Passchendaele (2008)

Director:

Paul Gross

Writer:

Paul Gross (written by)

Release Date:

17 October 2008 (Canada)

Genre:

Drama | History | Romance | War

Tagline:

in love, there is only one rule... don't die.

Plot:

The lives of a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naive boy intersect first in Alberta and then in Belgium during the bloody World War I battle of Passchendaele.

Plot Keywords:

Battle | Veteran | Alberta | Nurse | Platoon

Awards:

7 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Paul Gross	...	Michael Dunne
Caroline Dhavernas	...	Sarah Mann
Joe Dinicol	...	David Mann
Meredith Bailey	...	Cassie Walker
Jim Mezon	...	Dobson-Hughes
Michael Greyeyes	...	Highway
Adam Harrington	...	Colonel Ormand (as Adam John Harrington)
Gil Bellows	...	Royster
James Kot	...	Skinner
Jesse Frechette	...	Peters
Rainer Kahl	...	German Machine Gunner
Landon Liboiron	...	Young German Soldier
Patricia Benedict	...	Nursing Matron
Hugh Probyn	...	Carmichael
Brian Dooley	...	McKinnon

Runtime:

114 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | German

Color:

Color | Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Singapore:M18 | Australia:MA

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

Damberger Film & Cattle Co.

Trivia:

Paul Gross wrote and directed this film, and it's closing song "After the War". Michael Dunne was his grandfather, a WW One vet, who once heartbreakingly confessed to a young Gross about bayoneting the young lad in the forehead. Gross later said on Dunne's deathbed he was muttering for forgiveness and he was the only one who knew what was being talked about.

Goofs:

Continuity: During one of the close-ups between Dunne and Mann, the rain has stopped. In the next scene, it is once again pouring.

Quotes:

Michael Dunne: Do you think maybe I could accompany you to a dance, or...?
Sarah Mann: I don't dance with soldiers.
Michael Dunne: I could lose the uniform.
Sarah Mann: I don't dance with naked soldiers.

Soundtrack:

After The War

This film is Beautiful.

Many people have put forth criticisms regarding so called holes in the historical details of the Film. However, This is not a film about the war's specifics as much as it is a film about people. The characters are rich, and their veridical treatment informs the film throughout. The battle of Passchendaele may be one of the contexts surrounding the characters, but it is the characters that predominate the emotional ebb and flow of the film. This is a portrayal of human beings- fallible human beings-who are thrust onto the battlefield (abroad and at home) while still remaining human. It is the story of people trying to hold on to the relationships that are inherent in all of us, when confronted by the overwhelming tribulations of a World War (which affects the communities they call home as wells as the battlefield). The 'sex scene' exudes passion, as a couple in love fears for their lives and safety. In turbulent war times, their primary concern is consummating their relationship. Each instant might be their last possible opportunity to share the intimacy they have longed for.

Although, at points, the score is very stereotypically in the fashion of small screen Canadian melodrama, the characters continue to resonate with vitality; a vitality that might lead one to expect to draw blood if they were to prick the movie screen with a thumb tack. The battle scenes (which this reviewer sees as an extension certain characters' intricacies and depth) rival, if not surpass, those that were offered to us by Spielberg in the opening sequences of Saving Private Ryan.

The film conveys passion and desire amongst the insurmountable propriety of the times, in contrast to the preponderance of human connection within a tempestuous social climate. When hard times prevail we only have our humanity to rely on and we only have others to rely on in order to maintain our humanity.

This is a intensely emotion film portraying relationships in times of war.

Passchendaele is a artistic display of Beauty.