Review of Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) by Filmgrinder S — 24 Apr 2013

Based on a classic anti-war novel by Kurt Vonnegut, of which I am a huge fan, this movie actually does justice to a book I thought would struggle to make the page-screen transition.

The plot might be difficult to follow if you've not read the book, as it's a philosophical insight into timelines not existing in the linear, but all at once in non-sequential random order. Lost? Yes, I was when I first started reading the book.

Michael Sacks plays Billy Pilgrim, a WWII veteran who "timejumps" from his settled family life in suburbia, back to the World War II and his time spent interned in Dresden POW camp and into the distant future where he is on the planet Tralfamadore, confined to a zoo-like dome with an adult movie star as his love interest, observed by aliens who only exist in the 4th dimension.

The plot sounds twisted and convoluted to those who are unfamiliar with Vonnegut's prose, but the adaptation makes the movie quite easy to follow considering the non-sequential order.

Part sci-fi, part war but brilliant in its execution and craft, this is up there with Catch-22 as the all time anti-war movies. Recommended especially to those who've read the book.