Punch Drunk Love

Paul Thomas Anderson’s third film and his shortest by some mark is Punch Drunk Love, a fantastically extrovert romantic comedy which combines shades of Coen-esque humour and dare I say Lynch-ian motifs of magical realism and dual personality. The film is unlike any romantic comedy I’ve seen before and personally I prefer it to the likes of There Will be Blood and The Master for which the Director is better known.

Although the plot is often a bit thin and sometimes incidental it concerns a lonely and occasionally awkward man called Barry (Adam Sandler) who owns a small business that sells novelty toilet plungers. Barry has the misfortune of having seven sisters, a situation which emasculates him and causes him no end of hassle and grief. One day while at work Barry witnesses a horrific car accident and suddenly ends up with a harmonium. That same day he also meets a pretty girl called Lena (Emily Watson). Sometime later, while lonely, Barry calls a premium rate sex line, a move which brings about a lot more pain and hassle than even seven sisters can muster.

Airplane

The second spoof film from frequent collaborators Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker is probably their most famous and most successful. Parodying the disaster movies of the previous twenty years and using 1957s Zero Hour! as its basis, Airplane! is frequently mentioned amongst the top comedies of all time. When both pilots become ill on a flight from Los Angeles to Chicago there is only one man (Robert Hays) aboard who can land the plane. He though is an ex-Military Pilot who has never recovered from his wartime experiences and is only on board to try and save his relationship with his Stewardess girlfriend (Julie Hagerty).  

I saw Airplane! a long time ago and had remembered bits and pieces but I enjoyed it a lot more on this viewing. The film is packed full of jokes but having watched it alone I subsequently wish I’d watched it with others.

A Trip to the Moon

You may notice the tag line at the top of this page reads ‘Reviewing 100 Years of Film’; well I’m going back even further here with Georges Melies fantastic Le Voyage dans la lune (A Trip to the Moon). The most famous of Melies many hundreds of short films, A Trip to the Moon is loosely based on two popular turn of the century novels, From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne and The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. At a meeting of astronomers, one man proposes a trip to the Moon. Despite some discord among the members, five people agree to travel with the man and launch from a giant gun inside a bullet shaped rocket. When they get to the Moon they witness incredible celestial sights from its surface before encountering aliens who ‘take them to their leader’.

Despite looking fairly primitive now one hundred and ten years after its release, A Trip to the Moon was, for its time, incredibly advanced both in story and execution and is considered as the first Science Fiction film ever to be produced. The film features some incredible animation which is mixed with physical props, effects and editing to create a surreal vision of the Moon over sixty-five years before man ever set foot upon its surface.

Chinatown

Loosely based around the California water wars, Roman Polanski’s final American film stars Jack Nicholson as Private Investigator Jake Gittes. Gittes is hired by a woman claiming to be the wife of the chief engineer of Los Angeles Water and Power as she believes her husband is having an affair. Gittes uncovers the alleged affair which opens up a twisting tale of deception, double crossing, profiteering and murder. Often sited as one of the greatest Neo-Noir and mystery films of all time, it helped to cement Jack Nicholson’s status as an A List star and nearly forty years on still has a timeless feel and wonderfully layered curiosity about it.

Although I thought Chinatown was an excellent film I found myself zoning in and out of it as I watched. I don’t know why though as there is very little I didn’t like and I think this says more about my frame of mind at the time than the film itself. Despite my concentration waning, I noted several wonderful things about Polanski’s classic Noir gem.

Schindler's List

As the Germans are relocating the city’s Jews into a self contained ghetto, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson) arrives in Krakow to make his fortune from war profiteering. Having lavished gifts and charm on the ruling Nazis, Schindler persuades the influential Jewish accountant Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to oversee his business of manufacturing mess kits. By hiring Jews, Schindler has a seemingly ever lasting supply of cheap/free labour and gets rich quick but his attitude towards the treatment of the Jews changes when he witnesses the clearing of the ghetto. While before he turned a blind eye, he soon became more interested in the plight of his workers until finally trying to save over a thousand from certain death at great cost and risk to himself.

