The "Unfilmable" Novel - Brilliantly Brought to Life

Rating: 9/10 (30 April 2017)

My father was stationed on an island off Borneo during WWII from which air raids by American bombers supported by Aussie and American fighters were launched against enemy held islands. When I watched "Catch 22" with him, I expected he would be confused and slightly offended by the film's treatment of war. To my surprise, dad said that the film's depiction of war and those who fight them was not so exaggerated as one may think. The brass who send the men out on missions of no strategic importance to raise their own profile, the wheeler dealers, the earnest and ineffectual chaplains and all manner of crazies mixed with men whose only desire is to survive. My father also said that the mixture of comedy, drama, satire and surrealism reflected the strange dream of warfare very well. For my part, I can watch this film once a week for the rest of my life.