England,
1967, 109 min
Shown in 1967
CREDITS
- dir
-
Richard Lester
- prod
-
Richard Lester, Denis O’Dell
- scr
-
Charles Wood
- cam
-
David Watkin
- cast
-
Michael Crawford, John Lennon, Roy Kinnear, Lee Montague, Jack MacGowran, Michael Hordern, Michael Vogler
- source
-
United Artists Corporation
- premiere
-
U.S. Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Richard Lester, Michael Crawford in person.
OTHER
With his eighth film, Richard Lester turns toward the “memoirs” of a young Army officer and his eight-man platoon, and describes their experiences through the Second World War. One might just as well be prepared at the outset for one of those staggering mixtures of humor and black satire in which the British excel, as far as the cinema is concerned. In this era of semi-commitment regarding the meaning of war, Lester’s new film may be considered controversial—he has dared to mix realism with a sort of grimly romantic use of color photography in battle sequences, a technique quite new to the genre. The film’s style is one of reportage, using actual newsreel shots of some of the campaigns, and the war is seen from individual points of view. Not one of Lieutenant Goodbody’s men sees the entire battle; they are given the characteristics of all men whose deepest feelings are brought to the surface in the face of war. The director has gathered together a great cast of character actors from the London stage and screen, and, most surprisingly, gives one of the Beatles (John Lennon) his first dramatic role as a hapless fellow named Gripweed, whose aim in life is to be a faithful officer’s servant, and crawling batman. How I Won The War was filmed on various locations in Germany and Spain, and it is Lester’s most complex work so far. Its humor is rich and its lessons reveal a deep, humanistic concern for all who march to distant drums, out of step all the while.
—Albert Johnson
FACTOID #125
According to the November 29, 1959 San Diego Union, The Village on the River was the first Dutch feature ever shown in the U.S. (at the Third San Francisco International Film Festival).
