Anti-War Comedies:
Richard Lester’s absurd “Bed-Sitting Room” (1970)
"Tell Me, Do You Know
Who Was The Enemy?”
by Jamie Jobb
Throughout every century, civilization has suffered the senseless waste and abject suffering of war. And while war is not known for its humor – that hasn’t stopped the world’s filmmakers from producing seriously funny comedies during wartime.
It’s fair to say that in attempting to make sense of barbaric nonsense, these films do not condone war in any shape or form. That’s the job of those who peddle propaganda. Honest feature filmmakers know war is a crime against civilization, no matter who’s on the other side. They also know wartime is fraught with deep ironies, which provide the foundation for these bitter comedies.
These pages have previously visited the post-war films of Great Britain and France (see Ealingcomedies: “Hue and Cry” and “Passport to Pimlico” along with Godard's “Les Carabiniers”), as well as Preston Sturges’ classic “Hail the Conquering Hero”. Below are fourteen more anti-war comedies – all from the 20th Century. Not included here are reviews of the more popular anti-war efforts – “M.A.S.H.” (1970), “Stripes” (1981), “Good Morning, Vietnam” (1987) and “Wag the Dog” (1997) -- or anti-war musicals like “Oh, What a Lovely War” (1969) and “Hair” (1970).
The Great Dictator 1940
Carlton Brown of the F.O. 1958
Dr. Strangelove 1964
King of Hearts 1966
The Russians Are Coming 1966
How I Won the War 1967
The Bed-Sitting Room 1969
Catch-22 1970
Slaughterhouse Five 1972
Four Days in July 1985
Gorilla Bathes at Noon 1993
Underground 1995
Children of the Revolution 1996
Three Kings 1999
* * *
Charlie Chaplin crams a feather up Hitler’s nose
The Great Dictator (1940)
“The working hours, the cut in wages, chiefly the synthetic food, the quality of the sawdust in the bread.” “What do they want?” “The finest lumber our mills can supply.” Unassuming Jewish barber Adenoid Hynkel quickly learns ropes as he’s a dead ringer for The Dictator of Tomania. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business.”
“Do you know the story about the man who put his watch in boiling water and held the egg in his hand?” Unfortunately, Hynkel soon learns who gets the business in a bureaucracy: “Nothing works! Not a decent pen. Not even a sharp pencil! I’m surrounded by nothing but incompetent, stupid, sterile stenographers!”
Adenoid’s mate Hannah (Paulette Goddard) likes “absent-minded people” such as herself, but knows dreaming is “the only time I’m really happy.” Aiding Hynkel in his quest for conquest is Schultz (Reginald Gardiner). “Yes! Dictator of the world! We’ll start with the invasion of Osterlich. After that, we won’t have to fight, we can bluff! Nation after nation will capitulate. Within two years the world will be under your thumb.”
“Have them all shot! I don’t want any of my workers dissatisfied.” Notorious Napaloni, Dictator of Bacteria (Jack Oakie) may be “aggressive, domineering” but he never goes out “without a carpet” so he’s loath to leave his train at the Tomainian Station. “It’s our destiny! We’ll kill off the Jews. Wipe out the brunettes.”
“This historic meeting will cement a friendship that has long existed between our Phooey and the Dictator of Bacteria.” Performed, written and directed by Charles Chaplin, this didactic “talkie” is bitterly brave, caustic mockery of threat Adolph Hitler posed for the world at that time when many Americans did not want to fight. “There’s no future in housework.” (USA)
* * *
Terry-Thomas (L) of The Foreign Office arrives in backwater Gaillardia
Carlton-Browne of the F.O. (1958)
"All history shows that a house divided against itself cannot stand. If the people of this unhappy island will not stay apart, they must be kept apart." Divide-and-conquer diplomacy never worked on backwater Gaillardia where civil war was "the national pastime" long before British rule.
But when out-of-step Cossack dance troupe opens Cold War island mining operation, HRH's Foreign Office finds sudden interest in its forgotten ex-colony. "If there's anything there worth having, we're having it."
