'Oh What a Lovely War'

Oh What a Lovely War - Richard Attenborough (1969)

‘Oh What a Lovely War’ is Attenborough’s film adaptation of the play of the same name. Without seeing the production first you would know it was originally a theatre show because of the production in the film. The film opens with a very minimalist interior, very reminiscent of an actual theatre set, as well as big lit up sign of ‘World War One’ And numerous songs throughout, based on the actual song the soldiers sung to lift their spirits. Which is what the whole film is about; it puts a positive spin on the events with humour and upbeat songs.

The films plot, which is set in Brighton and shows shots of the famous pier; follows the more famous events of the war, such as the assassination of Duke Ferdinand. It also revolves around the lyrics of the songs, much like a musical. Even though the film isn’t set in a war zone the main focus is on the soldiers and the front line, so it wasn’t useful to my project in that my main focus is the home front, however it was a refreshing look at the events in a theatrical form. Unlike other films I looked to for research they also had showed scenes of the Christmas truce, to contrast with the scenes of warfare. The final scene is also a good example of this; the camera zooms out on a huge field with row after row of white crosses, marking the graves of soldiers. They obviously symbolise death, however the image is very beautiful, it’s very peaceful, and gives the events a bit of closure, which is the overall message of the film, it takes on a more positive interpretation of the events, and is nicely summed up with the last shot.