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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)

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Dionysos 

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English What is the difference between a dream and reality? If we control reality and are able to change it, then we are in reality. However, if the environment controls us and we are unable to change or control reality, we must not be misled: this is not reality, it is a dream! Or a nightmare. But what if the dream becomes reality? Can war and the military ensure that you don't wake up from this reality as presented in the film - not just as a cafe metaphor, but as a portrayal of the fate of an ordinary soldier who volunteered to defend democracy under the guise of permanent peace and with the blessing of God (or the church). But would God really allow this? As an atheist, this question is irrelevant to me (unfortunately for the film's audience interpretation!). Nevertheless, from a formal perspective, the color flashbacks of memories, which increasingly blend with the distorted reality of dreams as the "hospitalization" progresses, and the black and white images of hospital/human reality work excellently. ()

3DD!3 

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English I don’t know if this is the darkest or most optimistic movie that I have ever seen. The ending left an empty place inside me. What would I do in their shoes? If something like this can happen, does God or someone like him even exist? Why? ()

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