{"id":1165,"date":"2006-05-30T19:44:19","date_gmt":"2006-05-31T02:44:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1165"},"modified":"2020-12-15T21:14:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-16T04:14:13","slug":"how-i-won-the-war-1967","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1165","title":{"rendered":"How I Won the War (1967)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Give the British soldier plenty of tea, and there you are: he&#8217;ll die for you.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-28987\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Poster.jpg 498w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA group of British soldiers, led by inept Commander Goodbody (Michael Crawford), is assigned the task of clearing a mine-ridden cricket field in North Africa.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Flashback Film<\/li>\n<li>Richard Lester Films<\/li>\n<li>Soldiers<\/li>\n<li>Satires and Spoofs<\/li>\n<li>World War Two<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Response to Peary&#8217;s Review:<\/strong><br \/>\nPeary describes this Richard Lester anti-war spoof as &#8220;shaky but funny and fanciful&#8221; &#8212; all true, though the &#8220;absurdity of war&#8221; trope has been played out to stronger effect numerous times since this film&#8217;s release, i.e. in <em>Three Kings<\/em> (1999).  In addition, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/how-i-won-the-war-1968\">Roger Ebert<\/a> points out, it&#8217;s difficult for American audiences to understand what the British actors are saying much of the time.  Meanwhile, John Lennon &#8212; <em>the<\/em> major attraction for many would-be viewers, especially given that his face envelops the video\/DVD cover &#8212; plays such a minor role it&#8217;s tempting to sue for false advertising. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-1024x514.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"321\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58132\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-1024x514.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-300x151.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-128x64.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-768x385.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-1536x771.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3-538x270.png 538w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Lennon3.png 1803w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It is actually spindly-legged Michael Crawford (of <em>Phantom of the Opera<\/em> fame) who is the primary protagonist and narrator of the movie, and he carries the role well.  <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-1024x534.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"334\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-1024x534.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-300x157.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-128x67.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-768x401.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-1536x801.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford-517x270.png 517w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Crawford.png 1769w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The film&#8217;s best moments occur when Crawford is befriending the German commander in his POW camp &#8212; an &#8220;absurd&#8221; situation with the potential for genuinely radical consequences, yet one which is sadly underdeveloped. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Clever use of colored costumes to designate dead soldiers rejoining their platoon<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-1024x519.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"324\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-1024x519.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-300x152.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-128x65.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-768x389.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-1536x778.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color-533x270.png 533w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/How-I-Won-the-War-Color.png 1811w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s worth a one-time look.  <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/imdb.com\/title\/tt0061789\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1967\/11\/09\/archives\/screen-lesters-how-i-won-the-war-opens-at-two-theaterstechnique-of.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/rogerebert.suntimes.com\/apps\/pbcs.dll\/article?AID=\/19680107\/REVIEWS\/801070301\/1023\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/how-i-won-the-war-1967.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=939&#038;aff=13\">The Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Give the British soldier plenty of tea, and there you are: he&#8217;ll die for you.&#8221; Synopsis: A group of British soldiers, led by inept Commander Goodbody (Michael Crawford), is assigned the task of clearing a mine-ridden cricket field in North Africa. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Black Comedy Flashback Film Richard Lester Films Soldiers Satires and Spoofs World War Two Response to Peary&#8217;s Review: Peary describes this Richard Lester anti-war spoof as &#8220;shaky but funny and fanciful&#8221; &#8212; all true,&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=1165\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-responses-to-peary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1165"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58135,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165\/revisions\/58135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}