From my spring questionnaire, a specific text that I'd like to hone in on is Richard Lester's anti-war surrealist black comedy film How I Won The War, released in 1967. I first watched the film last October in celebration of John Lennon's birthday, as he is in one of the starring roles in his only feature film performance in which he doesn't play himself. Ever since then, the film has continued to be extremely thought-provoking, and I very much want to investigate further. What I'd like to "figure out" about this text throughout my thesis project is what the use of surrealistic elements in an anti-war film contributes to its themes. I haven't quite decided if the film's overwhelming absurdism has the effect of emphasizing or obfuscating the horrific realities of war, more specifically pertaining to the Vietnam War that was ongoing at the time. Though I could see the argument of the latter, I find myself leaning moreso towards the former. I'm excited to get into my research and form a cohesive argument on the matter, as for almost a year I've been puzzling over how to properly articulate my thoughts on the film. This thesis will finally enable me to clear my head of the confusion Richard Lester has caused me with his, in my opinion, very ahead of its time work of cinema.
The theoretical tool I would like to employ more than any other in this thesis project is the alienation effect, a concept originally proposed by German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Essentially, I believe that much like the alienation effect of the performing arts, How I Won The War prevents its viewers from identifying with its characters and becoming fully engrossed in its story by employing its surrealistic elements. In doing so, it forces the viewer to confront the real-world implications of what they are watching and become fully conscious of the experience as a whole. This encourages a mindset that engenders deeper thought about the work beyond the surface-level. I want to discuss how Richard Lester's use of surrealistic elements may induce an alienation-like effect in the viewer, possibly inducing them to observe the film from a more removed perspective. This might have enabled them to critically engage with how the war depicted parallels the war that was then ongoing at the time.
I might be able to situate my text in the context of other anti-war literature, especially of the time, though which works I might use I am not entirely sure of at the moment. I want to look into whether other anti-war works—especially of the time—have employed the alienation effect. I also might be able to place my text in the context of surrealism as a whole. As for specific secondary sources, the literature on How I Won The War is unfortunately relatively negligible. The sources I have found in English I can count on one hand! I would like to dig deeper and see if I can find more, but due to the film's comparative obscurity this may be very difficult. However, even if I am not successful, I find it a unique and worthwhile challenge to make an intervention in the literature of a text that has seldom been thoroughly analyzed.