Legendary British director Sir Richard Attenborough (GANDHI, CRY FREEDOM) made his directorial debut with the scathingly satirical antiwar musical OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR. Based on Joan Littlewood's 1963 stage play, the film reimagines the tragic conflagration of World War I as a macabre amusement park in which ghastly images of war's futility--such as generals playing leapfrog on the battlefield while their soldiers die around them--are set to farcical musical numbers like "The Bells of Hell" and "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire." Attenborough assembled a virtual who's-who of iconic British thespians--including Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, and Maggie Smith--to enact the masterful pacifist diatribe that was seen as a thinly veiled commentary on the Vietnam War at the time of its 1969 premiere--and remains just as timely and relevant at its 2006 re-release.
Rating: G (MPAA) Rating Reason: n/a Runtime: 144 minutes DVD Code: Region 1 US, CA Genre: Musical & Performing Arts Color: Color Rating: DVD Features: Region 0 Keep Case Widescreen Audio: Dolby Digital, Mono - English Features: 1. Commentary By Director Lord Richard Attenborough 2. 3-Part Documentary 3. 1) Welcome To The World War I 4. 2) The Smith Family Album 5. 3) Keep The Home Fires Burning John Mills, John Mills, Maggie Smith, Maggie Smith, Phyllis Calvert, Ralph Richardson, Ralph Richardson, Vanessa Redgrave, John Clements, John Clements, John Gielgud, John Gielgud, Arthur John Gielgud, Kenneth More, Dirk Bogarde, Dirk Bogarde, Derek Van Den Bogaerde, Michael Redgrave, Michael Redgrave, Susannah York, Susannah Yolande Fletcher, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jean-Pierre Crochon, Laurence Olivier, Laurence Olivier, Laurence Olivier
Richard Attenborough, Richard Attenborough
Legendary British director Sir Richard Attenborough (GANDHI, CRY FREEDOM) made his directorial debut with the scathingly satirical antiwar musical OH! WHAT A LOVELY WAR. Based on Joan Littlewood's 1963 stage play, the film reimagines the tragic conflagration of World War I as a macabre amusement park in which ghastly images of war's futility--such as generals playing leapfrog on the battlefield while their soldiers die around them--are set to farcical musical numbers like "The Bells of Hell" and "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire." Attenborough assembled a virtual who's-who of iconic British thespians--including Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, and Maggie Smith--to enact the masterful pacifist diatribe that was seen as a thinly veiled commentary on the Vietnam War at the time of its 1969 premiere--and remains just as timely and relevant at its 2006 re-release. () 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's an intelligent, hugely stylised satire -- beautifully executed, brutally abstract and, on occasion, stunningly perceptive."
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