Movie review - "Brittania Hospital" (1982) ***

The third in the Lindsay Anderson-Malcolm McDowell "Mick Travis" trilogy isn't as good as if or O Lucky Man but has a similar zany spirit - I know the word "zany" is considered old fashioned these days but it's true. Maybe "anarchic" as well. This is very much of it's time - I don't think we'd buy a movie today about unions being able to bring a hospital to a crushing stop. It's England in decline, something they seem to constantly worry about - nothing works, hospitals, public transport, royal visits. There are digs against Africans which could be interpreted as racist (dictators, radicals, chickens in the hospital) but to be fair the movie mocks everyone with equal savagery - royals, establishment, union officials, etc. I really liked the Frankenstein subplot. But it's not hard to see why this wasn't a hit. That has been blamed on the Falklands factor but the fact there is no sympathetic or at least empathetic lead I think counted more.