Passchendaele (2008)
Genre: War / History
Duration: 114 minuten
Alternative title: The Battle of Passchendaele
Country:
Canada
Directed by: Paul Gross
Stars: Paul Gross, Gil Bellows and Robert Nogier
IMDb score:
6,4 (9.182)
Releasedate: 17 October 2008
Passchendaele plot
On July 31, 1917, the massive bombardment of the Allied artillery during the Battle of Passchendaele began. A massive bloody battle ensued with more than a million casualties on both sides. Combat units from all over the British Empire were called in. This film tells the story of the Canadians who ended up in this hell.
Actors and actresses
Michael Dunne
Sarah Mann
David Mann
Cassie Walker
Colonel Ormand
Royster
Skinner
Peters
Mr Harper
Colonel McAndrew
Reviews & comments
moviemafketel
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- 19752 messages
- 2118 votes
Film sometimes reminded me of the 1st WWII scenes from The Legends of the Fall. Also the beautiful images of nature by the way. I didn't need the love story through it. Kind of distracts from what it's really all about and that's the madness and desperation of this horrible trench warfare. It's unbelievable how many people died in this. Completely different from WWII. Man against man fights, sometimes all running head on into the line of fire and then hope that at the end you have a few more men left than the enemy.
I thought the fight was very well portrayed. The buckets of rain that kept falling.
Too bad I didn't like any of the characters. It should have come across as a bit more Band of Brother-esque. Now no soldier actually has an identity that you can identify with.
End a bit too thick. Just before the credits, I thought I read that the Germans had recaptured Passchendaele within a week. Painful, you give your life for that.
Educational, but generally quite boring as a film.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Alathir
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- 2133 messages
- 1638 votes
Passendaele... I've been to the museum once and the park behind it was interesting and then I visited Tyne Cot Cemetery. You can tell from all the cemeteries in the area that this was a very crucial place in the First World War. There have been many casualties here.
I also like to see a film about WW I, it is often about WWII. Perhaps WW I is a little less cinematic because trenches always look the same. Now this film does things a little differently. It takes a long time before we finally arrive in Passendaele and I thought that was a shame. It felt too romanticized. The acting is not very strong, I thought Paul Gross was reasonable and the nurse Dhavernas too, but her brother no sorry. Furthermore, a very predictable course, although I have to say that the whole is entertaining and well portrayed.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Lovelyboy
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- 3953 messages
- 2955 votes
Well...not that I expected much from this, but sometimes you still hope for an unexpected gem. But no, TV movie at its best. What is striking in itself are beautiful shots and the excellent sets in the war part. In itself a pretty nice picture is presented of the infernal mud in Flanders around Ypres and Passhendaele. But that is also soon said.
It is certainly not a war film until more than halfway through, although the opening scene in the destroyed village is still hopeful, Gross immediately puts an end to that by stabbing someone in the forehead. A lot common annoyance that I see very often in movies, banjonet, knives and hypodermic needles that apparently simply go through sternums and in this case through a skull. Damn man, stop with that nonsense.
Back in the world, Canada to understand, the whole thing kind of gets bogged down in a forced relationship and very standard image of how people think and act. The dialogues sometimes seem to come from the handbook 'How do I write a screenplay'.
As said one of the few good things is the mud sets. That looks fine. Then the battle .... well, it's nice that the Germans don't shoot during their attack, light arrows and flares don't whistle like normal projectiles badly conceived and assembled, the boy on the cross is very dramatic, not that it wouldn't can but it is now fighting against the beer quay. Gross's sprint to the boy is unbelievable and makes no sense. The Germans who then put out the fire and help him is a nice touch.
Ultimately, not my thing. Would have been better with a different angle. I'd rather forget Paul Gross in this one too, rather remember him in youth sentiment Due South as the impeccable Mounty.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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