Oh! What a Lovely War - Film Review

This film, directed by Richard Attenborough, is derived from a stage musical under the same name. My initial attitude towards this film is that it makes light of the war. It almost mocks the war in a few ways.

The opening scene is a very theatrical point of view of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. There are no walls to the scenery but a white background with white railings, balconies and staircases and chandeliers hanging. This is a very abstract way to open a film, but it gives an insight into the general overview of their perception of the war and how this will be portrayed further in the film.

It moves onto a scene at the beach in which families are enjoying the scenery and the funfair, oblivious to the outbreak of war. It implies a level of ignorance as there are reminders of the war all around and people are carrying on their lives as normal.  This is symbolized in a section where it focuses on a newspaper announcing the war outbreak. This newspaper is then used to wrap up fish and chips at the funfair, showing that they are carrying on with their normal lives as if nothing has changed.

One of the most interesting and impressive aspects to this film is the way that they switch and alternate scenes from the war zone back to the funfair. For example, there is a musical piece that takes place on a carousel, there to symbolize men going to war on horseback, and at the end of this song gun shots are heard and the people fall off dead. This then moves into a war scene and then shows the serious side of the war. This happens through other scenes throughout the film and I find it is a very clever way of changing scenes.

The songs that are played throughout also add to the film’s mockery of the war as they are all very upbeat songs.  The music is also used as a transition between scenes.

Despite this, there is a very moving scene with the Christmas day truce in which Richard Attenborough takes it in all seriousness. Possibly because it is such a symbolic part of the war where two rivals countries call a truce for one day.

Overall I found it a very interesting take on the war as showing it to be an upbeat and easy affair.