Britannia Hospital

1982
R
1h 56min

CALIFICACIÓN DE IMDb

6.2/10

3.1 k

TU CALIFICACIÓN

The chaotic workings of a hospital with staff on strike.

Reproducir trailer2:56

1 video

33 fotos

Dark Comedy Satire Comedy Sci-Fi

Agrega una trama en tu idiomaThe chaotic workings of a hospital with staff on strike.The chaotic workings of a hospital with staff on strike.The chaotic workings of a hospital with staff on strike.

Ver la información de producción en IMDbPro

CALIFICACIÓN DE IMDb

6.2/10

3.1 k

TU CALIFICACIÓN

Ver la información de producción en IMDbPro

Premios
- 1 premio ganado y 3 nominaciones en total

Opiniones destacadas

10psychorobotape

That this movie has only achieved a rating of 5.9 out of 10 is appalling! Britannia Hospital brilliantly mixes the macabre, the comic, and the profound with beautiful imagery, wonderful production design, and Lindsay Anderson's astute sense of direction. The writing is flawless, the characters are flawless, the story is engrossing and the film is in my humble opinion the second best work of arguably the greatest director and visionary in British cinema history. I don't know who let the kindergärtners on here to vote but take my word - behind the wacky comic facade lies a powerful and intelligent film that should be ranked up there with the greatest films of British cinema.

5EdgarST

Sad ending to Mick Travis

"Britannia Hospital" was not exhibited (although advertised) in Panamá in 1982, so I didn't have a chance to see the last part of the Mick Travis trilogy, created by Lindsay Anderson and David Sherwin. In the early 1990's I found a video copy of the film, but not until now have I seated to watch the film, after enjoying two Ealing comedies ("Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "The Man In the White Suit") that surprised me one more time for the pleasant way that social and political issues are usually treated in British cinema. (MILD SPOILERS) Social issues are all over "Britannia Hospital", the most saddening conclusion I have ever seen of a character, though luckily not affecting the admiration I have for the two previous films. "if...." (1968) introduced Mick (Malcolm McDowell) as a rebel in a public school; in "O Lucky Man" (1973) he was a young man seeking a job in the capitalist world, and in this final appearance, Mick has returned from the USA and apparently works as a spy -with a mini video camera- for an American TV station (represented by Mark Hamill, completely stoned inside a mobile unit) in the coverage of the anniversary of Britannia Hospital (metaphor of the United Kingdom) and the launching of a sinister Frankenstein-type project, while the workers are on strike, militants demand the exit of an African dictator from the hospital, with his wives, children and staff, and Her Royal Highness is on her way to the festivities. The riot takes place, but what is really violent is the way Mick is dispatched. In the previous films, there were elements of fantasy handled beautifully, even in a poetic way, but this time writer David Sherwin turned the story into a Stuart Gordon fest, which Anderson relished with a scene right out of "Re-Animator". This impression is so strong, that it casts a dark shadow over the final sequence when the Genesis project (which recites Shakespeare) is presented to all. Many familiar faces were welcome (Alan Bates, Joan Plowright, Graham Crowden, Jill Bennett, Liz Smith, Vivian Pickles, Marsha A. Hunt, and Robin Askwith), but it's a pity that Anderson and Sherwin decided to end the trilogy in such an extreme and rude fashion.

8FilmCriticLalitRao

Britannia Hospital: A Lindsay Anderson film which succinctly portrays some glaring deficiencies of British health care system.

It can be anybody's wild guess that most viewers would bring to their minds a sick nation which needs to be urgently cured come what may whenever they hear about a film with a wacky title-"Britannia Hospital". However, one has to bear in mind that "Britannia Hospital" is no ordinary infirmary as it is infested with numerous dubious characters intent on getting their personal agendas furthered at a time when the eponymous health establishment is getting all spruced up to celebrate its 500th anniversary. One can thus watch with customary mirth a scientist determined to produce the best brain in the world, an hospital official who would like to instruct its staff about the right manners in which British queen must be received, a reckless reporter who would like to stealthily film irregularities of an hospital etc. A long time before Romanian director Cristi Puiu burst on international scene with his absurd tale set in a Bucharest hospital, The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005), Lindsay Anderson-one of British cinema's greatest auteur had already made one of the best satires in the history of British cinema. Britannia Hospital is so brutal yet frank in its mission to expose horrendous absurdities of an hospital system that comparisons with Samuel Fuller's maverick "Shock Corridor" (1963) would not appear incongruous. Lindsay Anderson's film is a phenomenal treat for all Anglophobes/Britanophobes as he ruthlessly attacks whatever that is either dear to Britain or has a distinct British connection. Upon its release in 1982, a horrible time for Britain, this Lindsay Anderson film was butchered beyond recognition by some vested interests of British press. However, it is high time genuine film admirers make efforts to go beyond the realm of "Carry On" films as "Britannia Hospital" is the only perfect film which would make viewers jump with joy discovering why affordable,decent health care is still a matter of concern for most ordinary Britons.

