Oh! What a lovely war!

Set during the beginning, middle and end of World War One, Oh! What a lovely war depicts the good, the bad and the ugly of “the most devastating war to date”.

Based on a play, Attenborough commences the story with a rather theatrical scene highlighting the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Gavrillo Princip. Ferdinand is the heir to the duel throne of Austria-Hungary and it is this incident that sparks the war. Initially very stage-like sets change to set locations in Brighton and presumably Sussex. Being a musical the audience is subject to several songs sung light heartedly but with underlying truths about the war. I feel a great deal of effort is put into the costume and props for this film. Though the sets are simple yet affective you almost feel like you are watching a play being filmed.

One of my favourite scenes was the Christmas truce scene: the German military and the British military sing together on Christmas eve/day and meet the next morning to talk and share food and drink. I felt a great deal of respect and comradery coming from the characters. Below is the scene…