Undoubtedly one of the most powerful and films of the last twenty years, Schindler’s List has become the foremost film for telling the story of humanities darkest and most irrepressible days. Despite incredibly moving films such as The Pianist and Life is Beautiful, Schindler’s List stands alone at the top as not only a moving and distressing portrayal of humanity at its worst and best but also as a sublime exercise of film making. For me Schindler’s List of one of the rarest of films for which I have no criticism whatsoever. I can’t think of a single shot, line or movement which could be improved.

The Master

Second World War veteran Freddie Quell (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling to get to grips with civilian life five years after the end of the war. Obsessed with sex and with a severe drink problem he stows aboard a boat after leaving yet another job. The boat he is on is home to a party being thrown by Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Dodd known as The Master takes an interest in the wondering mind of Freddie and introduces him to ‘The Cause’, a philosophical group that Dodd controls. The Master attempts to control Freddie’s drink problem and bring him deeper into his inner circle, often against the wishes of those closest to him.

I’d been looking forward to The Master for months having heard great things from festivals and then its US release. I feel really disappointed then that I walked out of the cinema feeling tired and underwhelmed. Despite many positives the film went nowhere and felt slow and dull.

Spirited Away

Often regarded as one of the greatest animated films of all time and Japan’s highest grossing film in history at the time of its release, Spirited Away is an animated adventure, written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Ten year old Chihiro is travelling with her parents to their new house when her father takes a wrong turn that leads to what looks like an abandoned Amusement Park. Though scared, Chihiro follows her parents who find the Park deserted but discover food has been left out. As the parents begin to tuck in Chihiro looks around and discovers a Bath House where she meets Haku, a boy who tells her to get back across the river before sunset. As she returns to her parents she discovers they have been turned into pigs and she is stuck in a strange world of spirits where her kind is not welcome.

Spirited Away reminded me of some of the great children’s adventures such as The Goonies or Labyrinth but also features the kind of animation that reminded me of my childhood. The hand drawn style is reminiscent of classic Disney but also of the cartoons that I was bought up on in the late 80s and early 90s. It doesn’t appear to be pushing any boundaries but is deceptively deep and beautiful.

The Iron Lady

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (Meryl Streep) now in her eighties is struggling with dementia and has difficulty distinguishing the past from the present. As she potters around her home she tries to place herself but continues to struggle with the reality that her husband Dennis (Jim Broadbent) has passed away. As Thatcher attempts to come to terms with her loss she slips back into the past, remembering her lower middle-class youth and subsequent rise to becoming the world’s most powerful woman. With Dennis by her side she finds it difficult to let go of the past and realise that she no longer has the power she once had. As an ageing woman she realises that she has virtually no power at all, not even over her own life.

I have really mixed feelings about The Iron Lady. On the one hand it features a career defining performance from someone who is already one of the most distinguished actresses in history but on the other hand it is a biopic about one of the most divisive people in recent history that somehow manages to treat a neutral line. There is surely no one in Britain who has neutral feelings towards the former Prime Minister. People either love her or loathe her yet the film appears to brush over both the best and worst of her character and time in office, leaving a fairly mundane story in its wake.

End of Watch

LAPD Officers Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zavala (Michael Pena) patrol one of the most crime ridden areas of Los Angeles; South Central. Their close relationship and dedication to their job runs in parallel with Taylor’s fondness for filming everything they do on the beat. Cameras are attached to the Officer’s uniforms, car and Taylor even uses a handheld camera when investigating a crime scene or just driving around. When a couple of busts seem to share a link with some highly decorated or ‘blinged out’ weapons, Taylor suggests the pair carry out some detective work which gets them embroiled in a war with a Mexican drug cartel.

Although full of many of the usual buddy cop clichés and with problems around the filming style detracting from the drama, End of Watch is an above average Action-Drama which combines a great central relationship, two good performances and a gritty realism. Its main selling point though is the found footage style which is where the film occasionally fails.

Your Sister's Sister

Filmed over just twelve days and largely improvised, Your Sister’s Sister stars Mark Duplass as Jack, a man struggling to function a year on from the untimely death of his much loved brother. Jack’s best friend and brother’s ex-girlfriend Iris (Emily Blunt) offers to let Jack stay at her father’s secluded cabin to help clear his head. When he arrives he finds that the cabin is already occupied by Iris’ sister Hannah (Rosemarie DeWitt), a lesbian who has just ended a seven year relationship. Mark and Hannah get to know each other and a bottle of tequila later end up in bed together. When Iris unexpectedly arrives early the next morning a barrage of secrets, lies and half truths comes her way as the other two try to hide what happened the night before.

