Sudbury - Cinefest
Went to see the opening night gala last night at the Sudbury film festival - Cinefest.
Paul Gross' First World War film Passchendaele is set against the backdrop of the First World War and the Canadian involvement in the 1917 battle for Ypres. The story revolves around Sgt. Michael Dunne, who loses his patrol in an earlier battle and is shipped back to Canada to recover in hospital. Questioning his involvement in the war and suffering from shell shock, Dunne is reassigned to recruitment efforts on the home front. After falling in love with a nurse, Dunne gets caught up in home front politics and finds himself headed back to the front lines in an attempt to redeem himself and protect the nurse's younger brother.
Gross, who wrote, directed and stars in this film, does a fair job focusing on the small personal stories at the centre of the war and not letting the politics or overall reason for the war to overwhelm the story. Surprisingly the battle scenes make up a relatively small portion of the film which can be a blessing and a curse for film like this as it tries to be too many things to too many people. Reportedly costing $20 Million to make, the films ability to recoup that money is questionable until you learn that Gross has shrewdly marketed this film as part of High School curriculum on World War I. Not sure exactly how that is going to work, but all the power to him.
Getting back to the film, Passchendaele does a wonderful job recreating both the battlefield and the Canadian home front of the period. In a question and answer period after the film Paul Gross revealed that they had done extensive research and that a number of photos they found in archives were recreated almost to the detail for the film in an effort to capture that realism of the period.
Despite some heavy handed symbolism at various points in the movie, I felt the film's biggest flaw was Gross himself in the lead role. Not that Gross isn't a fine actor, he's a more than proven himself over his long career. No, its that Gross' Michael Dunne never quite comes across as the physically and mentally wounded character that he says he is in the film. His confidence outshines his vulnerability too many times to make you believe that Michael Dunne can do anything but succeed in what he puts his mind to. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the character, but I distinctly got the feel that Gross was going for a more messed up individual who had no more answers than anyone else.
Gross and his co-star Joe Nicol who plays the young David Mann in the film were on hand to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. Paul Gross was charming as ever and played up to the Sudbury crowd and the festival.
Speaking of Sudbury references, a piece of dialogue exchanged by troops waist deep in a water-filled crater shell was well received by the audience. A young anglo-looking Canadian soldier turns to his aboriginal neighbour in the trench and says "How can you say you don't like Sudbury if you've never even been there?" The reply "A skin knows these things, I don't have to see it to know I don't like it".
Okay so you had to be there to appreciate the quip.
A decent movie all around and an important contribution to the Canadian historical genre.
Paul Gross' First World War film Passchendaele is set against the backdrop of the First World War and the Canadian involvement in the 1917 battle for Ypres. The story revolves around Sgt. Michael Dunne, who loses his patrol in an earlier battle and is shipped back to Canada to recover in hospital. Questioning his involvement in the war and suffering from shell shock, Dunne is reassigned to recruitment efforts on the home front. After falling in love with a nurse, Dunne gets caught up in home front politics and finds himself headed back to the front lines in an attempt to redeem himself and protect the nurse's younger brother.
Gross, who wrote, directed and stars in this film, does a fair job focusing on the small personal stories at the centre of the war and not letting the politics or overall reason for the war to overwhelm the story. Surprisingly the battle scenes make up a relatively small portion of the film which can be a blessing and a curse for film like this as it tries to be too many things to too many people. Reportedly costing $20 Million to make, the films ability to recoup that money is questionable until you learn that Gross has shrewdly marketed this film as part of High School curriculum on World War I. Not sure exactly how that is going to work, but all the power to him.
Getting back to the film, Passchendaele does a wonderful job recreating both the battlefield and the Canadian home front of the period. In a question and answer period after the film Paul Gross revealed that they had done extensive research and that a number of photos they found in archives were recreated almost to the detail for the film in an effort to capture that realism of the period.
Despite some heavy handed symbolism at various points in the movie, I felt the film's biggest flaw was Gross himself in the lead role. Not that Gross isn't a fine actor, he's a more than proven himself over his long career. No, its that Gross' Michael Dunne never quite comes across as the physically and mentally wounded character that he says he is in the film. His confidence outshines his vulnerability too many times to make you believe that Michael Dunne can do anything but succeed in what he puts his mind to. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the character, but I distinctly got the feel that Gross was going for a more messed up individual who had no more answers than anyone else.
Gross and his co-star Joe Nicol who plays the young David Mann in the film were on hand to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. Paul Gross was charming as ever and played up to the Sudbury crowd and the festival.
Speaking of Sudbury references, a piece of dialogue exchanged by troops waist deep in a water-filled crater shell was well received by the audience. A young anglo-looking Canadian soldier turns to his aboriginal neighbour in the trench and says "How can you say you don't like Sudbury if you've never even been there?" The reply "A skin knows these things, I don't have to see it to know I don't like it".
Okay so you had to be there to appreciate the quip.
A decent movie all around and an important contribution to the Canadian historical genre.