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King and Country

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89% Tomatometer 9 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
In this World War I drama, English army private Arthur Hamp (Tom Courtenay) is accused of deserting his company while on the battlefield. Defended at his trial by the initially unsympathetic upper-crust lawyer Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde), Hamp could face a firing squad if found guilty. During the course of the trial, Hargreaves begins to empathize with Hamp, who dealt with horrible conditions in the trenches that are depicted in vivid detail.

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King and Country

Critics Reviews

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian This film is a gruelling experience and Dirk Bogarde’s coup de grâce is the most horrible effect of all. Rated: 5/5 Nov 3, 2023 Full Review Ed Gonzalez Apollo Guide Losey creates a chilling sense of mood with nothing more than horrifying still images of a war-torn landscape. Rated: 85/100 Feb 14, 2001 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com …a painfully corrosive look at British class system in a wartime setting… Rated: 4/5 Nov 7, 2023 Full Review Dwight MacDonald Esquire Magazine After ninety minutes of visual deprivation and sledgehammer moralizing, one remembers with affection Stanley Kubrick's treatment of the same war and the same theme in Paths of Glory. Aug 13, 2019 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Tense, downbeat, class-conscious antiwar drama. Rated: B+ May 31, 2010 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 3/5 Jul 10, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member It plays like theater, but that's appropriate for the intimacy of the material. Still, it tries its best to be "real". There's nothing glamorous about war: the mud, the rats, the darkness, and, best of the all, the leaky shed where the trial takes place. The ending is shocking, though I would argue it's not so much for what takes place, but for the efficiency and lack of sentimentality with which it's handled. Another excellent Joseph Losey film. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member stunning performances. this a very rare film that shows the war from a different perspective especially the mood of the film is soo disturbing. This is undoubtedly a great film. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/07/23 Full Review Audience Member An odd war film, which should probably be watched a second time (months later) to fully appreciate it. When is enough, enough - or too much? This film set during WWI but was made during the Vietnam conflict, I didn't think PTSD/shell-shock was recognized at that time as much as this film intimates. How do we define justice whether in civilian or military venues? Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A gripping, impossibly tense affair from the outset. Bogarde is terrific. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member This is so offensive to soldiers, just because Hamps a working class soldier he's really stupid? And when Webb says stuff about being in the war to do what he's told when Hamp clearly is to. The guy who wrote this is just attacking working class and saying wether they can handle the war is based on their rank. It feels like they wrote this film just to have a got at the working class Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member Fairly simplistic with it's storyline of a shell-shocked soldier charged with dissection, but it's a very powerful statement on the wrongs of the army of on its own soldiers, neatly mirrored by the privates in the trenches tormenting a rat as proceedings unravel. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
King and Country

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King and Country

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Movie Info

Synopsis In this World War I drama, English army private Arthur Hamp (Tom Courtenay) is accused of deserting his company while on the battlefield. Defended at his trial by the initially unsympathetic upper-crust lawyer Captain Hargreaves (Dirk Bogarde), Hamp could face a firing squad if found guilty. During the course of the trial, Hargreaves begins to empathize with Hamp, who dealt with horrible conditions in the trenches that are depicted in vivid detail.
Director
Joseph Losey
Producer
Joseph Losey, Norman Priggen
Screenwriter
Evan Jones
Production Co
B.H.E. Productions
Genre
War
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Feb 15, 2017
Runtime
1h 26m
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