Mourning, suffering and remembrance; Derek Jarman's wide-ranging tapestry of violent and lyrical images provides an effective visual accompaniment to Benjamin Britten's music. Laurence Olivier, in his last movie performance, is an old wheelchair-bound veteran, Owen Teale is the Unknown Soldier and Nathaniel Parker the WWI poet Wilfred Owen.
Documentary footage of many wars, handheld Super 8 material recreating the innocence of youth and peace, and a highly stylised evocation of life at the front expressed in washed-out tones which recall old coloured postcards, the contrasting images collide with each other to sometimes monumental effect.