Author Leslie Thomas had a massive selling book in the 1960s with The Virgin Soldiers, a semi-autobiographical recounting of some of his experiences as a conscripted soldier posted unwillingly to the Far East to carry out his National Service. Like all real-life experiences, there was a mixture of the happy and sad, the funny and tragic. And the title served triple duty - it was provocative (and therefore good for sales), it was accurate (and the losing of that virginity forms one of the episodes), and it was metaphorical (for the events of the book also represent a coming of age, a rite of passage for the young conscripts).
Thomas was known at the time primarily as a comic novelist and it is right that the film, based solidly on his book and featuring some wonderful performances from young British actors (particular Hywel Bennett in the lead), is also often very funny. But there is also great depth to it, and it is well worth a visit. As is the book.
Thomas was known at the time primarily as a comic novelist and it is right that the film, based solidly on his book and featuring some wonderful performances from young British actors (particular Hywel Bennett in the lead), is also often very funny. But there is also great depth to it, and it is well worth a visit. As is the book.