Sai and Shujath talk Cinema

Catch-22 is one of those rare literary phrases which have been accepted as part of normal English conversation. Based on a bestseller by Joseph Heller the movie adaptation was directed by Mike Nichols and featured Alan Arkin in the lead. This movie made in 1970 actually was a commercial failure but over a period of time has found its following. On the whole I did find this flick quite amusing.

Alan Arkin plays a World War II bombardier called Yossarian who is fed up of the war and  wants to return home. But his commanding officer’s fetish for having the highest number of bombing missions for his squadron won’t let that happen. Yossarian then pleads insanity to get out but then he faces a Catch-22 situation - one could leave the war voluntarily by proving that he is insane; but his pleading of insanity to leave the war means that he is able to realize the danger of being in the war…which means that he is actually not insane. And so, he is stuck. The rest of the movie is more of a black comedy with Yossarian’s friends perishing one by one - for reasons definitely not attributable to enemy combat. The major themes which pop up in this movie are the general disenchantment of soldiers with war and war-profiteering.

The narrative moves in a pretty non-linear format which probably should have been groundbreaking during its time. The movie has a very open ending where Yossarian is shown fleeing the camp after being offered another Catch-22 deal. I found this film lot more interesting than Nichols’ much acclaimed The Graduate. Alan Arkin was really good as the protagonist Yossarian. Ultimately, this flick works quite well as an overt war satire and makes an interesting watch.