Some excellent depiction of war - witness the opening scenes as a machine gun stops and blows a body back, rather than the usual all fall over shot: some nice romantic interest that is mainly not overplayed; and a hero who suffers but does not crack under the pressure of 'hell is war.' But the film - and you have to say Paul Gross as writer and director - goes over the top just a couple of times too often. He packs the story with real incident, viz his girlfriend is of German stock and her house is trashed, but very late in the war so a bit unbelievable, but an occurrence in countries with new immigrants, and loses the audience rather. The worst moments come when Gross drags his mate pinned up on a makeshift cross across No Man's Land(A similar moment to the excruciating slo mo in 'Children of God' as the fighting stops to let a pregnant woman pass!) and the quick coupling as shells burst all around the battlefield. A pity, a great pity, because the movie has a lot to portray in that quiet Canadian way which shows the strengths of the country but also its' inability to make its' cultural and artistic presence felt. Perhaps the film could have done with a little more 'Canadaism' by showing the troops preparing for the fight, rather than Gross meeting his sweetheart at a nearby field hospital. But an interesting and very faithful depiction of a clichéd moment in time.
Review of Passchendaele
Passchendaele
(2008)
Good war movie - pity it just goes over the top!
12 January 2011
Warning: Spoilers