- Overlord (film)
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Overlord 
Directed by Stuart Cooper Produced by James Quinn Written by Stuart Cooper
Christopher HudsonStarring Brian Stirner
Davyd HarriesMusic by Paul Glass Cinematography John Alcott Editing by Jonathan Gili Running time 85 minutes Country United Kingdom Language English Overlord is a 1975 black-and-white film written and directed by Stuart Cooper. Set around the D-Day invasion ('Operation Overlord'), Overlord is a war film about a young soldier's meditations on being part of the war machinery, and his premonitions of death. The film was entered into the 25th Berlin International Film Festival, where it won the Silver Bear - Special Jury Prize.[1]
Contents
Plot
Beginning with a premonition of his death, the film follows a young everyman Brian Stirner through his call up to the East Yorkshire Regiment, his training, his meeting a young girl Julie Neesam, his journey to France, and his death on Sword Beach. Director Cooper also includes footage of the London Blitz and bombing of Europe to emphasise the events leading up to the invasion and the comparatively short distance between England and France.
Production
Stuart Cooper had originally intended to film a documentary film about the Overlord embroidery tapestry.[2] As he researched the events of the Normandy landings at the Imperial War Museum he decided on making a film of a young man's journey from call up to coffin.
About half of Overlord is contemporary footage shot for the film, and about half of it is archival footage from British training missions and the invasion itself. Cooper and his cinematographer, John Alcott, tried to create a consistent look when filming the contemporary footage and to this end they employed old Kodak film stock and World War II-era original German 1930's military camera lenses.
The film originally failed to get US theatrical distribution and was only shown there in select screenings and on television. In 2006, the film saw its first US release through Janus Films and in early 2008 a re-mastered edition was re-released in cinemas (on 1 February, with a launch at the Institute of Contemporary Arts) and on DVD (on March 3) in the UK.
It was released as part of the Criterion Collection in 2007.[3][4]
Presenting a screening of the film at the 2009 Sydney Film Festival, director Stuart Cooper said that the Imperial War Museum allowed him access to millions of feet of their film including original nitrate negatives. Cooper was also granted access to diaries of soldiers who were present at the landing that he incorporated into the screenplay. Parts of the film were filmed at Aldershot.
References
- ^ "Berlinale 1975: Prize Winners". berlinale.de. http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1975/03_preistr_ger_1975/03_Preistraeger_1975.html. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
- ^ Cooper, Stuart (18 January 2008). "A camera instead of a rifle". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/jan/18/2. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ The Criterion Collection: Overlord by Stuart Cooper
- ^ Amazon listing
External links
- Overlord at the Internet Movie Database
- Overlord at AllRovi
- Cooper, Stuart (18 January 2008). "A camera instead of a rifle". The Guardian. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/filmandmusic/story/0,,2242241,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-02.
- A synopsis of the film from the Brattle Theater blog
- SFGate article on the rediscovery of the film
Categories:- British films
- English-language films
- 1975 films
- Operation Overlord films
- War drama films
- Black-and-white films
- Films directed by Stuart Cooper
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