Passchendaele (2008)

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Paul Gross wrote, directed and stars in this ambitious (yet still very CBC feeling) epic, following the exploits of the Canadian soldiers who fought in one of the key battles of World War 1 in 1917. The story follows Gross as a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naïve boy who intersect first in Alberta and then through the bloody battle of Passchendaele.You can just tell that Paul Gross put his heart and soul into this and I really, really wanted to be impressed, finally getting the Canadian side of events after so many WW1 movies that just deal with the American or British. Unfortunately though its not great.Yeah it has its moments, it's visually impressive, the battle scenes are very well done, the trench warfare, the mud, the rain, the carnage and I got very caught up in the ending despite myself but this is also melodramatic at times, kinda choppy and (as I said) has a made for TV feel despite the big budget. Guys will be disappointed too because for the most part this is a love story.Still I am haunted by the ending, that final shot of the wooden cross in Calgary with the Bow river in the background infused with the white stone graves in France, beautiful. 11/16/14

When Passchendaele was released, I was excited; finally, a WWI movie told from the Canadians' point of view (which is too often neglected) that would do the horrible conflict justice? I'm in! Then I bought the movie...First, the good; the technical details are pretty accurate! I love researching war and weapons, and Passchendaele's weapons and other technical details are accurate to the time. The battlefields look and feel like real WWI battlefields; wet, often muddy, and miserable. It's obvious that Director Paul Gross (also the main star) did his research.Unfortunately, that is the only part of the movie I can actually praise. Which brings us to the bad...The story hurts the movie a lot. It tells of a veteran soldier who returns to the front to protect the relative of his nurse girlfriend. Told well, it could have added to the movie, but unfortunately the story is told poorly. Add in a few meaningless sex scenes and that hurts the movie even more. It's a war movie after all! We viewers came to see war, not a mushy love story!Next, the stereotypes. The Canadian soldiers are usually portrayed as strong, noble, skilled soldiers, while the Germans are seen as incompetent, bumbling murderous monsters. Example(slight spoiler here!); in one of the battle scenes, the Germans attack the Canadian lines and seem to miss every single shot they fire and constantly fail at any melee combat. The Canadians are shown to be brutally efficient fighters, dropping Germans left and right. For a movie that strives to be technically accurate, the stereotypical enemies deal a major blow to the movie's reputation. In short, a technically accurate WWI movie that fails in just about everything else.

The DVD of this had been staring at me every time I ventured into my local HMV branch, vying for my '2 for £10' cash. It looked promising, until it was shown, just now on BBC1.Radio Times, rather shockingly awarded this Canadian WWI movie a cursory one star. Their renowned and respected critic David Parkinson had derided it - How - and what - could make it so utterly bad?On a surface level, it's not a bad looking film, so the deficiencies are more than skin deep and they seep up and slowly overwhelm its audience. The bland, uninspiring characters, who we just can't warm to or rally around, the boring romantic tangents that help waste up to an hour of its lengthy near two hour runtime.Those who might celebrate a war film that's not all about guns and blowing people up, still might find that the entire run seems set on half-speed. The Canadian mountainous landscapes help offset an air of grimy doom, that binds the whole project like constricting barbed wire on the Front. Many reviewers have carped on about the menial dialogue; we don't expect Shakespearian dialogue amongst frightened squaddies on battlefront, but a believable one would have helped.It was the religious symbolism in the final frames that really got David Parkinson's goat - played out totally for melodramatic effect. I'm not religious, so it did not offend me - I cannot begin to imagine the feelings that those that are, might have.In a way, I'm glad that I watched Passchendale and I did so for free and that I won't have to see it again. It's a name of a place that is steeped in History and as fewer WWI veterans remain with us, it's even more important that their memories - and that they fought so bravely for the freedom that we enjoy - and take for granted now, are kept alive. Unfortunately, this film doesn't do that, but fortunately, because it is pretty poor, few people will ever get to see it.

I consider myself an admirer of Paul Gross, the actor. His 'Slings and Arrows' is one of the all-time best television series and he's very good in 'Due South' and 'Eastwick'. But good actors don't always make great directors. I went ahead and got 'Passchendaele' on a whim trusting that I'd like it. I wanted to like it. However, it failed to deliver. Starting with the good, it does try to tell a side of World War story that hasn't been told. WW1 has hardly been used in films and the involvement of Canada is even less known. The film moves back and forth from war to romance. Sadly, with the exception of some graphic scenes, there isn't much about Passchendaele that is explored.The script is one cliché after another and very melodramatic (at times it's as bad as a soap opera). The characters are poorly written, especially that of the brother (who also happens to be one of the most annoying characters in cinema). As stated earlier, the battle scenes are fairly graphic (some of them are shot or situated so poorly that it's laughable). There are plenty of unintentionally funny moments because of the poor execution. In the earlier portions of the film there are some nice glimpses of Canada (especially the breathtaking fields and mountains).Paul Gross does an adequate job where acting is concerned. Joe Dinicol appears too whiny at times and he gives a lacklustre performance. Caroline Davernas is the only one who manages to rise above her ill-written character. The rest of the cast try to meet up the requirements of the formula.Overall, 'Passchendaele' is a major disappointment. 'Hope Gross does much better next time or just stick to acting.