perfect

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2015)

Very rarely do casting, script, soundtrack, editing, performance, cinematography and direction gel so sublimely. Re-visiting this for the sake of childhood nostalgia - Hilts motorbike slide into barbed wire and Christmas post-turkey trifle are forever entwined in my brain - I was struck afresh by the perfection of this film. The mix of derring-do and comedy takes on a shadow with Bartlett's arrival, and then goes a shade deeper with the death of Ives. By the time the men are machine-gunned down in an open field, the tonal shift has moved deftly to the other end of the spectrum. The making of moonshine, and the reaction of the brewers - three simple 'wows' - is a masterclass in economy in scripting. Ditto the rhythmic use of the baseball smacking against the wall in the cooler. And the score - once heard, never forgotten. Quite simply, this is arguably the greatest film ever made.