It’s surprising to think that Tony Richardson’s epic historical satire was not well received on its release in 1968, as now it looks like a classic. Indeed, in its merciless lampooning of the uneasy balance of Victorian military sadism and buffoonery that led to the slaughter of hundreds of British cavalrymen at the battle of Balaclava in 1854, it actually stands up better than most costume dramas of the era. It might be that the humour was just too savage for a 1960s audience – the wild characterisations and irreverent cartoon inserts (by Richard Williams) are still potent in the post-Python, post-Spitting Image age. There is also great skill and artistry in the lavish set pieces (the attention to visual detail is immaculate), the cast – David Hemmings, John Gielgud (giving a masterclass in strident bewilderment), Vanessa Redgrave – is dazzling, and the ferocious performance by Trevor Howard as the cavalry’s insanely egomaniacal leader, Lord Cardigan, is worth the price of the DVD alone.
Lavish, comic and remorseless exposure of the idiocy behind the famous military rout. With innovative animation sequences and brilliantly choreographed battle scenes, it's a poignant and blistering anti-class, anti-war vision.
In stark contrast to the sorry efforts of today's crop of young British film directors, this epic from the tail-end of the sixties displays a verve and brio that expos... more >
In stark contrast to the sorry efforts of today's crop of young British film directors, this epic from the tail-end of the sixties displays a verve and brio that exposes those contemporary mockney gangster cartoons for the sorry efforts they are. Following on from his Oscar-winning production of Tom Jones Richardson meant Light Brigade to be his masterpiece but the production became bogged down in technical difficulties and logistical problems, resulting in a massive five-hour cut that the director was then forced to reduced by hacking out great swathes of footage; including a sequence featuring the charge of the heavy brigade,in order to suit the distributors. This upset the overall narrative structure and Richardson struggled to obtain a cut that met his satisfaction.
What is left however, is a wonderful film that features one of the most authentic cinematic representations of Victorian society, replete with all its strata of class-distinction, petty politics and military incompetence. Richardson focuses on both the infantile squabbling of the officers around the dinner table and the abject misery of the ordinary troopers, living with their families in the barracks, often flogged for minor discrepancies, before being asked to give their lives in some foreign land in an act that may be remembered in equal parts as the most foolish yet most astoundingly heroic charge in history.
The acting is superb, David Watkins' cinematography is truly fabulous and the beautiful animated sequences by the Canadian Richard Williams are an inspired piece of experimental storytelling, designed as they were to look like the illustrations from the contemporary editions of the London Illustrated News. These sequences enabled Richardson to explain important narrative points concerning the Crimean War in an entertaining way, whilst also drastically reducing budget costs.
The film was chosen to be the official Royal Premiere of 1968 but failed on its general release and has never really garnered the plaudits that this magnificent film deserves. A fact that even Lord David Puttnam recently admitted on British television "pissed him off" < less
12 Page Booklet with Exclusive Extract from Tony Richardson's 'Long Distance Runner - A Memoir' and illustrations from Richard Williams' 'The Animator's Survival Kit'
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The Charge of The Light Brigade (Richardson, 1968)
