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Post by markpatrus on Nov 14, 2011 14:41:28 GMT -5
Over the weekend I caught this 2008 Canadian produced film on Encore. Never heard of it before. Passchendaele is a village in Belgium that was nearly wiped off the map after a three month campaign of Allied forces against German imperial troops in World War 1. Paul Gross is a Canadian actor who wrote, co-produced and starred in this incredible film. The trench warfare in the end is some of the best and most brutal I have ever seen depicted on film. He was inspired to do this from something his great grandfather admitted to when he fought in that battle. After all was said and done, depending on estimates and whether those estimates include civilian casualties were nearly a half a million. This is a tremendous film and a powerful film. I highly recommend it.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Nov 14, 2011 15:45:24 GMT -5
I'll have to catch this if possible. See my comments on "Guns of August"; that book has stirred my interest in WWI. Thanks for posting this.
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Post by alamonorth on Nov 15, 2011 14:45:41 GMT -5
Be forewarned, this film is actually a period romance with WW1 as a backdrop. So theoretically the whole family should enjoy it; there is love, great Canadian scenery and intelligent social dialoque. The battle scences are awesome and very brutal.
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Post by alamonorth on Nov 15, 2011 14:59:05 GMT -5
Just as an addendum, this is a Canadian film and I think its budget was in the 20 million range so don't expect something like Gallipoli.
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Post by markpatrus on Nov 15, 2011 16:23:34 GMT -5
Personally I thought it was a great film. Wouldn't call it a date movie. That'd be like taking your date to go see 'Saving Private Ryan'. As for the budget, it is still the most expensive Canadian film to date. According to IMDB.com, this film had a twenty million dollar budget. With the budget they had, they still staged the scenes brilliantly. And I thought it was much better than 'Gallipoli'. And it wasn't the great grandfather of the writer, co-director and star that I had previously stated had fought in that battle. It was his grandfather.
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