Sent to settle matters is Cadogan de Vere Carlton-Browne (Terry-Thomas), "C-B of the F.O.", who is Whitehall's "Permanent Assistant Political Secretary for the Miscellaneous Territories".
But gunboat diplomacy sinks with island Prime Minister Amphibulos (Peter Sellers) at the helm. "I want you to sit in the front so that everyone sees you’re behind us."
Written and directed by Roy Boulting and Jeffrey Dell. Also known as “Man in a Cocked Hat”. "Tremendous news! C-B's brought it off. We can blow up the entire universe any time we wish!" "What? That's appalling." "Do you always have to see the gloomy side of everything?" (British)
* * *
Peter Sellers in tour-de-force atom-bomb farce
"Women sense my power, and they seek the life essence. I do not avoid women, Mandrake. But I do deny them my essence." Although Burpelson AFB boasts: "Peace is Our Profession", base commander General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) fears Cold War communist fluoridation plot. "I can no longer sit back and allow the international communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids!"
So he turns Operation Dropkick war game into Emergency War Plan R, unilaterally ordering 1,700 megatons of H-bombs beyond Failsafe toward strategic Soviet targets. "If in doubt, shoot first and ask questions afterward."
Gung-ho Joint-Chiefs General "Buck" Turgidson (George C. Scott) savors macho logic behind Ripper's take-charge attitude. "Gee, I wish we had one of them Doomsday machines!" British RAF Captain Lionel Mandrake (Peter Sellers) bickers with U.S. Army Colonel "Bat" Guano (Keenan Wynn) over ominous implications of soft-drink spare change.
U.S. President Merton Muffley (Sellers also) realizes "You're talking about mass murder, general. Not war!" Wheelchair-bound ex-Nazi director of weapons and development, one-gloved Dr. Strangelove (Sellers again), knows "the whole point of the Doomsday machine is lost if you keep it a secret".
And B-52 pilot Major "King" Kong (Slim Pickens) doffs cowboy hat when going gets tough. "Well boys, I reckon this is it: nuclear combat, toe-to-toe with the Rooskies!"
Directed by Stanley Kubrick. Screenplay by Kubrick, Terry Southern and Peter George, based on novel by George. Kubrick's classic "nightmare comedy" uses mockumentary narrative to frame scathing satire of "Try A Little Tenderness" and "We'll Meet Again", golf-bag machine gun and "The Doomsday Shroud".
"There were those of us who fought against it. But in the end, we could not keep up with the expense involved in the Arms Race, the Space Race and the Peace Race." Sellers' tour de force, particularly as madman Strangelove, turns Armageddon into idiotic rodeo ride. "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the War Room!" (British)
* * *
King of Hearts (1966)
"Well, we all have our habits. It's not up to us to dictate to him. After all, he's the king of beasts." World War I communication platoon ornithology specialist Pvt. Charles Plumpick (Alan Bates), aka "Pumpernickel", is Scottish soldier "volunteered" for special language duty in doomed North-of-France village. "Pumpernickel ... isn't that a German name?"
His commander, Colonel Mac Bibenbrook (Adolfo Cali), may think "Private Pumpernickel has gone crackers" but Plumpick desires "just a simple loss of memory".
Instead he must decode "Sir Lancelot chimes at midnight" and "Why do mackerels like potatoes?" This doesn't count against lording over his Isle of Aliens lunatic fringe led by Duke of Clubs (Jean-Claude Brialy). "All life is spectacle. Westminster coronations, the Metropolitan, the Vatican, the ceremonies, the masks."
His Duchess (Francoise Christophe) is "the old dragon" with "feet like ice" but she realizes "one must exaggerate. Life is so dull." Madame Hyacinth (Micheline Presle) does "hate being refused" but still asks: "How do you want it, plain or gift wrapped?"
