The gas attack scene is impressive without a doubt... and there is certainly here a chillingly accurate rendition of the horrors of war... The comparisons with later films such as Jacob's Ladder are fine as long as this one gets the nod as the superior one (no cheap letdown surprise in the end!).
But what makes this film stand out for me is that it breaks a barrier - an important one even for the ''sexy year'' of 1969...
For the first time ever to my knowledge we had two major female stars embrace in such a suggestive way it left nothing to the imagination and it was thus the first ''big'' sapphic display with two stars!
We would have to wait until the 80's for another such exhibition - Catherine Deneuve (the new Capucine?) and another Suzy (Susan Sarandon) in The Hunger.
Capucine was a major star - bigger than Suzy Kendall at the time. She had co-starred with William Holden, Peter Sellers and David Niven... To see her cast as this very sapphic Dr.Saforet was indeed... surprising.
Both actresses perhaps paid with their careers for their daring avant-gardedness here, in this most unique war film, or so it seems...
But what makes this film stand out for me is that it breaks a barrier - an important one even for the ''sexy year'' of 1969...
For the first time ever to my knowledge we had two major female stars embrace in such a suggestive way it left nothing to the imagination and it was thus the first ''big'' sapphic display with two stars!
We would have to wait until the 80's for another such exhibition - Catherine Deneuve (the new Capucine?) and another Suzy (Susan Sarandon) in The Hunger.
Capucine was a major star - bigger than Suzy Kendall at the time. She had co-starred with William Holden, Peter Sellers and David Niven... To see her cast as this very sapphic Dr.Saforet was indeed... surprising.
Both actresses perhaps paid with their careers for their daring avant-gardedness here, in this most unique war film, or so it seems...