I’ll generally watch any movie that is war or military related. Some of my favourites include Enemy At The Gates, The Lost Battalion and of course one of the most popular ever, Saving Private Ryan. So when I saw Passchendaele, I couldn’t resist.
Passchendaele is a 2008 Canadian war film from Alliance Films, written, directed by and starring Paul Gross. The film, which was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Fort Macleod, Alberta, CFB Suffield, and in Belgium, focuses on the experiences of Gross’s grandfather, Michael Dunne, a soldier who served in the 10th Battalion, CEF in the First World War at the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres).
The start of the movie was a bit bland with the filler bits so to speak, but towards the end it really picked up with the action and it made up for it. I must say, the movie shows just how gruesome WWI really was. Fighting your opponent face to face, close quarters, whilst at the same time stuck in a wet and muddy trench. There were some powerful scenes in the battle as well. One was of a young German soldier who looked to be no more than 15, sitting in the mud, confused as hell, completely disoriented and in fright.
Overall I thought the movie wasn’t too bad, good scenery, dramatic styled background music and decent fight scenes. Also, I find when watching such movies it really makes you appreciate just how lucky we are in this day and age where we don’t have to go out and do what all those men did. Because in war, no one is a hero.
If this movie may interest you, check out the trailer here.
This article was posted on March 9, 2009 at 9:30 pm | Filed in movies | 2 comments have been made.
WillMarch 11 at 3:09 pm
I recommend seeing Letters From Iwo Jima if you haven’t already, telling the story of Flags Of Our Fathers from the Japanese perspective. It was brave of Clint Eastwood to make both films, but in particular Letters given how the Japanese are generally seen as brutal heartless monsters during WWII. That’s not to say that what they did during the war was correct, but this movie definitely humanises them and gives a completely fresh perspective of that stereotype. Unsurprisingly it was controversial when it came out in the US. I also recommend Stalingrad, made by a German director.
RadMarch 11 at 4:05 pm
Thanks dude, didn’t realise you were into watching war movies as well. Will check out both.