‘Oh What a Lovely War!’: The film

When I was 15 I studied ‘Oh What a Lovely War!’ for my drama GCSE. That was some 10 years ago. I remember having so many thoughts about it I filled a work book with notes and wrote an essay that was some 4 pages long. Having recently bought the DVD to celebrate the 1914 centenary I am exploring what it is about the film that I enjoy so much.

What is it?

A surreal film telling the narrative of world war one from the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand to ceasefire; through the medium of song and dance and using the picturesque background of Brighton coastline. It was produced in 1969 after the musical version by the same name released in 1961. The film features many actors and members of the production community that would go on to be very famous. Examples include Maggie Smith (see the video below and try to imagine her in Downton), Vanessa Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde, and Richard Attenborough who directed the film.

Maggie Smith on video!

The war game

The 2 main themes of this highly surreal film are war as a game and war being classist. From the opening scene filmed in a ballroom where troops are deployed on a map to all the fun of the fair as war heroes board the merry-go-round war is portrayed as a frivolity, as a game, to be enjoyed. Similarly when the soldiers are recruited the girls on stage carry lacrosse sticks as if they were rifles and offer free kisses to the first recruits. Even the losses from each battle are recorded on cricket score boards.

Belgium put the kaibosh on the kaiser (watch here)

Class is really emphasised in this film. The officers are often portrayed as buffoons, incapable of listening to reason. In one scene the officers play blind mans buff with the striking casualties from the Battle of Loos shown in the background (watch here). After a gritty scene from the front some elites in black tie are pictured ‘it doesn’t feel like Christmas’ and thinking that by not drinking German wine they were contributing to the war effort. The officers in the film never listen; when the sergeant tells his superiors that it’s a bloodbath massacre they merely laugh. When an officer visits the dugout he insists the arm of a German soldier is removed with immediate effect despite the fact it is fulfilling a structural function in supporting the trench.

The context of its creation

I think a lot of the class criticism in this film comes from the context of its creation. Picture the scene, its 1968 and the world is on fire. The US was facing daily riots about its involvement in Vietnam, it was also the year the Czechs and Poles fought for freedom from Moscow. It was the year of Martin Luther King's assassination; the Bogside, Derry revolution in Northern Ireland. All over Europe protesters were registering their objections to the government; and no better is this reflected than in 'Oh What a Lovely War!'. Obviously there are some constraints from the song subject matter, and I am sure the officers had some similarly derogatory remarks to make towards the Privates but I would suggest the stronger emphasis here comes from a generation critical of war in its contemporary politics.

What it means today

We are 100 years on. In a lot of ways trench warfare does sound like a surreal game. Musical, multi-sensory experiences like ‘Oh! What a Lovely War!’ make it easier to access the past and to understand something of what that must have been like. I was particularly struck by the amount of time the men would have been away and how that worrying that would have been; as a teenager perhaps a father left when you were 13, by the time he returns you’re 17! Or to meet someone in your late teens (like my great-grandmother) and to date at a distance to a war-zone over 4 years and hope for the best. It’s a big deal. It would be really interesting to see what a modern director given this same collection of songs would do in terms of creating a narrative that reflects life today.

You can see a selection of scenes from Oh What a Lovely War! online here; but why not buy the DVD here.