For a film with a budget which wouldn’t cover Twilight's glitter funds, Your Sister’s Sister looks great. Occasionally you can tell that it was done on the cheap but it never matters. The improvised script and three superb performances help to give the film a realism which propels the drama and comedy forward towards a crescendo, a turning point from which there is no way back. The film’s great selling point though is its story.

Amour

Winner of the 2012 Palme d’Or at Cannes and with plenty more awards to come in the coming months, Austrian Director Michael Haneke’s film Amour is a story about enduring love. Georges (Jean-Loius Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuelle Riva) are retired music teachers, living alone in their eighties in their spacious Parisian apartment. Cultured and very much in love, their relationship comes under the ultimate test when Anne suffers a stroke. Georges does his best to care for Anne who begins spiralling further and further into ill health. Against the advice of nurses and the couple’s daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert), Georges refuses to hospitalise his ailing wife and chooses to carry the burden of her care on his aging hips.

Although Amour lacks the malevolence and hard edged cruelty of some of the Director’s best known work, it is still a film which has the ability to shock. Uncharacteristically for Haneke it is also an extremely beautiful tale but also happens to be the most depressing film I’ve ever seen. I have rarely left a cinema feeling so low or despondent and it wasn’t until I was on my way home that the film’s greatness managed to shine through the dismal but ultimately beautiful plot.       

Sons of the Desert

A colleague of mine, knowing about my love of Buster Keaton and especially Charlie Chaplin asked what I thought of Laurel and Hardy. I had to admit to him that I’d never actually seen one of their films and he helped to rectify that by lending my Sons of the Desert, a film which he told me was one of their most accessible. Laurel and Hardy make a pledge that they will go to the Sons of the Desert Convention in Chicago but have trouble convincing their wives to let them go. After sweet talking fails to work they resort to deception but trouble is waiting for them when they get back home.

For my first Laurel and Hardy film I was mildly impressed but not left with an urge to see more of their work straight away. I enjoyed the story and the characters are great but I didn’t laugh that much. Rather, I had a satisfied smile on my face which only broke into laughter on a couple of occasions. The naughty little boy act was quite fun and Oliver Hardy’s looks to camera were something that seemed familiar to me despite never seeing one of his films before.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -Part 1

The penultimate film in the inexplicably popular Twilight series is probably the worst to date. Having avoided the hordes of mindless team whatever fans on its initial release I finally persuaded myself to sit down and watch the DVD twelve months on. I was unable to get through it in one sitting. The plot is one of the least tortuous and most dull affairs I’ve ever seen. Bella (Kristen Stewart) is marrying Edward (R-Patzzz), much to the distain of Jacob (Taylor Lautner) who shows his anger by ripping off his shirt less than five seconds into the film. Following their seemingly real time marriage which feels longer than most actual weddings I’ve been to, the happy couple go on their honeymoon, first passing through Rio, full of stereotypical dancing Brazilians before ending up on a secluded island. Edward is worrying about hurting Bella during consummation and through a vomit inducing sex montage; they finally consummate their love after all these years. But uhoh!! They must have skipped sex education class as Bella ends up with a baby up all inside her belly. How this happens is beyond me as the father is dead. I was under the impression that dead people had no living cells but somehow Edward’s sperm are alive. Anyway, the baby starts trying to kill Bella and lots of people attempt to save her, despite the fact that she’s one of the least likeable characters in cinema history.

Jab Tak Hai Jaan

My second Bollywood film and first at the cinema, Jab Tak Hai Jaan holds special significance for the Indian film industry as its famed Director Yash Chopra who won four Filmfare Best Director awards during his career, died just a couple of weeks before the film’s premier on 21^st October 2012.  There are dedications to him both before and after the film which show a vibrant and seemingly healthy 80 year old Director behind the scenes, crafting both a film and friendships. His final film is a romantic drama about a poor Indian living in London called Samar (Shahrukh Kahn) who falls in love with a rich girl called Meera (Katrina Kaif). The story is told over ten years and at times feels as though it is in real time but is told through a young wannabe Journalist called Akira (Anushka Sharma) who comes across a journal detailing a fascinating story of love and heartbreak. The journal belongs to Samar, now ten years older and a commander in the Indian Army Bomb Disposal unit. Akira takes an interest Samar’s story as well as the man himself.

