Overlord
Criterion Collection Edition #382
Seamlessly interweaving archival war footage with a fictional narrative, this immersive account of one twenty-year-old’s journey from basic training to the front lines of D-day brings to life all the terrors and isolation of war with jolting authenticity. OVERLORD, directed by Stuart Cooper and impressionistically shot by Stanley Kubrick’s longtime cinematographer John Alcott, is both a document of World War II and a dreamlike meditation on human smallness in a large, incomprehensible machine.
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Overlord
Directed by Stuart Cooper • 1975 • United Kingdom
Starring Brian Stirner, Davyd Harries, Nicholas BallSeamlessly interweaving archival war footage with a fictional narrative, this immersive account of one twenty-year-old’s journey from basic training to the front lines of D-day brings to life a...
Extras
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OVERLORD Commentary
Recorded in 2006 in Los Angeles and London, this commentary features director Stuart Cooper and actor Brian Stirner.
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Mining the Archive
In this 2007 piece, Imperial War Museum film archivists Roger Smither and Anne Fleming discuss Stuart Cooper’s use of archival war footage to tell the story of the buildup to D-day in OVERLORD. Also included is additional footage shot on D-day by service cameramen.
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Capa Influences Cooper
Legendary photographer Robert Capa shot 106 images on Omaha Beach on D-day, only a handful of which survive. These blurry photos have a surreal quality that succinctly conveys the chaos and confusion of the day. In this 2007 photo essay, which includes most of the famous images, director Stuart C...
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Cameramen at War
Produced by the British Ministry of Information in 1943, this film is a tribute to newsreel and service film unit cameramen and features some of the most dramatic footage shot during the war.
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Germany Calling
For OVERLORD’s cinema scene, Stuart Cooper used clips from 1941’s GERMANY CALLING, a propaganda film that cut shots from TRIUMPH OF THE WILL to the tune “The Lambeth Walk,” to ridicule the Nazis. The British Ministry of Information released it to newsreel companies without credits or acknowledgme...
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Soldiers’ Journals: Stuart Cooper Introduction
While writing the script for OVERLORD, director Stuart Cooper and cowriter Christopher Hudson read the journals of two D-day soldiers, Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh and Sergeant Finlay Campbell. Moved by these soldiers’ experiences, they incorporated some of their recollections into the protagoni...
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Soldiers’ Journals: Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh
While writing the script for OVERLORD, director Stuart Cooper and cowriter Christopher Hudson read the journals of two D-day soldiers, Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh and Sergeant Finlay Campbell. Moved by these soldiers’ experiences, they incorporated some of their recollections into the protagoni...
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Soldiers’ Journals: Sergeant Finlay Campbell
While writing the script for OVERLORD, director Stuart Cooper and cowriter Christopher Hudson read the journals of two D-day soldiers, Sergeant Edward Robert McCosh and Sergeant Finlay Campbell. Moved by these soldiers’ experiences, they incorporated some of their recollections into the protagoni...
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A Test of Violence
Directed by Stuart Cooper • 1969 • United Kingdom
In 1969, Stuart Cooper made this short film about the work of Spanish artist Juan Genovés, whose paintings depict the horror of oppression and brutality. It won prizes at the Berlin, Moscow, and Venice film festivals. It also caught the attention...
