atlasmb It surprises me that this film does not have a higher cumulative rating on IMDb. Brilliantly conceived and painstakingly carried out, "Oh! What a Lovely War" is a tribute to the inanity of war and those who glorify it, driven home by the real life conflicts that dotted history since the film's release in 1969, during the American conflict in Vietnam.The film relies heavily on symbolism to tell its story and to make its points. It does not need to make light of facts; it just presents them and contrasts them to other facts, relying upon the viewer to make connections and form opinions. For example, we see a general reporting daily combat losses which are added on a scoreboard. He reads off the totals as if he is reporting on a skirmish on the football field. He follows it with a report of the amount of ground taken during the conflict: "Nil."There always seems to be a need for those who promote war (politicians and military personnel) and those who served in the military and their relatives (who mourn them and seek to justify their losses) to seek value in war. This film, perhaps better than any other, points out war's futility and the hypocrisy of many who are engaged in its undertaking.The film is about WWI specifically. It is a good choice. The intervening years give the viewer an objectivity in evaluating the conflict, comparing its costs with its results. It shows that many of war's trappings--militaristic songs, patriotic fervor, the creation of heroes, the promotion of conflict--ring hollow when considering its overall results.

Lee Eisenberg Richard Attenborough's directorial debut eventually got eclipsed by his other movies, but "Oh! What a Lovely War" is definitely one that everyone should see. The movie focuses on World War I, telling the story through the eyes of several members of a giant family in Brighton. To give you an idea of what kind of movie this is, there are some ugly scenes of the war juxtaposed with musical numbers. It's a sharp - but hilarious - satire every step of the way. No doubt people saw the film as an analogy to the Vietnam War at the time of its release. Not only does the movie do a great job showing the absolute futility of war, but there's a stark contrast between the battlefield and the palaces, where the ruling class remains conveniently detached from the realities of the war.Probably the most effective scenes are the Christmas Truce and the cemetery. The former shows how these soldiers, trained to see each other simply as "the enemy", suddenly saw each other as human beings, and thereby questioned the purpose of the war. The latter shows the result of the war, and how the cemetery has essentially become a monument to mass slaughter. Millions of young men used as cannon fodder, all so that Europe's imperial powers could stay in control of Africa and Asia.A who's who of British cinema dots the entire film. Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Corin Redgrave (who died earlier this year), Vanessa Redgrave, Maggie Smith, Ian Holm, Susannah York, Dirk Bogarde, Ralph Richardson and others make appearances. Jane Seymour also makes her debut in an uncredited role.Like I said, this is definitely one that I recommend. I can't stress enough how great it is, just showing how terrible war is, all the while staying humorous. Without a doubt, you HAVE to see it.

alicespiral Now on DVD with additional features including comments from all the major players. An all time favorite film because of the satire and today its nothing new same old thing. Each War seems to be worse than the last-lessons are never learned. Its the rich versus the poor-the officers who only got their commissions because they were born privileged. The film is obviously Anti War and wastes no opportunity to make pointed comments at the Masters of War. The cavalier attitude to Death is emphasised when one leader reads out the figures of "Casualties-201447 privates and officers killed yesterday.Ground gained-NIL" This movie says more about the futility of War than any other

MARIO GAUCI Attenborough's directing debut is patchy but impressive (even garnering a Directors Guild Award nod), immediately demonstrating his affinity for grandiose subjects; however, it was brave of him to go against the typically romantic view of British Imperialism (not that it was an isolated case during this time - witness the comparable military caricatures depicted in Tony Richardson's THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE [1968] or, for that matter, Lindsay Anderson's irreverent expose' of the education system in IF... [1968]).The all-star cast assembled for the film looks extraordinary on paper but, actually, only a few of them are given substantial roles - Dirk Bogarde's contribution is especially insignificant if still amusing. I was under the impression that the musical numbers featured in the film were written for the stage show which inspired it: interestingly, they're really a collection of songs that were popular around the time of World War I - notably sarcastic ditties 'improvised' by the soldiers to take their minds off the grueling experiences on the battlefields; best of all, perhaps, is a sequence in which a popular hymn is sung simultaneously by a church gathering and an army troop (with the latter replacing the verses altogether to give it their typically cynical and anarchic perspective!).Production values are top-notch but the overall structure, though generally admirably transferred to the screen, remains somewhat disjointed - the film coming across too often as a series of revue sketches which alternate between the cheerfully jingoistic (Maggie Smith's stirring recruiting song), the broadly comic (as in the scenes involving John Mills' fanatical yet foolhardy Commander) and the immensely poignant (the wonderful sequence in which hostilities mutually cease over Christmas and the soldiers of both sides decide to meet in No Man's Land in order to share drinks and each other's company, not to mention the famous closing tracking shot over the endless graveyard), or else serve merely as expository passages (as in the recurring stylized pier scenes where the leaders of the various countries - among them Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Jack Hawkins and Ian Holm - are seen converging to examine the progress of the war).