The performances of Jack Hawkins and Michael Medwin aides this post war drama (which teacher has plenty of flashbacks of the war) shows how post-war trauma can destroy an individual (Medwin), and how a not so pleasant unplanned visit with his commanding officer (Hawkins) brings this all out. Conversations with other members of the troupe and flashbacks are intense, with the roaring tanks a symbol of aggression with the anxiety definitely the outcome of everything you see in the flashbacks going into the present day. The anxiety of Medwin's post war trauma is much more intense than a written description can express so you have to see it to totally understand it.
As usual with British films from this era, the photography, even in black and white, is amazingly detailed and really adds to the mood of the film. The film struggles at times do with his pacing, and scenes with Dora Bryan as a silly WAC eventually become annoying. There's a very well film sequence with a bunch of kids playing war games in a possible bombed out construction site, quite more gritty than anything I've seen in American films on the same subject.
While I do not think that this was filmed with an anti-war point of view, that is obviously there with the description of everything that Medwin went through and how it affected him. George Cole and Dennis Price co-star, and in a minor role, you can spot the future Emperor Tiberius of "I Claudius", George Baker. It is ultimately a tragedy, a dark view of society trying to regain its footing after an international crisis, and it's another piece of proof that just because peace has been declared doesn't mean that the war is really over. Nicely directed by Guy Hamilton.
As usual with British films from this era, the photography, even in black and white, is amazingly detailed and really adds to the mood of the film. The film struggles at times do with his pacing, and scenes with Dora Bryan as a silly WAC eventually become annoying. There's a very well film sequence with a bunch of kids playing war games in a possible bombed out construction site, quite more gritty than anything I've seen in American films on the same subject.
While I do not think that this was filmed with an anti-war point of view, that is obviously there with the description of everything that Medwin went through and how it affected him. George Cole and Dennis Price co-star, and in a minor role, you can spot the future Emperor Tiberius of "I Claudius", George Baker. It is ultimately a tragedy, a dark view of society trying to regain its footing after an international crisis, and it's another piece of proof that just because peace has been declared doesn't mean that the war is really over. Nicely directed by Guy Hamilton.