directed by: Lindsay Anderson
written by: David Sherwin, John Howlett
starring: Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan, Rupert Webster
seen: 16th August, 2015
-"Aries. That's Mick. No matter how strong the urge, resist any temptation to go into battle this month. Otherwise, you run the risk of not only being on the wrong side but possibly in the wrong war."
Oh my, it's so beautiful. (I have recently stared to use the word "beautiful" instead of "perfect", and in this case it also means ironic and absurd. I might even dare say bizarre, but the joke gets lost once I translate it from my native language into English.) All the details in those individual scenes. And the ways they court each other! (I like tigers. And trapeze seductions.) I also have a soft spot in my heart for films split into named chapters and the way they do it here, all distant-and-practical-like, is very inspiring.
It is a flawless film when it comes to making a statement, but it's also a film that I can enjoy using my brain only, it does not work well with my heart. Jean Vigo would be proud, I think. (A bonus compliment: When the school principal urges the boys to listen to reason, a girl is the one to take out the revolver.) And I also want to say that I don't like it when they force this film into context with the (american) school shootings of the 21. century, because the origins and implications of both phenomenons are not the same thing at all.
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