Malcolm Linham Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 Whilst this film will not appeal to eveyone on this forum, I can only say that it started my interest in the Great War in the first place so I will be buying it even if it is for the music. Thank you to Tom for bringing it to my attention. Malcolm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burlington Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 drat, I read it and its done it again! Done it for me as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathie Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 Tom, thanks for this news. I'm not at all snooty about the film and loved the songs and will make everyone watch it on Christmas day. However, is South Africa region 1 like the Uk? Can one buy it other than through Amazon? I find Amazon fine but the postal services and then customs make it all a huge hassle. I will perhaps wait until I'm in Englnad and then go somewehre and buy it. but where? Kathie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Robertson Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 Epic scenes - As mentioned .. the closing sequence is SUPERB The winding line of soldiers singing 'hanging on the old barbed wire' And yeah, I do love the bit with the Aussies singing leapfrog. Des, I can vividly remember watching those scenes you mentioned as a 12 year old. And as a 20 + year old. And now as a 40+ year old I can still see those scenes in my head. They are now part of me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Kilkenny Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 About bloomin' time! I confess I don't really remember the film - it must be twenty years since I saw it on TV but there was a great Theatr Clwyd production at Mold a few years back that I absolutely loved. I defy anyone to watch 'Oh' and not be moved by the songs. And it'll be a godsend to anyone teaching A Level English Literature too! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 Looking forward to seeing Steve B attempting to pulp DVD's ! Seriously, this is a very important film and historical accuracy don't come into it ! Utterly irrelevant. Like it or not, a lot of average people that us Pals might talk to about the Great War will base a lot of their opinions and "knowledge" on this film - so watch it because it's part of the historiography and indeed the living history of the period.. It's also really entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 ianw: O.K. - I am draining the last dregs of my Old Speckled Hen so I might be missing something important here but................."historical accuracy don't come into it" alongside "it's part of...the living history of the period". Sorry - you've lost me Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 25 August , 2006 Share Posted 25 August , 2006 I will perhaps wait until I'm in Englnad and then go somewehre and buy it. but where? Order just before you go and ask Amazon to deliver it to your hotel or accommodation in the UK. Otherwise HMV and Virgin Megastores sell DVDs, but the range very much depends on the size of branch and its location. I presume they'll order, but I have no experience of it. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scragend Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 Tom, thanks for this news. I'm not at all snooty about the film and loved the songs and will make everyone watch it on Christmas day. However, is South Africa region 1 like the Uk? Can one buy it other than through Amazon? I find Amazon fine but the postal services and then customs make it all a huge hassle. I will perhaps wait until I'm in Englnad and then go somewehre and buy it. but where? Kathie Region 1 is North America (Canada & USA). The UK is Region 2, as is South Africa. The DVD Times article in the link says that the R2 release is "due around the same time" as the R1 which the article leads with, so you'd need to look out for the R2 one. Or get your DVD player hacked so that will play any region! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 IanA - I was trying to make the point that OWALW is an important formulative influence on the general public's attitude to and opinions of the Great War - it's influence amplified by the fact that it is great piece of entertainment. Whilst you can argue about OWALW's historical accuracy, any conclusion where you list its "errors" will not impact it's importance. By "Living History" I was trying to contextualize it in the centre of period 11.01 am 11.11.18 to date during which we have looked back at the Great War as history. Historically the 60's were a very important period during which many of the myths and the perceived nature of the Great War were established. Of course, many new viewers may well watch the new DVD of OWALW and have their myths and misconceptions reinforced once more ! Perhaps school teachers should be forbad from showing it to their pupils prior to the visit to Ypres. ("It's on a DVD and it's a documentary , so it must be true, especially if that Sir Laurence Oliver and Sir John Feelgood are in it") I will certainly buy a copy and watch it with enjoyment , knowing that when I finish I will have to immediately read the words John Terraine and Gary Sheffield as a sort of antidote to OWALW ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 I do see what you mean. It is still very irritating that something which is fundamentally flawed can be so well produced and downright enjoyable. It is not surprising that several people have mentioned the songs - they are authentic and powerful. What never ceases to amaze me is that the suffering and terror not only produced songs like "If you want to find the old battalion" but also ones of the grisly/ hilarious "Gassed last