Passchendaele

2008
6.4| 1h54m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 17 October 2008 Released
Producted By: Rhombus Media
Country: Canada
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.passchendaelethemovie.com
Synopsis

Sergeant Michael Dunne fights in the 10th Battalion, AKA The "Fighting Tenth" with the 1st Canadian Division and participated in all major Canadian battles of the war, and set the record for highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle

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Reviews

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant
Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Blake Rivera If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.
SnoopyStyle Sergeant Michael Dunne (Paul Gross) survives a brutal vicious assault and finds himself in a Calgary hospital being treated by nurse Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas). She and her brother David (Joe Dinicol) face problems arising from their German father who died for the German army. David's asthma keeps him out of the war which is looked down upon by his girlfriend Cassie Walker's father. Michael is facing desertion charges and possible execution back at the front despite winning a medal from the fight. The three of them eventually find themselves back in the war.There are compelling bits of scenes here and there. It's kinda daring to have the protagonist bayonet a helpless German boy in the forehead. The shaming of the men who haven't enlisted is interesting. The story back home is way too messy encompassing too many elements. It's trying to do too much. Paul Gross is not gritty enough for this role. The first half becomes a sincere melodrama. The second half is more or less a big muddy WWI trench war movie. The production is not as high as Hollywood. The sincerity does keep it from being truly bad.
lewilewis1997 Excellent, graphic action spoiled by a pointless love interest? Short answer? Yup.The attention to detail, sets and action are all commendable. The 'horror' of war well communicated. A few factoids thrown in to give the 'event' scale. All good.But......unexplained gaps in time, a plain Jane love interest, clichéd old time British officer, terrible incidental music, the unlikeliest bunk up in history and a field hospital in the middle of the battle field (or how else could they witness 'the crucifiction'?) spoiled an otherwise enjoyable film.However the cherry on top for me was the cleanest, shortest heroin withdrawal ever. One night was all it took. A few cramps, shakes and slight sweat was all that needed to be endured. No long days of vomit, lying in your own urine, dry retching, explosive diarrhea, abusive insults, begging for one last hit, desperate promises or attempted sexual bribes were seen. Maybe things were just better 'back in the day'? Watch the first 20 minutes, spool forward an hour, watch the last 20 minutes, avoid the awful 'funeral' final scene and you'll have an excellent short. That's it.
Rusty Fondleberg This movie was pretty dreadful. And I am saying this as a Canadian, a very patriotic one at that. Our valor at war which is often overlooked and under appreciated should indeed be celebrated and respected however this film did very little to promote any thing much more than blatantly over the top patriotism. The love story is uninteresting and forgettable. The actors are poorly cast and their dialogue is poorly written. With so much to work with and with such a key historic moment such as Passchendaele it is astounding to me that this is the best they could do. Again the fight scenes were alright although not very realistic. Suffice to say this movie is pretty boring and poorly done. I recommend giving it a skip.***/10
GGormack For the production cost of this film you would think they could have hired a screenwriter! To be fair the visuals were often stunning. The recreation of famous scenes from the Ypres salient were remarkable, including Frank Hurley's iconic 1917 image of Australian solders on a duck board track in Château Wood.Coincidence follows coincidence as the viewer is asked to suspend disbelief on a scale matching "Pearl Harbor." Michael, Sarah, and David eventually make their separate ways from Calgary, Alberta those thousands of miles to the Western Front in wind up in the exact same unit. And if this is not enough, the evil protagonist from back home soon materializes to torment them once again.But like coincidence, metaphor piles on metaphor, unjustified and heavy handed. Visual references to the passion and crucifixion in the final battle scenes were completely baffling.The disappointment is that this film could have been so much more! There is boundless sadness and irony in this most tragic and pointless battle in a supremely tragic and pointless war. Why not skip the cheap tricks and make a film about that?