This is a classic movie about life in occupied Britain after a successful German invasion in WWII. The movie is not so much about the invasion itself, as it is about what happens next.
The most chilling aspect of the film is the gradual slide into collaborationism and active participation in fascist activities both of the majority of the British population as a whole and of the main character of the film. There is a clear implication that almost everyone is vulnerable to falling under the evil spell of fascism.
The story of how the movie was made is also quite interesting. The film was released in 1966, but the work was actually started 8 years earlier, one of the longest production schedules, or perhaps even the longest, for any movie. The film was directed by Kevin Brownlow, who was only 18 years old when he began working on the film and would later go on to become a prominent film historian. Brownlow enlisted the help of Andrew Mollo, who was even younger (only 16 years old) when he began working on the film and who helped with the historical details (Mollo later became a military historian). The cast of the film also involved only two professional actors, but hundreds of volunteers. The movie even got help from Stanley Kubrik, who donated some movies. To learn more about how the movie was made, be sure to read Brownlow’s book, “How It Happened Here.”
Although the film has an anti-fascist and anti-Nazi message, the original version of the film included a controversial seven-minute section that featured British far-right Colin Jordan speaking. This footage was removed in the original release of the film, but Brownlow restored it 30 years later after he regained the rights to the film.
Inevitably, given the nature of the production, some compromises were made during the making of the film. The film was shot in 16mm and has a somewhat grainy character, furthermore, the sound quality, especially in the early part of the film, is not the best. The other criticism I would make is that the ending, to me, seemed somewhat artificial and unrealistic, but I suppose they needed some way to end the film. However, these criticisms are relatively minor – the movie is a classic and you will want to see it. Like many alternate WWII stories, it shows what could have been and how lucky we are that Nazism was defeated.
