U.S. title: King of Hearts
A British soldier is sent on a mission to defuse a time bomb left by the Germans that will blow a small French town up. By a turn of events, the internees at a local madhouse escape.
This is a film which should be watched exclusively for its elegant mise-en-scène, costumes, witty dialogue, and assorted fragmentary creativity. A few critics were quick to point out the flaws in the film's message, but audiences at large were not so picky and bought it hook, line and sinker, making the film a huge, albeit delayed, international success. There is a very explicit scene in the movie: the "general" is in bed with a prostitute, and imagines his ideal world as one of constant war. So, I don't see how a world ruled by these mad characters would be a peaceful one. It may be that the screenwriter yielded to the temptation to please the viewing crowds and ended up by romanticizing madness in a flagrant contradiction to himself. For that purpose, he also had to make the regular military into buffoons. To sum it up, it's an interesting -- occasionally brilliant -- movie whose central idea shouldn't be taken seriously.
Rating: 59
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