night" genre. Cheers, Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 Yes, I take your point about the songs. By using them they injected enormous power into the whole thing. In the interests of historical balance,they should have been forced to have a level play field and write entirely new ones ! I can't agree though with you calling it "flawed". It's not a history book. You may as well call "Richard III" flawed because it's an historical travesty. It is simply a great play by the Bard in my opinion. You just have to view both these works in the context of the times they were written in - this adds interest and enjoyment IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 Ah but....many people will see it as a history book and as for Richard III - you will get some very funny looks from folks if you suggest that it might be a 'travesty' You'll be saying that the 'Da Vinci Code' isn't true next Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliff. Hobson Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 When I saw the film I have to admit that as the piece of theatre I enjoyed it even if it did reinforce that old cliche of "Lions led by Donkeys". But ever since I have often thought I made a ghastly mistake because I took my Mother and Father to see it. My Father served on the Western Front from early 1915 to 1918 was with the Sherwood Foresters at Gommecourt in the Battle of the Somme and often wondered what he thought when Haig in the Film uttered that phrase " where are the Sherwood Foresters" Neither my Mother or Father offered any comment on the Film and I did not have the courage to ask them. Cliff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ypres1418 Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 I love this film , I know it is not correct but the songs are just fantastic, when Seb saw it for the first time he too loved the aussies singing 'leap frog' and sang it for weeks after that (he was 5 at the time) when we watched a while back he was disappointed that they didn't show the fighting scenes but still loved the songs. I will be buying this for me for christmas, now I know what two of my presents are!!!!!!! Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gporta Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 Neither my Mother or Father offered any comment on the Film and I did not have the courage to ask them. Cliff, I was pondering about this film just a few minutes ago, and that was just the thought that crossed my mind: what was the reaction of WW1 veterans to either the film or stage play? You have given an example... anyone has further instances? Gloria Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Take on me Posted 26 August , 2006 Share Posted 26 August , 2006 ... what was the reaction of WW1 veterans to either the film or stage play? You have given an example... anyone has further instances? Gary Sheffield qoutes A P Herbert, who served in the Royal Naval Division during the Great War, in Forgotten Victory as saying 'Its message...is that young men like...myself were duped into th forces by damsels singing patriotic songs or bullied in by peremptory posters.' Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombadier Posted 27 August , 2006 Share Posted 27 August , 2006 I saw this in the cinema. Yes, I'm that old!!! My main memory is after the film ended. After the pan back onto the hillsides covered in crosses, the audience left in complete silence. It obviously affected them. Yes, it's not historically accurate, but somehow it seems to give the sense of feeling that existed at the time. Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
per ardua per mare per terram Posted 27 August , 2006 Share Posted 27 August , 2006 How disappointing it was years later to see it again and note all the howlers. Numerous liberties had been taken with history, and whilst I'd originally found the opening title shots of all the soldiers' equipment particularly effective, as an experienced collector I could now see it was nothing but tatty old theatricals webbing and WW2 gas masks and boots! That's part of the plot of the play/film, it is staged as a Pierrot show; Pierrot was a pantomime character so theatrical and not known for historical accuracy (oh yes it is!). It was probably a deliberate wardrobe decision to convey the theatricality rather than accuracy. It is an anti war film, not a drama documentary and is designed to grab the emotions. I grew up listening to my grandfather's record of the show, but didn't to think whether he had it to hear the old songs again or because its anti war stance. I've been in a school production of it too and it made some teenagers think. Anti Capitalist - was that the one where they pointed out the same firm supplied barbed wire to both sides? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Take on me Posted 27 August , 2006 Share Posted 27 August , 2006 Anti Capitalist - was that the one where they pointed out the same firm supplied barbed wire to both sides? I seem to remember in the book there is a scene during which numerous capitalists all get together and discuss business and the war, or something like that. It might not have been in the film. My Dad said that his school did a performance of the play and that scene was, how shall I put it, bypassed. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PBI Posted 28 August , 2006 Share Posted 28 August , 2006 On Stage it is a an excellent production,but i have to say that the screen versuon was tosh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Fair Posted 1 September , 2006 Share Posted 1 September , 2006 Love the music, might be one for the Xmas list. Its on stage on my neck of the woods next month: click here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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