This Week on DVD

JOHN GARDNER reviews Passchendaele



Passchendaele was written, directed and starred Canadian actor, Paul Gross. From the opening scene Gross, pours himself into this production. That scene, set in the First World War, has Sgt. Michael Joseph Dunne (played by real life grandson, Gross) taking out a machine gun nest and is based on a real life incident his grandfather related to him. It is in his memory that the film was made.
The side story is one of love involving Dunne and the pretty Nurse Mann (played by Caroline Dhavernas). Sent back to Calgary to recover from the injuries he receives - both physical and emotional - Dunne is nursed back to health by Nurse Mann. He falls for her without even knowing her first name. It is not until he is leaving the hospital that he learns her name is Sarah.
Mann is tragically flawed in more ways than one. Her father has died on Vimy Ridge. Her young brother, David (played by Joe Dinicol), is old enough for service, but asthma keeps him home. She deals with the pressures of the men around her dying in her own secret way.
At every turn, David feels pressure to help out the war effort. When David has a problem trying to figure out how he can help more, the mayor of Calgary challenges him to “use your imagination.” David’s attempts to enlist are rejected by now recruiter Dunne. When he does succeed in enlisting, Dunne follows him back to the battlefields of Europe because of a need to atone for past sins, (and of course looking after the baby brother is going to win points with the girl).
Gross is known for a wide variety of work, including Const. Benton Fraser in Due South, and Kevin Black on The Red Green Show, and throws in a subtle bit of humour with the inclusion of the Calgary neighbour who David greets with a cheery “Hello there Mr. Harper.”
But war is not pretty, and in Passchendaele no attempt is made to make it so.
The battlefield scenes are desolate and wet. Each day shooting required 15 tankers of water raining down on the crew and set. It took two weeks just to create the battlefield, digging up a field on a hill overlooking the city of Calgary, planting broken tree trunks and turning it into a water-logged mire, complete with bits and pieces of a broken civilization that was the Belgian town of Passchendaele. All this water made it incredibly hard to “keep your matches dry.” When still photos shot during the movie are mixed with historical photos, it is hard to tell the difference.
The Dunne - Mann side story was not entirely necessary, and takes away from the film as a true war movie, giving it a tendency to move it into the whole girl finds (or loses) boy genre and had me checking the jacket to make sure the title was not “Passiondale.”
Because of the historical nature of the film, it is hard to fit in a really unbelievable firefight that sees the hero in a muscle shirt kill off half a platoon single-handedly, Rambo style. Gross’s character is of average build, is capable of complete sentences and has human failings. In a word - believable. Thankfully this movie is a cut above Rambo.
It was shot in Canada with a Canadian crew concerning a subject that still strikes a cord with Canadians over 90 years after the events. The movie shows that Canadians are not just able to make Toronto look like an American city (after you throw a bit of garbage around for set decoration). Canadians can make great movies. Because of its northern roots, this movie is not a huge blockbuster. Nor does it have the star power of a Tom Hanks or Will Smith. If it had had a major studio behind it, it would have been another Bridge over the River Kwai.
Although I enjoyed the movie, it is not one I would recommend to everyone. There are a few love scenes that, while tame by modern standards, may offend some. The battlefield scenes make no effort to hide the horror of war and the movie probably used almost as much blood as it did rain.
I am giving this movie four stars and that is only because the love sub-plot took away from the battlefield action. If you are a history buff, get the DVD and watch the movie, but then be sure to watch the extras. This is the first movie I was able to get through the “making of” without falling asleep.
“Kings may fall, and countries may crumble, but if people look close enough they just might find something to believe in.” - Dunne

DVDs for This Week on DVD are provided by Movie Gallery, St. Stephen.