Britannia Hospital
1982 Directed by Lindsay Anderson
Synopsis
Britannia Hospital, an esteemed English institution, is marking its gala anniversary with a visit by the Queen Mother herself. But when investigative reporter Mick Travis arrives to cover the celebration, he finds the hospital under siege by striking workers, ruthless unions, violent demonstrators, racist aristocrats, and African cannibal dictator and sinister human experiments.
Cast
Popular reviews
More-
Britannia Hospital is a mess. Allegorically, it's meant to be, but compared especially with "If..." and Lindsay Anderson's early Free Cinema pieces, this has a sense of uncontrolled, aimless chaos that goes beyond the strikers and rioters whose presence drives much of the film's action.
It's a very bleak portrait of Britain in the early 1980's, where self-interested trade unionists and an establishment made up of oblivious traditionalists and new-school sociopaths are all pretty much as bad as each other in their lack of human compassion. Lost in the middle are a few decent people trying to do some good, but they are mostly powerless except for small actions.
The light relief, such that there is, comes mostly from playing…
Recent reviews
More-
By far the most disappointing of the loose Mick Travis trilogy, and of Lindsay Anderson's output full-stop. Despite being centred on the titular establishment as opposed to the country-trekking of O Lucky Man this one is even more uneven. The satire is heavy-handed and obvious while the heavy presence of comic actors leads to most of the material being overplayed - I love Leonard Rossiter in the right role, but the script brings out the worse in him. Elsewhere, others are wasted, notably McDowell.
Indeed, if you were channel surfing and came across this film it would probably be quite easy to mistake it for a late-run Carry On movie.
-
Britannia Hospital is a mess. Allegorically, it's meant to be, but compared especially with "If..." and Lindsay Anderson's early Free Cinema pieces, this has a sense of uncontrolled, aimless chaos that goes beyond the strikers and rioters whose presence drives much of the film's action.
It's a very bleak portrait of Britain in the early 1980's, where self-interested trade unionists and an establishment made up of oblivious traditionalists and new-school sociopaths are all pretty much as bad as each other in their lack of human compassion. Lost in the middle are a few decent people trying to do some good, but they are mostly powerless except for small actions.
The light relief, such that there is, comes mostly from playing…
-
Black, very black.... but not unexpected.
I found that film somehow in an old movie-magazin 20 jears ago and my first thought was "OMG, Clockwork Orange goes General Hospital"
Ok its not that bizarr, but no. No, I dont want to be sick there.
At least, it will not be one of my favorites but definitely worth a good laugh.