Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
THE TRENCH IS HEART-WRENCHING STUFF, 16 Dec 2002
By A Customer
Saw THE TRENCH recently, the first film by famed novelist William Boyd (Armadillo, A Blue Afternoon) and was very moved by it. An odd piece in its structure (very little happens until the last 10mn) as well as form (almost entirely studio-shot) the film's evocation of the absurdity of war was ultimately very successful.Disposing of any plot, Boyd slowly traces the 48hrs leading up to the Battle of the Somme, with a group of (very) young soldiers. They are bored, restless and scared and as an audience we are asked to go through the same journey. And when the inevitable does happen we are left in tears because we got to know and like those characters. This film is Spielberg's SAVING PRIVATE RYAN but the other way round (in the Hollywood big budget blockbuster you start off with the battle and the death and the carnage and then you are bored for the following 2hrs!). For emotional payback THE TRENCH is a much more satisfying experience. Paul Nicholls' performance is probably too weak to carry the film but Daniel Craig's awesome display of charisma is in itself worth watching the film for. Also I would like to point out to so-called WWI experts who have written reviews for this film that the days depicted in this film take place in June when trenches were not muddy and wet, not yet at least. I do agree though that explosions would have rendered the field itself more lunar than grassy and luxurious. A definite recommendation. You will not regret it.
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29 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
The quiet and clean first world war, 13 Feb 2001
I looked forward to seeing this film immensely but was teribly disappointed by its lack of atmoshere. As someone obsessed with the First World War I am normally moved to tears simply by the sight of a poppy but this film somehow managed to leave me cold. Set during the days prior to the first day of the battle of the Somme, it refers to the immense bombardment of thousands of shells upon enemy lines referred to as just 400 yards away, yet the falling of these shells sounds as gentle as distant thunder as the troops whisper to one another. The trenches and uniforms are clean and dry, food is so plentiful the soldiers can afford to be picky, the soldiers do not scratch, 'chat' for lice, write home, or sing... Okay, perhaps this film is striving to avoid the cliches of WW1 and of course no-one expects such a film to embrace documentary accuracy, but for me these men portrayed were unrecognisable as products of their era. The acting hardly helped, with indistinguishable working class lads and upper-class stereotypes, with only the sergeant eliciting any sympathy. Overall the film reminded me of a one act stage play written for a sixth form project. Feeble, minimally researched and no fitting epitaph for the men who endured the stinking, filthy, bloody hell that was the Somme.
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28 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Disasterously miscast dvd, 9 Mar 2001
By A Customer
This travesty of a film about the 48 hours leading up to the first day of the battle of the Somme fails in all areas. The casting of Paul Nicholls, once again playing the sweet and innocent wide eyed boy, is an absolute disaster. We have every possible stereotype in the platoon, from the loud mouthed arrogant cockney to the thinker, a soldier who tries to analyse everything that is happening around them, they are, of course, led by a 'windy' drunk of an upper class twit in the guise of an officer. ...when one considers that the bombardment that preceeded the opening of the battle was the most devastating that had been seen to date in that war, we barely hear a shell burst during the whole of the film. The soldiers are strangely clean, as is the trench they inhabit, and can anybody tell me why they are in a forward advance trench when they are supposed to be in the third wave of the attack? THe great war advisor, should be shamed at this appalling rubbish. The crowning glory of the film is when they attack over beautiful green fields, unscarred by the heavy bombardment that had been going on for 7 days, absolute rubbish. The only good point in the film, is a fine performance by Daniel Craig as the Sergeant, but this sadly, cannot save an absolute turkey of a film, which looks more like a school play.
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