Columbine (Genevieve Bujold) may be "unspoiled and beautiful" but as the King's fiancee she understands "We cannot know what death is, if we're dead."
Directed by Philippe de Broca, written by Daniel Boulanger. Fantastic 1960s anti-war farce recalls camel and coronation, impromptu polka and rooster headdress, high-wire act and white-flag elephant. "All we have is now. There is nothing else to own." (France-Italy)
* * *
Russians run aground in Cold-War New-England backwaters
The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming (1966)
"What would the Russians be doing on United States of America island? With so many animosities and hatreds between these two countries ... it is too funny an idea, is it not?" Particularly on last day of summer vacation when wayward stubborn Captain (Theodore Bikel) runs his "Soviet Navy submarine boat" aground in Cold War New England backwaters off Gloucester Haven, Mass. "Emergency! Everybody to get from street!"
Although he's "wounded indignantly", chivalrous Lieutenant Rozanov (outstanding Alan Arkin) leads "creeping" shore party of nine Soviet sailors. Razanov's right-hand-man Alexei Kolchin (John Phillip Law) speaks English best and "is good boy ... Is doing nothing whatsoever to hurt anybody".
Certainly not All-American beach blond Alison Palmer (Andrea Dromm). But Broadway playwright Walt Whittaker (Carl Reiner) has second-act problems at "that damp summer place" on Duck Head Point. "Don't tell him anything. He hasn't even tortured you yet!"
That would be sound advice from Walt's son Pete (Sheldon Collins), not to mention his supportive wife Elspeth (Eva Marie Saint). "This is your island, I make your responsibility. You help us get boat, quickly. Otherwise there is World War III ... and everybody is blaming you."
Postmistress Muriel Everett (Doro Merande) may not realize what she's "doin' hangin' up there on the wall" but town gossip and island operator Alice Foss (Tessie O'Shea) sees right through "Whittaker Walt". "Are you really trying to help them? Are you on their side?"
Gloucester Police Chief Link Mattocks (Brian Keith) is no "traitorous fink" as he tries to remain calm in storm of chaos raining on his Cold Warrior constabulary. "I thought all the nuts went home after Labor Day."
Officer Norman Jonas (Jonathan Winters) just knows "We've got to get organized!" Although he's got no actual witnesses, self-proclaimed militia leader Fendall "Blood and Guts" Hawkins (Paul Ford) leads charge of riotous villagers. "You do it Fendall, you've got the sword!" Meanwhile town drunk Luther Grilk (Ben Blue) gallops trusty steed Beatrice in Paul Revere ride.
Directed by Norman Jewison, written by William Rose, based on novel by Nathanial Benchley. Jewison's latter-day gem recalls “Ealing” classics as it swims outside mainstream Hollywood Red Scare epics. Elegant ensemble actors recall best of small-town Preston Sturges. “Well I was trying to kill ya, I'll admit that. But it wasn't .. I mean it wasn't anything personal." "Don't do it no more." (USA)
* * *
Beatle John Lennon is Gripweed in literal war-game farce
How I Won the War (1967)
"War is, without doubt, the noblest of games." Bitter Vietnam-era farce follows British Army officers' vainglorious efforts to establish "advanced area cricket pitch" at Egyptian oasis behind World War II enemy lines. “Bear in mind that we were some few hundred miles behind enemy lines. He said: ‘Green, Green, Green’ – so I did.”
“Never underrate the wily Pathan.” Through grandiose ineptitude, Lieutenant Ernest Goodbody (Michael Crawford) leads "Third Troop, Fourth Musketeers" into desert hauling sports equipment and turf-roller. “Never fight battles when you're awake. This is the way to lose battles."
“You married?” “No, I play the harmonica.” One-by-one Goodbody’s men are killed, but return to fight again as pastel ghosts of their former selves. “How dare you disfigure government property!”
“There's been some marvelous advances in surgery, thanks to war." Goodbody heeds absurd advice of Lieutenant Colonel E.C. Grapple (Michael Hordern), "Fascism is something that you grow out of. I tried to change the world myself."