Sunnyside

When a workshy farmhand (Charlie Chaplin) misplaces a herd of cows the local town of Sunnyside suffers the consequences. The young farmhand has even more trouble on his hands when a well to do city boy (Tom Terriss) arrives in town and has his eyes firmly set on the hand’s girl (Edna Purviance). Chaplin’s forth film for First National was preceded by the hugely successful Shoulder Arms and proved to be one of his least successful of the period. Despite this the film holds up fairly well today and has a first act which is of some note. Unfortunately though the film misses a step with the introduction of the romantic plot from which it never truly recovers.

The first thing I noticed about the film is that unlike almost every Chaplin film to come before, there was an actor on second billing. Most of Chaplin’s early title cards read something along the line of “Charles Chaplin in…” or “….. with Charlie Chaplin” but Sunnyside reads “Charlie Chaplin in Sunnyside with Edna Purviance”. I don’t recall seeing another actor’s name so prominently placed on a title card before this film and it perhaps shows Chaplin’s ever increasing belief in his leading lady as an actress. As it turns out, Purviance’s role isn’t really much larger than in the likes of Burlesque on Carmen, The Vagabond or A Dog's Life but it feels like she is the focus of attention for a larger part of the film.

Groundhog Day

When arrogant TV weatherman Phil Connors (Bin Murray) travels to the small town of Punxsutawney for the yearly Groundhog Day celebrations he wants the day to go as quickly as possible. Feeling the job is beneath him he is looking forward to a quick piece to camera before heading back to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately for Phil his miserable day in the small town lasts a lot longer than expected as when he wakes up the following morning he discovers that it is Groundhog Day all over again. Phil keeps experiencing the same day over and over desperate for a way to see a tomorrow which seems as though it will never come.

I first saw Groundhog Day about fifteen years ago and have watched it everyday since. In 2006 it was added to the US Nation Film Registry and I’m not surprised. As well as being a family favourite it can also be watched on a different level and raises questions about ones purpose or meaning in life as well as exploring the mental issues around repetition and the feeling of being trapped or held by something beyond your control. Although Connors is trapped by some sort of paranormal force the film could be seen as an analogy for the trappings of poverty and even touches on that aspect in a literal way with a brief inclusion of a couple of drunk characters. Even if you don’t want to read into the film in any great detail, it is still enormously entertaining and ironically the sort of film that you can watch again and again.

Argo

Shedding light on the incredible true events of the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, Director Ben Affleck stars as CIA evacuation specialist Tony Mendez. After the US Embassy in Tehran is stormed by Militants in 1979 and more than fifty staff are taken hostage, six manage to escape into the custody of the Canadian Ambassador where they remain hidden for weeks while the State Department and CIA try to figure out a way of extracting them from the most watched and most anti-American city in the world. Mendez has the idea of creating a fake movie and giving himself and the six hidden embassy staff fake identities as Producers, Scriptwriters and the like, on a location scouting assignment before simply flying out of the country. The idea is met with scepticism by the CIA and State Department as well as the hidden six but with no other viable options, Mendez is given the green light.

Despite co-writing Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon in the mid 90s, Ben Affleck soon became known for his celebrity relationships and mediocre performances in overblown and critically disappointing films such as Pearl Harbor and Armageddon. It came as a surprise to many then that Affleck’s Directorial debut Gone Baby Gone was as good as it was and he then followed this up with another critical success The Town in 2010. With Argo, Affleck is now three for three and seems to be going from strength to strength as a Director.

Rust and Bone

Rust and Bone or De rouille et d'os in its original French title is a 2012 melodrama staring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts. An unemployed man moves from Belgium to the south of France with his five year old son in search of a better life. Finding nothing but poverty and overly macho, short term jobs he meets a Killer Whale trainer who has become involved in a fight outside a nightclub he is working at. Months later she calls him while depressed while she is recovering from a severe injury sustained while working with the whales. The two strike up a complex friendship with each helping the other out of the rut they find their lives in.

