Pleasures of War
Synopsis
The city elders are prepared to surrender, but Judith has other ideas. From the battlements she has watched Holofernes, the enemy general, and now she plans revenge and triumph. When they meet in his camp, they discover more complex desires and needs in each other, and during one night work out a passionate and dangerous relationship. By dawn Judith is victorious, but it is a bitter victory.
Does patriotrism justify any action? Is Judith a hero or a maniac? Is Holofernes oppressor or victim? Is this a story about the sexiness of war or the savagery of sex? Can violence ever generate peace, or does it just keep the brutal cycles of war, defeat, victory and reprisal circling forever?
Details
- Year
- 2004
- Type of project
- Shorts
- Running time
- 11 mins 30 secs
- Format
- 35mm, Beta SP
- Director
-
Ruth Lingford
- Producer
- Richard Gooderick
- Executive Producer
- Richard Gooderick
- Editor
- Jo Ann Kaplan
- Screenwriter
- Sara Maitland
- Sound
- George Foulgham
- Composer
- Andy Cowton
- Principal cast
- Pablo Duarte, Mildred Lee, Corinne Strickett (voices)
Genre
Production Status
Production Company
Finetake Productions
110 Calabria RoadLondon
N5 1HT
UK
T+44 (0) 20 7359 5786
Sales Company
Channel 4 International
124 Horseferry RoadLondon
SW1P 2TX
UK
T+44 (0)20 7306 8782
Page updates
This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.
See also
You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.
Trump Dreams
Director: Ruth Lingford
Year: 2017
An animation based on images, words and ideas taken from dreams about Donald Trump from people around the world. Official Selection Annecy Film Festival 2018 - Short Films Perspectives Competition
Director: Ruth Lingford
Year: 2003
A clear-eyed look at the inevitability of our own decay and death. With some humour and visual seduction, the film uses images that are visceral, abrasive and sometimes quite beautiful, hinting at the consequences of our society's denial of death.
VisionQuest
Director: Christopher J. Byrne, Gandja Monteiro, Vincenzo Natali, Terry Matalas
Year: 2026
Marvel Television’s VISIONQUEST is an all-new original series screening on Disney+, which concludes the epic trilogy that began with 2021’s ground-breaking, award-winning WANDAVISION and 2024’s acclaimed AGATHA ALL ALONG. Vision, rebooted and having escaped from those who sought to weaponise him, has been in hiding. Searching for new meaning, he consults the AI personas embedded in his programming, including Friday, Edith, Jarvis, and the infamous Ultron. His discreet existence ends when a bounty placed on his head thrusts him on the run with Thomas Shepard, a mysterious boy who may be Vision’s son, reincarnate. As Vision evades capture, he must confront his nature, resist Ultron's influence, and unravel the enigma that is his young companion if he’s to survive. VISIONQUEST is created for television by Terry Matalas, based on the Marvel Comics. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival Official Selection 2026