“Oh, I had a grandfather who was working class. Until he sold it.” Bearing brunt of friendly fire are common infantrymen, like Musketeer Gripweed (John Lennon). "I'm not a thief, really. I never found anything worth keeping."
“I fought for three reasons. I can’t remember what they were.” Directed by Richard Lester, screenplay by Charles Wood based on novel by Patrick Ryan. Mocks inflamed John Wayne pro-war propaganda movies of the time. "What we want is more humane killers!" (British)
* * *
TV News tries to make sense of The Nuclear Misunderstanding
The Bed-Sitting Room (1969)
"We should have asked ourselves, is it really necessary for people to leave the womb nowadays? That's when most of the trouble seems to start in this wicked world." Mad post-apocalyptic nightmare set in London after "the nuclear misunderstanding which led to the Third World War".
And it's A Dump full of toxic fog, old-shoe heaps, broken-china fields, car-wash pubs, roving police wrecking balls, death certificates for the living, Instant God kits, red skies, orange seas and 18-month pregnancies: "We have this new system. Instead of moving the baby out, we move the furniture in."
Survivors like Lord Fortnum (Ralph Richardson) eventually pass on to be resurrected as furniture, parrots, entire bed-sitting rooms. British cultural arrogance clutches The Bomb as cargo cult lugged by Mate (Milligan). "Are you the bloke officer what was in charge of the nuclear detergent (sic) in the last atomic war? Bad news: it has been returned to sender."
“I hear a rumor, sir, that the Pope’s now allowing contraceptives for all occasions, except, during sexual intercourse.” Pregnant Penelope (Rita Tushingham), "the well-known fiance", is betrothed to captain-doctor Bules Martin (Michael Hordern) who wonders “when was my last virility test” and believes "I was standing by, ready to face the enemy whoever they might be and I couldn't find them.”
“I feel that I am not boasting when I remind you that this was, without a shadow of a doubt, the very shortest war in living memory. Two minutes, twenty-eight seconds up to and including the grave process of signing the peace treaty, fully blotted.” Hot-Air Police inspectors (Dudley Moore and Peter Cook) urge all to "Keep moving!" while Nurse Arthur (Marty Feldman) tells Shelter Man (Harry Secombe) "You'll learn to love your virility test."
“I didn’t join the force just to drift aimlessly into the void.” Directed be Richard Lester, screenplay by John Antrobus, based on his one-act play with Spike Milligan. “Tell me, do you know who was the enemy?" (British)
* * *
Bombardier Alan Arkin has a persecution complex in flight
Catch-22 (1970)
"You made a deal with the Germans to bomb our own base!?!" "A contract is a contract. That's what we're fighting for!" No mere paranoid nightmare plagues World War II bombardier Capt. Yossarian (Alan Arkin) whom everyone considers "crazy" because he's "got a persecution complex" and demands to be grounded.
But Dr. "Doc" Daneeka (Jack Gilford) knows there’s one big drawback –“a catch” – aka Catch-22: "In order to be grounded, I've got to be crazy. And I must be crazy to keep flying. But if I ask to be grounded, that means I'm not crazy anymore, and I have to keep flying."
Who's really insane here – Mad Bomber Yossarian or his officers and fellow enlisted men? Like acting mess officer Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight), base profiteer who exchanges flyers’ parachute silk for chocolate-covered cotton: "People eat cotton candy don't they? Well, this stuff is better. It's made out of real cotton."
While Chaplain Tappman (Anthony Perkins) is “not here to judge you”, Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) can’t tolerate his own personnel promotions, and Major Major (Bob Newhart) knows “a naked man in a tree when he sees one”. Nately (Art Garfunkel) realizes “forever is a long time” butthe dreaded General Dreedle (Orson Welles) knows how to give only one order: “Take him out and shoot him.”