Rust and Bone features a couple of extremely proficient performances, some wonderful cinematography, a tough story and excellent soundtrack but is not an easy watch. There are moments of extreme violence and heartache which will make the audience recoil in their seat and don’t go in expecting a traditional French love story because you won’t find it here.

Frankenweenie

The third in a triumvirate of late summer/early autumn horror animations and the most hotly anticipated in my eyes, Frankenweenie is a feature length remake of the short film that Director Tim Burton made while working for Disney that got him fired twenty-eight years ago. Over a quarter of a century later and with a back catalogue of hits under his belt, Disney invited Burton to remake his short for them. A homage to early talkie Hollywood horror and filmed in black and white stop motion, Frankenweenie is the story of a young boy called Victor Frankenstein (Charlie Tahan) who loses his only childhood friend, his dog Sparky. Whilst in science class and having seen a dead frog have his legs manipulated by electricity, Victor gets the idea to try the same thing with his deceased dog and is successful in reanimating Sparky. Although he tries to keep it a secret it isn’t long before other children from school find out and blackmail Victor into helping them to do the same thing. The results of their experiments though are much less successful and lead to a horde of rampaging monsters that threaten the town.

Skyfall

Celebrating the 50^th anniversary of the first James Bond film, Skyfall, the 23^rd screen outing for 007 sees Bond tackle the threat of cyber terrorism in a modern world which is very different to that which he first traversed half a century ago. The film, which I’ll open by saying is a lot better than the previous effort Thingy of Whatsit is a return to form for the series and puts Bond back in its place at the centre of the action thriller genre. Having lost a file containing the names of undercover agents, Bond (Daniel Craig) chases down the culprit only to be halted by MI6. Presumed dead, 007 begins to rot while MI6 comes under attack from a man with a score to settle with M (Judi Dench).

The film finds many parallels with its, Britain’s, MI6’s and indeed its central character’s place in the world. They all appear to be past their best, living in a world that has moved on, leaving them behind. Britain, a hundred years past its prime is being kept safe by MI6 whose field agents appear ill equipped to deal with the modern threats of hidden terrorists who wear no uniform and report to no country. Indeed the west itself appears to be losing its grip on the world and this is tackled with the appearance of Shanghai, perhaps this century’s New York. The motif goes further, examining the likes of M and Bond themselves and challenging them to prove that they are still relevant in the twenty-first century.

Top Secret

Part of the 80s onslaught of spoof and parody movies, Top Secret was written and Directed by Jim Abrahams and David and Jerry Zucker, the men behind the likes of Airplane!, the Naked Gun series, Hot Shots! and latter Scary Movie titles. Top Secret is primarily a spoof of Elvis’ movies and the stereotypes of East Germany, mixed with a little bit of World War Two. Nick Rivers (Val Kilmer in his first screen lead) is an American pop star with a stereotypical late 50s sound. He is invited to East Germany as part of a cultural event but soon becomes involved with a beautiful woman (Lucy Gutteridge) who is in turn trying to rescue her father (Michael Gough) from an East German Prison with the help of the French Resistance. Rivers soon becomes imbedded in the Resistance and uses his wit, charm and good looks to help save the day.

The Room

In 2003 an unknown filmmaker called Tommy Wiseau wrote, produced, directed and stared in the independent film The Room. Although thousands of independent movies are released every year, Tommy’s was different. The Room was perhaps the worst film ever made and has since gained cult status, growing with popularity all the time as it is discovered by new people. If you search for The Room on YouTube you will find clips with views in their millions and about two years after first being told about the film, I finally watched the entire thing today. Although I’d seen the clips and had heard the stories, nothing could quite prepare me for the ninety-nine minutes I saw. I have never seen a film that was as bad as The Room but I have seen plenty which I have enjoyed less and although billed as a drama, I laughed as much as I have during any film this year.

