KING AND COUNTRY

Brilliant new 4K restoration of anti-war film King and Country (1964) by Joseph Losey

This mostly unknown British film by acclaimed American director, Joseph Losey, is another collaboration with renowned British thespian Dirk Bogarde. Their partnership bore great riches together and this is there little film but the one that speaks the loudest in terms of relevancy to today's modern age. 

The film follows the famous anti-war narrative familiar in literature from Journey's End and Catch-22, the futility of war is apparent for all to see, and in the depiction of Private Hamp (Tom Courtenay), a deserter from the front-lines during the Great War, you have another anti-hero. 

Dirk Bogarde portrays Captain Hargreaves, a lawyer, sent to defend Hamp as he faces court-martial for desertion with the threat of execution by firing squad. Hamp just wants to go home as many wanted to do no doubt, and yet the stigmatism of cowardice is thrown around by those in command, those who are not on the front-line.

Hamp has his reasons, he volunteered on a dare, he is the only survivor of his group remaining and his wife back home has been unfaithful in his absence; and yet the political machine chooses to use Hamp as an example before another futile offensive manoeuvre in the quagmire of the first world war somewhere in France. 

The film is set for the most part in real-time, and shares a lot of cinematic DNA with Kubrick's Paths of Glory where Kirk Douglas defended deserters and the squalor and downtrodden mess of the trenches is clear to see as rain constantly falls on young men fighting for their lives and freedom in or near No Man's Land.

The new restoration gives the film a real shine and sheen to these sad sights and Bogarde plays Hargreaves in a fine line between right and just and true and sceptic. When a superior officer questions the defence of mental health, stating, 'Is he a lunatic?' it puts a black mark on all proceedings and how nearly a hundred years later, male mental health only came to fruition when men were battened down in their households during a global pandemic with little or not much to do.

'I just wanted to get away from the guns sir'

Courtenay is quite astounding in the role of Hamp (he won Best Actor in Venice that year) and this was in the purple patch of his run of performances in the Angry Young Man era from The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner and Billy Liar to this performance. His heartfelt and honest portrayal reminded this viewer of Ed Norton's debut in Primal Fear when his role depicted a fugue like state in a post-traumatic stress event.

Bogarde holds court himself as the true star of proceedings akin to a George Clooney in those days as he cross-examines witnesses such as Leo McKern as the doctor who does not notice the effects of shell shock upon Hamp. Bogarde when facing a jury who have already made their decision in terms of Hamp's verdict shows that justice can be just as ineffective as war on occasion.

Timely and timeless, this film serves as a constant reminder that the real cost of war is the loss of innocence.

Special features include an interview with Tom Courtenay about the film; an archive interview with Dirk Bogarde from 1964 and Behind the Scenes stills

King and Country is released by Studiocanal UK on Blu-ray/DVD on 6th November