Went the Day Well? 1942. Great Britain. Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti. Written by John Dighton, Diana Morgan, Angus MacPhail, from the story The Lieutenant Died Last by Graham Greene. With Leslie Banks, Elizabeth Allan, Frank Lawton. 35mm. 92 min.
A British village welcomes a platoon of soldiers during World War II, only to find out that they’re German soldiers ordered to take control of the village in advance of a planned invasion. “Violence gains the upper hand in the second half of the movie, with a harshness that has no equivalent in British cinema of the period. Shots are fired in the back, the Germans who lob grenades at women and children are skewered on bayonets and finished off with blows of a gun butt. Cavalcanti never refuses to delve into the consequences of violence…. He never hides the price that must be paid” (Bertrand Tavernier).