King and Country


synopsis

During World War I, a young soldier, Hamp, deserts his post, attempting to escape the ever-present sound of guns and walk home. Captain Hargreaves, an aristocratic and British Army lawyer must defend Hamp before the army tribunal, for whom the crime of desertion carries a nasty stigma and the penalty of execution. Initially, Hargreaves approaches Hamp's case with disdain; however, upon learning that Hamp volunteered for duty on a dare, that he is the sole survivor of his unit, and that his wife has been unfaithful in his absence, his efforts on Hamp's behalf become more impassioned and earnest. Faced with the unfeeling face of the army bureaucracy, Hargreaves's arguments fall on deaf ears as Hamp becomes a tool of morale boosting on the eave of the troop's dispersal into an impending bloody battle.

Date de sortie

Genre: Drama, War
Durée: 80 mins.
Année: 1964

Crédits

Avec:
Dirk Bogarde
Leo Mckern
Tom Courtenay
Un film de
Joseph Losey