The Bed Sitting Room
1969 Directed by Richard Lester
Synopsis
In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' (which lasted two minutes and twenty eight seconds, including the signing of the peace treaty) is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.
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Popular reviews
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According to Spike Milligan, who co-wrote the original stage play, The Bed-Sitting Room is an ultra-cynical examination of man's inability to escape the past. That cynical attitude pervades the superficial absurdity on display of post-apocalyptic Londoners going about as if nothing ever happened. Men in rags step behind broken TVs to read the news to an audience of one, a man pedals a stationary bicycle to power an electrical tower to keep the now-residential tube running on schedule, and life continues on apace.
Well, except for people turning into wardrobes, parrots, and the aforementioned bed-sitting room.
Reminiscent of the antic absurdist styles of Airplane!, Monty Python, and Benny Hill, The Bed-Sitting Room might have been just a little too helter-skelter…
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Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night) directs this post-apocalyptic ensemble comedy about a group of disparate Brits trying to survive after World War III. The film features a who’s who of British comedy talent with the likes of Spike Milligan, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Arthur Lowe and Marty Feldman all having prominent parts. To call The Bed Sitting Room a strange experience is a bit of an understatement. It is an absurd and surrealist trip that happily pokes fun at the British culture, the class divide and stiff upper lips.
The thing that struck me most about the film was actually how beautiful it was at times. Although very much played for laughs, Lester has still created a striking film…
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Eh? One of those magnificently madcap movies all but guaranteed to leave you scratching your head, this gathers a prime selection of top-level British comic talent to give us an absurdist take on a post-WWIII England. The BFI DVD rather rudely insinuates a far greater deal of Peter Cook than I was actually treated to, something I heavily begrudge it. His and Moore's roles are quite small, though still finely funny supports to an often surrealistic series of events that had me having to stuff a blanket in my mouth to avoid waking slumbering members of the household with my violent cacklings. It might be best described as a very British Dr Strangelove, in that without ever abandoning the crucial comic structure the story dons it attains an air of hopeless abandon, looking at humanity's future with the bleakest of smiles. A bizarre and baffling gem, it's a hysterical and kind of horrifying slice of post-apocalyptic life.
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Massively underrated. You don't get many post-apocalyptic comedies anyway but Bed Sitting Room is definately an interesting watch. A truly surreal and peculiar piece of cinema showing Richard Lester, Spike Milligan and Peter Cook at their most bizarre. Plus a great Blu-ray transfer from the BFI as part of the Flipside series.
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Weird post-apocalyptic comedy without much focus. Some chuckles to be had, but I must admit that the quality of the file I watched was sub-par, with a faded image and muddled audio. I'd really like to get my hands on the BFI blu-ray release and give it another watch.
A gentle recommendation.
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Unfunny, unwatchable.
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I’m really surprised as to why this film is so obscure. It’s full of massive stars of it’s day including Peter Cook and Spike Milligan. I guess people had a hard time with the surreal nature of it all. Overall I had a good time with the film though I found it a little pointless by the end. There is no real storyline to speak of, we just see these people in their post apocalyptic environment living their lives. There are some great things here. I loved the idea that the queen is just some woman who was 100’s of steps down on the heir line. There is a great bit near the start with a guy coming round someone’s dwellings to sit behind a broken TV to read the news. I’m not sure I could watch it again but it was a nice watch.
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ok
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According to Spike Milligan, who co-wrote the original stage play, The Bed-Sitting Room is an ultra-cynical examination of man's inability to escape the past. That cynical attitude pervades the superficial absurdity on display of post-apocalyptic Londoners going about as if nothing ever happened. Men in rags step behind broken TVs to read the news to an audience of one, a man pedals a stationary bicycle to power an electrical tower to keep the now-residential tube running on schedule, and life continues on apace.
Well, except for people turning into wardrobes, parrots, and the aforementioned bed-sitting room.
Reminiscent of the antic absurdist styles of Airplane!, Monty Python, and Benny Hill, The Bed-Sitting Room might have been just a little too helter-skelter…
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So weird!
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Harry Secombe, Arthur Lowe, Spike Milligan, Dudley Moore, Peter Cook and Marty Feldman, all it needs is the two Ronnie’s and Monty Python to have the complete set. The story itself is based around the experiences all 20 survivors of the 2 and a half minute long world war 3, other than that it’s largely free-form and sketch-like. Even so, you can’t belittle just how funny a film the bed sitting room is. However, it does start to outstay its welcome around the hour mark as the sketch structure does get repetitive. Regardless, For fans of classic British comedy this is a must see. Howling out loud with laughter, funny
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Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night) directs this post-apocalyptic ensemble comedy about a group of disparate Brits trying to survive after World War III. The film features a who’s who of British comedy talent with the likes of Spike Milligan, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Arthur Lowe and Marty Feldman all having prominent parts. To call The Bed Sitting Room a strange experience is a bit of an understatement. It is an absurd and surrealist trip that happily pokes fun at the British culture, the class divide and stiff upper lips.
The thing that struck me most about the film was actually how beautiful it was at times. Although very much played for laughs, Lester has still created a striking film…
-
Eh? One of those magnificently madcap movies all but guaranteed to leave you scratching your head, this gathers a prime selection of top-level British comic talent to give us an absurdist take on a post-WWIII England. The BFI DVD rather rudely insinuates a far greater deal of Peter Cook than I was actually treated to, something I heavily begrudge it. His and Moore's roles are quite small, though still finely funny supports to an often surrealistic series of events that had me having to stuff a blanket in my mouth to avoid waking slumbering members of the household with my violent cacklings. It might be best described as a very British Dr Strangelove, in that without ever abandoning the crucial comic structure the story dons it attains an air of hopeless abandon, looking at humanity's future with the bleakest of smiles. A bizarre and baffling gem, it's a hysterical and kind of horrifying slice of post-apocalyptic life.
-
Weird post-apocalyptic comedy without much focus. Some chuckles to be had, but I must admit that the quality of the file I watched was sub-par, with a faded image and muddled audio. I'd really like to get my hands on the BFI blu-ray release and give it another watch.
A gentle recommendation.