King and Country

Joseph Losey shot this in black and white, set in the mud of Passchendaele in the First World War. Private Arthur Hamp, played by Tom Courtenay, has been at the front for three years when one day he starts walking and does not stop. He is tried for desertion. Captain Hargreaves, played by Dirk Bogarde, is assigned to defend him, and the contempt he begins with gives way to something else. What is merciless about the film is that the court is not unjust. Everyone follows the rules, everyone does his duty, and the outcome is still a killing. To make that visible Losey never shows the war at all; the mud of the trench, the rats and the waiting are enough. Evan Jones adapted the screenplay from John Wilson's play Hamp. The film screened at the Venice Film Festival in September 1964. Who it is for: viewers who value anti-war cinema and enclosed dramas played out between two actors. Who it is not for: anyone wanting action or battle scenes, since the film spends eighty minutes in almost a single location.