Catch 22 is a film by Mike Nichols that I have always felt very fond of. The way all of the scenes seem out of order and that the film gets progressively darker and darker is brilliant. Its my favourite film from the 70s and possibly one of my favourite films ever.
The film is set in
Northern Africa during the Second World War at an Air-force base on a small island. It goes through many sub plots but I think the main story is that Alan Arikin, the protagonist, is going mad after having seen almost all of his squad killed over a few months and is in a catch 22 situation of as the doctor says If he doesn’t want to go home then he is mad and will be sent home but if he wants to go home then he is considered to be sane and will continue being redrafted with no leave, a catch 22.
The thing I have taken away from this film is the way the lines are put together, the way the dialogue flows in a direction and you almost don’t have to listen to understand what they are saying. An example of this is when they are in the hospital and Arkin is pretending to be an ill son whose family have flown from
America to see but who died the morning before and has been cremated. What I love about the scene is the way it is acted and shot as both are in the style of a sitcom situation. This, for 3 minuets out of the whole film, draws the reality away and makes the entire film even more ridiculous and entertaining by showing how ridiculous war is.
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