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List Price: $14.98 | | Label: BBC Warner
Salesrank: 16109
Released: May 16, 2006 |
| Our Price: $6.92 |
| Used Price: $6.27 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
One night a frightened Swiss soldier of fortune climbs into the bedroom of a young Bulgarian girl Raina (Helena Bonham Carter) and soon deflates her romantic notions about love and valor. The cast of characters includes a jealous fiance fighting for the other side a bumbling military father and a domineering and social-climbing mother not to mention the servants who see and hear all. This hilarious and charmingly ludicrous look at the misconceptions of love and war continues to delight and unsettle audiences even today.Running Time: 104 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 794051253323 Manufacturer No: E2533
Description of Arms and the Man:
A delightful Helena Bonham Carter stars as Raina, a Bulgarian woman from "a civilized family." News arrives that Bulgaria has prevailed in its war against the Serbs, a charge led by Raina's fiancé, Sergius, reportedly the deciding factor. On "the happiest night of my life," Raina receives an unexpected visitor in her bedroom, a chocolate-scarfing Swiss soldier of fortune who had been fighting for the Serbs and is fleeing for his life. His views on the military ("Remember, nine soliders out of ten are born fools") and disdainful account of the vainglorious Sergius's foolhardy charge are counter to her starry notions and high ideals. The return after the war of her "chocolate crème soldier" set in motion romantic entanglements that include Louka (Patsy Kensit), the family maid who is having a clandestine affair with Sergius. Satire may be what closes on Saturday night, as playwright George S. Kaufman famously quipped, but it plays very well on the BBC, from which this sterling 1989 production of Bernard Shaw's 1894 play originated. Shaw himself called his subversively funny play an "anti-romantic comedy," but it is more an anti-romantic-notions comedy whose observations about the "romance" of war and heroism still sting. --Donald Liebenson
Arms and the Man Reviews:
Funny 
2009-04-26 - I enjoy watching this play. It had a good sense of humor. Thank you.
arms and the man 
2008-07-18 - Good adaptation of the shaw play. Basically a play about the futility of war,honor, and the human condition. Slightly dated but still effective view of mankind and the upper classes in particular and their pretensions
and foibles.
Dated and rather boring 
2007-05-06 - I am an unabashed Anglophile and have read this play several times and loved it, so I was excited to see the DVD. But I expected something more modern, more realistic, less hokey. Maybe I tried to watch it too late at night, as I kept falling asleep. I prefer the characters in my imagination to the actors on this DVD.
Two interesting plays
2007-02-17 - I have to admit up until I watched this dvd the other day I'd never read or seen anything by Shaw, so this was, in a sense, a really pleasant new experience for me. Given this, though, perhaps not in the best position to provide a reliable critique, so I won't even venture an attempt. Generally speaking, it seems to me that "Arms in the Man" isn't all that original (perhaps it was in its time) and the ending wasn't exactly unpredictable. Still, quite enjoyable to watch; the presence of Bonham-Carter alone makes it worthwhile. But to be honest, I preferred watching "The Man of Destiny." An interesting study in characted, with sharp and witty dialogue. Callow is truly a superb actor.
Arms and the Man review
2007-01-15 - The characterizations and direction were all excellent; maybe Bluntschli seemed a little young and 'smooth'. The voices were easily understandable, in contrast to many new TV dramas where the speech is so fast that older people like us (79) simply can't follow! We guess there aren't many versions of this to choose from, but we'd certainly recommend it -- it's one of Shaw's favorite plays for us. F.J.H. and I.R.H.
