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Oh! What a Lovely War
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Wendy Allnutt, Colin Farrell, Malcolm McFee, Colin Redgrave, Ian Holm
UK, 1969, ’, color
English with Turkish subtitles
Based on a celebrated anti-war stage play produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop, the film chronicles the various madnesses of the World War I. Along with vignettes involving the members of the fictional Smith family, the film lands its punches with a two-pronged attack: by using the songs of the war, mostly patriotic; and by using the real-life words of various figures from WWI. Richard Attenborough, who would later explore the lives of Gandhi and Chaplin, first made his way to the director's chair here, and he enlisted a staggering who's who of his fellow British actors for roles in the large ensemble: Olivier, Gielgud, and Richardson among them. John Mills plays the most bull-headed of the generals, blithely measuring out yards of territory gained by the thousands of casualties involved. The songs are a historically fascinating lot, mostly given an ironic or sinister treatment in this incarnation, as jolly patriotic tunes that mask the utter carnage at the front.
11 May Friday, 19.00
26 May Saturday, 17.00
9 June Saturday, 14.00
24 June Sunday, 14.00
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