Johnny Got His Gun

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival, this anti-war film focuses on a young American soldier (Timothy Bottoms) who has been hit by a shell on the last day of the First World War. He is without limbs, eyes, ears, mouth or nose, and at the beginning of the film is in a coma. The doctors believe, and hope, he will not regain consciousness; in order to keep the 'good order' of the military, an Army general has instructed the hospital not to allow the boy to be seen or to notify his family, but has also insisted that the medical staff are not allowed to perform euthanasia. A nurse realises the young soldier is awake while changing his dressings. As he remains conscious, he tries to communicate to his doctors his wish to be put on show as a true example of the horrors of war. (Arrow Films)