By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2.5 cats
Country: canada
Year: 2008
Running time: 114
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1092082/
Beth says: “Paul Gross wrote, directed, co-produced and co-starred in a movie inspired by stories told to him by his grandfather about serving in the Canadian army during WWI and experiencing the horrors of trench warfare and the battle at Passchendaele, part of what Americans might know better as the battle for Ypres. It’s a story of a German-Canadian brother and sister in Calgary suffering for the actions of their now dead father and the shellshocked soldier (Gross) who has returned to a Canada that no longer feels like home, until he meets these two young people. I heard someone say that this was Canada’s SSAVING PRIVATE RYAN, and while that’s partly true I think it’s also trying to be Canada’s MRS. MINIVER. Unfortunately I think whatever larger meaning or significance the film was meant to have is never realized because of the lack of attention
to the specific story being told. Which is a shame, because the casting was overall quite good, Calgary looked gorgeous and the warfront/battle scenes were brutal and unforgettable. 2 1/2 cats”