Officer in error Military medical unit in North Africa. World War II, Italy is at war with the British. A young officer arrives at the unit, preparing to get a degree in psychiatry. The officer is healthy and beautiful in all respects - serious in his work, knows how to joke with colleagues, looks at the girls. In the unit there is a strange captain named Oscar Pilley. In the morning he greets the sun, “makes love with flies”, smearing his body, and in communication – a natural madman. It soon becomes clear to the lieutenant that Pilley is a clinical case. In part, such a place, they can really put work at risk. But the situation only gets worse - after the departure of the commandant-major, Pilley as the senior in rank becomes the head of the unit. Everyone's gonna be in trouble now. Junior officers write a collective denunciation on Pilley, the inspection comes. Pilley behaves like a child during interrogation, but in the end, due to his indirect connection with the marshal, he is afraid to be removed from office. Now the question remains: how long will Pilly remain at the head of the unit to the horror of his subordinates?
This is a rare film about a war where there is no fighting. And yet the military atmosphere is deeply and clearly conveyed. In addition, it is important that we are talking about fascist Italy, as there are already too many films shown from the point of view of the winners. The soldiers and officers here are portrayed not as bloodthirsty monsters, as is now common in every first World War II film, but as ordinary people who dream of ending the war in order to return to loving families. We can even say that this is not a fascist, but an abstract military-medical part. This is not about the victory of Italy in general (or any other country), but about the officer microcosm. Pilly, it turns out, was very attached to his mother. Seeing an abandoned child (even in a photo) is a tragedy for him, causing a cascade of emotions with which he simply cannot cope without tears. But at the same time, Pilley can be cruel, he does not forget his power for a second. In general, his image is unmatched. This is a living and multifaceted picture of an ambiguous personality. His facial expressions are unforgettable. On his face play the hard, distorted by anger features, then there are smooth, completely infantile lines. That’s right, because Pilly is a madman. Not a sophisticated sadist, but definitely a person who is at odds with himself and from whom you can expect anything.
Mad Man at War is a lively and vibrant film with outstanding acting. This is a work in the genre of “war without war”. The focus here is on the lives of ordinary officers who, fortunately for the audience, do not suffer from the vice of every second demonstration of the official ideology of their country. In the image of Pilley embodies the appearance of an “officer by mistake”, a man who found his place in the war, although by and large should not have been allowed to it. This is the most surprising thing: for Pilly, war is home.
8 out of 10