8zetes

If not as good as if... and O Lucky Man, that doesn't mean it is worthless

This film completes the Mick Travis trilogy, of which the first two installments are if (1968) and O Lucky Man (1973). You could say either that Britannia Hospital has little to do with the other two films or a lot. It depends on how you look at it. The political viewpoints are similar, but the style is much different. The three movies remind me much of Tati's first three Hulot films in the way they differ between each other while having interconnected themes. This would be Anderson's Playtime, in that, much like Hulot in Playtime, Mick Travis (Malcolm McDowell) becomes just one of a million different characters. Calling Britannia Hospital Anderson's Playtime oversells the film, unfortunately. The film does not work quite as well as if and O Lucky Man, both of which are masterpieces, in my estimation. Britannia Hospital feels like it ought to be a masterpiece. There are just so many flashes of genius. You see images and scenes that Federico Fellini or Luis Buñuel would have killed to come up with, and the film's liberal politics, while definitely somewhat confusing, are far more potent than anything Godard ever put forward. It also contains one moment of gorgeous eroticism, when Malcolm McDowell is changing clothes and a nurse gently cups both of his buttocks from behind. By the end, though, instead of being moved I was rather scratching my head. The film would probably benefit if I were to watch all three installments in a row, because there are apparently a lot of characters that are shared between them (I only recognized Mick Travis and Professor Millar; it's been over two years since I've seen the other films). But, then again, seeing how this film has been completely tossed aside by so many people, I'm hardly the only one who is confused. On the other hand, a film with so much ambition and power ought never to be shoved aside. Its dismissal is more than a little unjustified.

7jwild49

A Relic of old Black Comedy.

It's sad to see that there are no directors like Anderson these days. In fact, there never was a director like him and I doubt there ever will be one like him ever.

To start, I must warn any potential viewers that this film is a hand full. If you turn your head for more than 2 minutes you might be totally lost. To understand the humor of this film don't expect the kind of humor we find in today's comedy's or satires.

There's something genuine about this movie. Anderson has created his own little universe with his Mick Travis Trilogy and expect the unexpected when watching this film.

Overall, I say it was a good watch. It certainly intrigued and impressed with it's multiple characters. Mark Hamill has a hilarious part, and so does Malcolm McDowell. It's too bad they weren't in the movie more.

Anyone who loves weird movies will have to give this one a watch. It is simply one the best of its breed and will never fail to entertain. It gets slow in some parts but the scenes with McDowell pick the film right back up. His characterization of Travis is just brilliantly funny and odd. The ending scene is as epic and classic as any scene you'll find in cinema.

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Trivia
Mark Hamill, Sir Alan Bates, and Malcolm McDowell worked for free.

Errores
At 02:40, the nurse puts her cape on twice.

Citas
Professor Millar: Friends! Fellow Members of the Human Race! We are gathered here for a purpose. Let us look together at Mankind. What do we see? We see Mastery. What wonders Mankind can perform. He can cross the oceans and continents today, as easily as our grandfathers crossed the street. Tomorrow he will as easily cross the vast territories of space. He can make deserts FERTILE and plant cabbages on the Moon. And what does man CHOOSE? Alone among the creatures of this world, the Human Race CHOOSES to ANNIHILATE itself. Since the last world conflict ended, there has not been one day in which Human Beings have not been SLAUGHTERING or wounding one another, in 200 and 30 different wars. And man BREEDS as recklessly as he lays waste. By the end of the century, the population of the world will have TRIPLED. 2/3rds of our plant species will have been DESTROYED. 55% of the Animal Kingdom. and 70% of our mineral resources. Out of every hundred Human Beings now living, 80 will DIE without ever KNOWING what it FEELS like to be fully nourished... While a tiny minority INDULGE themselves in ABSURD and EXTRAVAGANT luxuries. A motion picture entertainer of North America will receive as much money in a MONTH as would feed a starving South American tribe for a hundred YEARS! We WASTE! We DESTROY! AND, we cling like SAVAGES to our SUPERSTITIONS. We give POWER to LEADERS of State and Church as prejudiced and small-minded as ourselves, who SQUANDER our resources on instruments of destruction... While Millions continue to SUFFER and go hungry, condemned FOREVER to lives of IGNORANCE and DEPRIVATION. And why is this? It is because mankind has denied Intelligence, the unique glory of our species - the Human Brain. Man is entering an era of INFINITE possibility, still imprisoned in a FEEBLE, inefficient body... Still manacled by primitive notions of morality, which have NO PLACE in an Age of Science... Still powered by a brain that has HARDLY developed since the species emerged from the caves. Only a NEW intelligence can save Mankind! Only a new Human Being of PURE BRAIN can lead man forward into the new era. I do not speak of DREAMS. Such a being exists already. I have created it! It is HERE. NOW. Prepare yourselves to meet the Human of the Future. Neither Man nor Woman. Greater than either. I have given it a name. Genesis. Birth. A New Birth. A New Beginning for Mankind. People of Today, Behold Your Future!