Joseph Losey made films with bite. He asked his audiences questions and often gave them uncomfortable answers. Take THE SERVENT, its anti establishment challenge or ACCIDENT and its psychological fracturing as examples. They both reveal in their audience, an apathy. Take away Losey exile from the US due to politics and it is clear he was concerned over how society, or the royal we, really acted when push came to shove.
KING AND COUNTRY is uncompromising as a WW1 drama. Hamp (Tom Courtenay) is a young solider on the edge and deserts his post. He attempts to escape the ever-present thunder of guns and death. Staggering back home, he is arrested and charged with desertion. Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde) is assigned to defend him. He is an aristocratic and British Army lawyer with little care for the other man. The tribunal has concluded before trial it seems. The stigma and the penalty of execution await. But as Hamps military life comes into focus, reality stings.
Many state that Kubrick’s PATHS OF GLORY (released by Eureka on 4K very soon) as the greatest anti war and WW1 film. They aren’t wrong but KING AND COUNTRY is a close run second. It stands astride the complex truths of war. How personal it is and how often it is ignored, how the effects hamper those fighting it, long after and during. This said, the version here has a positive and negative to comment on. The negative first. There are very few extras to offer insight into Losey and the film. Interviews from the leads are wonderful. Short but wonderful. But there needed to be context. Understand the period. The military mindset. The period of British cinema and how Losey influenced it, with the help of cast like Bogarde. Finally, why did they only offer a stills gallery, when there are better extras elsewhere?
The positive. Well its the print. Finally restored to a deep textured screen. It looked dull on the former DVD. This plagued the Aussie release of the film and the box set (where this didn’t appear.) Well done Studio Canal. Invest in the quality. Now put your hand in the pocket and add some more content for these masterpieces…
EXTRAS: Tom Courtenay on King & Country, Archive Interview with Dirk Bogarde (1964), Behind the Scenes stills gallery