“He died. You don’t get any older than that.” Directed by Mike Nichols, screenplay by Buck Henry based on Joseph Heller novel. Extraordinary ensemble lends hideously surreal cast to implausible militant paradox of Vietnam era. "For heaven's sake, don't they understand we're gonna come out of this war rich?" (USA)
* * *
Billie Pilgrim has come “unstuck in time” on Tralfamadore
Slaughterhouse Five (1972)
"All he does in his sleep is quit, surrender and apologize. Shoot, I could carve a better man out of a banana." Mama's boy, moon child, Lions Club president and optimistic optometrist Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) lives always in The Moment for he's "come unstuck in time".
Born on Fourth of July, Billy can be either "a basket case" or "practical, straight-forward" depending on WHEN he is WHERE he is: be it World War II under Dresden grandfather clock, or performing for fourth-dimension crowd on planet Tralfamadore. "Are you mating now?"
Vanished topless Hollywood starlet "Mother" Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine) always knows when Billy has been "time tripping" but she understands: "You don't meet many gentlemen in the entertainment business."
Billy's wife Valencia Merble Pilgrim (Sharon Gans) is "a very rich girl" who's "always wanted a white Cadillac" with adjustable seats. And any day now, Valencia is "really gonna lose weight!"
Ex-professor and surrogate father Edgar Derby (Eugene Roche) admires people with "a philosophical way of life" during wartime. "We don't mince phraseologies at Boston Trade and Industrial."
Self-made nemesis and all-round jerk GI Paul Lazzaro (Ron Leibman) dreams of one day: "The stranger'll give him a couple a seconds to think about who Paul Lazzaro is, and what's life gonna be like without a pecker."
Harvard's "Red Baron of military history" B.C. Rumfoord (John Dehner) dismisses Pilgrim in post-op recovery: "To hell with him. Let him write his own book."
Directed by George Roy Hill, screenplay by Stephen Geller, based on Kurt Vonnegut's classic novel. Geller and Hill deftly translate Vonnegut's radiantly chiaroscuro jump-cut science-fiction war farce into "spastic in time" warp of "Hail, Hail the Yanks Are Here", gurney-ships passing in ER night, "a slit that don't close up" and The Night Canopy. "You're forgetting, wars have always been fought by children." (USA)
RENTAL: https://youtu.be/FDi0ihwD0lU
(1:43:32)
* * *
Not-So-Great-Britain’s very uncivil war comes home to roost
Four Days in July (1985)
"We came from here, we went to Scotland and then we came back again. So it was our country in the first place! Ulster!" Three expectant first-time fathers fidget in waiting room for they know "that's women's business" in delivery room. Outside, armed British troops scrutinize Belfast's business in broad daylight.
Expectant Protestant wife Lorraine (Paula Hamilton) is so big she "can't reach the taps". Her husband, Tenth Battalion Ulster Defense Regiment soldier Billy (Charles Lawson), keeps his gun on kitchen shelf and his hands on cans of lager. "I do wanna get full tonight, but I don't wanna get full at your granny's."
Expectant Catholic wife Collette (Brid Brennan) knows it "will be a while before I can wear a grass skirt". Her crippled husband Eugene (Des McAleer) is eternal optimist, although he has "more holes than a dartboard" from three old innocent-bystander battle scars. "Stop boasting, Eugene."
Although it's difficult at times to decode these thick North Irish brogues, Leigh's first "foreign language movie" provides stunning snapshot of not-so-Great Britain's very uncivil war. "Can't you (males) all go live on an island without us?" "We ARE living on an island!"
Visceral view of lives overshadowed by oxygen mask and bonfire song, dueling flags and "The Patriot Game", Falls-Road baby carriage and "plumbers don't like the summers" -- although they can turn toilets into stills.