The plot centres around three people in a love triangle. Johnny (Tommy Wiseau) is a fairly successful banker living with his fiancé Lisa (Juliette Danielle) who is a bit of a bitch. Jonny piles his unusual love on her and they seem very happy together but she has eyes for his best friend Mark (Greg Sestero). Lisa begins an affair with Mark who is at first worried about destroying his friendship with Johnny but soon finds Lisa too irresistible to ignore. Lisa’s mother get’s cancer but this is swiftly ignored and never mentioned again. Johnny begins to get depressed and becomes even more incoherent that usual. Then he pets a dog and plays football in a tuxedo. Mark becomes increasingly agitated and as a result his beard sometimes disappears only to come back in the next scene. The film comes to a head at Johnny’s birthday party where Lisa invites all of Johnny’s friends. Johnny tells her that this was a good idea but is still suspicious about his fiancé and best friend…

My Week with Marilyn

In 1956 the world’s most iconic film star, Marilyn Monroe travelled to England to star in a new romantic comedy, The Prince and the Showgirl alongside famed actor/director Sir Laurence Olivier. Throughout an arduous shoot a young man called Colin Clark who joined the production as third AD kept a diary which became the basis of his memoir and this film. The production took place at a difficult time in the lives of both stars and Clark became very close to Monroe in particular, allowing him to present a rare glimpse into the private life of one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

My Week with Marilyn was generally well received upon its release in 2011 and was nominated for seven BAFTAS and two Oscars. I unfortunately missed it on its theatrical release but felt very happy when I caught up with it on DVD. The film is an enjoyable watch with some occasional dark turns which gives an almost unprecedented look into a brief snippet of the life of one of the world’s original mega stars.

Iron Sky

In 1945 the Nazis went to the Moon, in 2018 they’re coming back. The film with possibly the best tagline of 2012 turns out to be pretty much what I expected, a nice idea which is overstretched, a film which can’t sustain itself for a full 90 minutes and unfortunately a film that isn’t enough fun. In planning and development for around six years, the trailer was first taken to Cannes in 2008 in order to drum up finance and that’s when I first heard about it. After four years of excitement the end product is a little bit of a let down but I have to commend the Finnish film makers for their tenacity and drive.

The plot can be pretty much explained by the tagline but there is a little more to it. The Nazis have been living on the dark side of the Moon since 1945 and are preparing an invasion. When America’s Sarah Palin-esque President (Stephanie Paul) sends a mission to the Moon in order to win an election, the astronauts come across the Nazi Moon base and one of them (Christopher Kirby) is taken in and interrogated. Earthologist (Julia Dietze) takes an interest in the Earth man but her fiancé and future Fuhrer (Gotz Otto) has plans for world domination and leads a small expeditionary force to Earth ahead of the main attack.

Black Book

Paul Verhoeven’s tale of injustice, romance, duplicity and war is one of just a handful of films I’ve watched twice this year. I saw it first in early January and was blown away by the story and acting and jumped at the chance to watch it for a second time. Carice van Houten, best known to English speaking audiences as fiery Priestess Melisandre in Game of Thrones plays a young Jewish woman in hiding from the Nazis in the Dutch countryside towards the end of the Second World War. After her hiding place is destroyed and following a traumatic encounter with the Germans she joins the Dutch resistance, going undercover inside the German Headquarters in The Hague where she agrees to seduce the local commander (Sebastian Koch - The Lives of Others).

Black Book is a fantastic film which is full of moral ambiguity set in a time of deep mistrust and hardship. One of the greatest things about it is that very few characters can be described as good or bad. The vast majority of the large cast of characters lie in a grey area somewhere in between and I think this adds reality to the film. The film bravely suggests that not all Nazis were bad and that not every resistance fighter was good or moral. There is a great deal of anti-Semitism even amongst the so called good guys. It’s an interesting idea which works incredibly well and helps to keep the viewer on their toes.

Shoulder Arms

Set partly amongst the trenches of the First World War, Shoulder Arms was a bold film for Charlie Chaplin to make in 1918 given the wide reaching criticism he received for failing to sign up to fight. He was advised by close friends to abandon the film for something less controversial but Charlie battled on and despite the possible outrage and backlash the film became Chaplin’s most critically acclaimed and financially successful film up to that point, was particularly popular with returning Doughboys and features a couple of scenes which may well be recognisable to people who have never even seen a full Chaplin film.

Charlie plays a young recruit who is sent over to France to join the war. Despite typical problems to begin with he soon discovers that he is a more than competent soldier and after numerous brave exploits ends up in the house of a French woman (Edna Purviance) who tends to his wounds. With the help of his new love and a dear friend from the trenches, Chaplin ends up winning the war for the allies. Or does he?