acted, perfectly directed, this is a sardonic, satirical, tragi-comic homage to those who served in the British army in the traumatic years of the 1940s and 1950s, whose contributions were to count for nothing in the 1960s. It is right up there with The Bofors Gun and Tunes of Glory. With hindsight it is possible to see these films, and perhaps all British films of this era, as symptomatic of Britain's loss of world status after WWII. There is a moment when Jack Hawkins touches the head of a child's rocking-horse, stored away, as if to indicate that the future has slipped from his grasp. As pointed out in another review, the age of what Muhammad Ali called the little sissies, with their MBEs, was at hand. Those MBEs were justifiably resented by those who had earned theirs legitimately, at the rock-face. One of the sissies, who didn't know what an MBE was, thought he was being called up. A relevant suspicion.
It is amusing also to see one reviewer complaining that this film is "talky". From the opening scene, when Hawkins emerges from a sewer, wearing his dinner jacket, the tone of the movie is hit with impeccable precision. The cast comprises at least a dozen outstanding actors, very familiar from other British films, some of whom, like Bryan Forbes and Richard Attenborough, went on to become respected directors.
It is not a comedy, but it is ironic. This is a mode still enjoyed by those who relish the wit and keen observation of the manners and morals of a bygone age. The modern film-goer, looking for special effects, expensive scenery, impossible stunts, graphic killings, and generally mindless and pointless violence and idiocy, should go elsewhere. In a sense the film is dated, but it remains datelessly gripping, intriguing and exciting.
score 10/10
chaswe-28402 28 September 2016
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3552052/ |
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2-4-2021 04:52:13