"Devised" and directed by Mike Leigh. "Like, one rat you can handle, but it's the thought of a whole army of them that I can't stand." One of most unlikely anti-war comedies on this list. "You wonder how they did it, wouldn't ya, in those wee houses." (British)
* * *
Optimistic goofball wants to be eaten alive
Gorilla Bathes at Noon (1993)
"Maybe I'm a paper soldier, but I am made of very good quality paper. You shouldn't put water on me." Optimistic goofball Major Victor Borisovich (Svetozar Cvetkovic) knows "it's more than likely that I'm an idiot" who wants "to be eaten alive by Siberian tigers".
Instead he eats bananas like corn-on-cob, chews his apple to its core but finds himself abandoned by his Soviet Army unit in East Berlin at fall of The Wall. "If I can't stay loyal to my army, who became like an unfaithful woman, I have to stay loyal to my uniform. A soldier without a uniform is a shadow of a man."
Shadowing him is Lenin's ghost-in-drag (Anita Mancic) who haunts Victor's dreams and knits him one sock. "This is a great honor for your leg!" Victor visits German-born Siberian tigers in Berlin Zoo. "How can he be a Siberian tiger, born in Stuttgart?"
Underground prostitute Miki-Miki (Mancic also) helps him save abandoned baby and recover from beating at hands of jealous German boyfriend. "How do I explain to him that I showed up in his bed by pure accident?" "Yes, you had to sleep somewhere!" "And she was snoring all night long. Terrible!"
Written and directed by Dusan Makavejev, this absurd Cold War cautionary tale defrosts Reichstag flags, decapitated statues and "Hands Off History". "Yeah, I was trained to kill very many people, but not one by one. It is another school." (Germany)
* * *
Miki Manojlovic eyeballs Mirjana Jokovic in subterranean anti-war farce
Underground (1995)
“There’s no place for an honest man in this country. No place at all.” Hectic darkly epic anti-war farce scatters dim light on half-century of Belgrade blood-letting from Nazi invasion to Bosnian terrorism, as seen through the bond of two dastardly arms-dealing thugs. “I’ll kill them!” “Don’t. It’s dangerous.”
Intellectual communist arms-dealer Marko Dren (Miki Manojlovic) hides rebel comrades in cellar hidden behind stove of grandfather’s house – although the war ended 15 years ago. “A war is no war until the brother kills his brother.”
Heading subterranean munitions manufacture is indestructible resistance-leader electrical-engineer Petar “Blacky” Popara (Lazar Ristovski) who pines for true love Natalija Zovko (Mirjana Jokovic), National Theatre actor courted by The Gestapo. “All brave people look like me.” Who knows: “the two of you could make one good man!”
Brash brass-band blares while cats give good shoe-shines. Bomb-shelled zoo releases lions to roam streets, elephants to steal shoes and monkeys to command tanks. “He’s smart!” “It’s a catastrophe.”
Time grinds slowly underground – as does the film’s two hour, 47 minute run time – but “Spring is coming on a White Horse” to immortalize them all eventually – on film. “Is the wind only blowing, or is the sky crying with us?”
“Once upon a time, there was a country.” Directed by Emir Kusturica, written by Kusturica and Dusan Kouagevic. “We’re all crazy, Natalija. We just haven’t been diagnosed yet.” (France-Germany-Hungary).
* * *
Judy Davis enlists Geoffrey Rush in quest for Stalin one-night stand
Children of the Revolution (1996)
"Oh, for God's sake. We're not talking about dance classes here, we're talking about the bloody proletarian revolution! What do you people want, a discreet revolution?!?" As child of that rebellion, Joseph Welsh (Richard Roxburgh) was "marching before [he] could walk" and grew up going to jail because "it's good fun".
Parading him there was his mother, Australian free radical Joan Fraser (terrific Judy Davis), "a very strong and passionate woman" who writes "long and moving series of letters" to Josef Stalin (F. Murray Abraham) that dispatch her in red dress to Red Square for madcap one-night stand.
“I don’t know frankly, how we’ll ever get the revolution going with a six o’clock closing.” Although Stalin dies happy that night, young Joe's paternity remains cloaked in mystery. "There is no father, I want to offer you the job."
Cabinet-maker Zachary Welch (Geoffrey Rush) accepts Joan's radical assignment, although he has his doubts. "Welch, there's a lot more at stake here, right now, than love. It's a bastard of a world out there, if you know what I mean."
Double-agent David Hoyle, aka "Nine", (Sam Neill) is "just a hired spy" who "knows" Joan, and assumes he too could be Little Joe's progenitor. But Joe yearns to grow his own mustache, and marry ex-patriot Latvian cop Anna (Rachel Griffiths) who, despite appearances, is "really a bloody nice person" that just wants "a normal happy family".
Unfortunately, Joe comes to realize "You just don't find genetic stock more wicked and depraved than mine" as he leads prison-guard strike and forms "The Law Enforcement Alliance" to promote "a moral agenda for the police".
“The devil doesn’t carry a gun, Welch. It carries fast food, cheap appliances and bad television!” Directed by Peter Duncan, written by Duncan and Randy Feldman. Cheeky mockumentary is Down Under stunner that burns from "The Pork Sword" and "I Get a Kick Out of You". "How in God's name could a son of mine be so slow?" (Australia)
* * *
George Clooney gets on board “media war” in Babylon
Three Kings (1999)
"The big army of democracy beats the ugly dictator and saves the rich Kuwaitis. But you go to jail if you help us escape the same dictator!?!" March, 1991: Desert Storm just ended. Are these guys Three Kings or just "butchers covered in blood"? Maybe they're simply "three guys with a bunch of civilians and no Humvee"? Or maybe they're four guys ... or four-hundred? How's your common Iraqi to know?
"OK. I guess we'll buy 'em." Special Forces major and soon-to-be Hollywood military consultant Archie Gates (George Clooney) faces retirement in one fortnight. Still something nags him about his assignment in Iraq. "I don't even know what we did here!"
His chain-of-command certainly knows. "This is a media war, a media war. And you better get on board." Part-time staff sergeant and young father Troy Barlow (amazing Mark Wahlberg), 437 Civil Affairs Company U.S. Army Reserve, hates office copy-toner crackups. "Look, the point is ... that 'towel-head' and 'camel jockey' are perfectly good substitutes."
Detroit baggage handler and part-time staff sergeant "Chief" Elgin (Ice Cube) believes he has "a ring of Jesus fire to guide my decisions". So sure, he'll go for the gold. "I've been fire baptized and this one feels safe."
Odd man out is private first class Conrad Vig (Spike Jonze) who's from "a group home in Dallas". Vig, Elgin, and Barlow didn't "see any action" in Babylon, so Gates helps them find it after ceasefire. "It's important enough to squeeze your cheeks for."
While striving "to be substance-based not style-based" on camera, NBS reporter and five-time Emmy runner-up Adriana Cruz (Nora Dunn) can honestly say she's "never dropped to my knees for an assignment". She only wants to know what's hiding in Saddam's bunkers near Karbala. "You mean those little cubes you put in hot water and make soup?"
Resistance leader Amir Abdullah (Cliff Curtis) cannot comprehend Saddam loyalist Captain Said (Said Taghmaoui), who learned terms of torture-by-oil from Yanks. "The Americans are here. It's safe to come out."
Written and directed by David O. Russell, based on screenplay by John Ridley. Russell's widescreen bleached landscapes get littered in cell phone chaos, Rodney King video, "Round, Round, Get Around I Get Around", spilled milk and luxury convoy. "Are we shooting people. Or what?" (USA)
* * *
FURTHERMORE:
https://howlround.com/anti-war-play-end-all-war-plays-last-days-mankind-1922-2022
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0032553/quotes?ref_=tt_ql_sm
https://www.kozaksclassiccinema.com/the-great-dictator-1940/
https://peterviney.com/film-the-60s-retrospectives/how-i-won-the-war/
https://366weirdmovies.com/230-the-bed-sitting-room-1969
https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-bed-sitting-room-1970
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107037/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115886/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061789/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065528/
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