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DVD Behind the Lines
This extraordinary World War I film concerns themes of heroism, sacrifice, duty, and self-knowledge as profound as any in Saving Private Ryan. The story, taken from Pat Barker's 1991 novel Regeneration and based on true events, is set in a British Army hospital in Craiglockart, Scotland, in 1917. There, a pioneering psychiatrist named Dr. William Rivers (Jonathan Pryce) works with shell-shocked soldiers in a gentle, humane manner that contrasts sharply with the brutality of his colleagues. (The film's most horrifying scene features a mute patient being forced to speak by means of electric shock.)
Among Rivers's patients is a mute, amnesiac officer named Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller), as well as the emotionally depleted poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce) and another poet and war hero, Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby). Unlike the others, Sassoon is not, in fact, suffering from any disorder but is being quietly punished for writing a pamphlet denouncing the war. The army hopes Rivers can find some basis for mental incompetency in Sassoon, but the thoughtful doctor instead attempts to persuade him to add legitimacy to his criticisms of the war by returning to active duty.
Pryce brilliantly captures the cumulative effects of Rivers's responsibility--of fixing men and sending them back to their possible deaths--on the good doctor's nerves. Wilby is also fine as Sassoon, but the film belongs just as much to actors Miller and Bunce, whose characters are different kinds of men struggling to find their balance, one through a revived sense of duty and the other through his writing. Scottish filmmaker Gillies Mackinnon (The Playboys) is at the top of his form, telling a unique story about the invisible wounds of war while shedding light on the meeting of two visionary poets and one visionary physician. --Tom Keogh
"He wasn't a man. He was a fighting unit...being repaired."
I'm quite surprised that this incredible war film has remained so obscure since it's U.S. release, although like the previous reviewers I can see how the deceptive title of "Behind the Lines" would mislead people into thinking of daring missions and epic battle sequences rather than an asylum. Even with very few combat scenes, "Behind the Lines" is a devastating portrait of World War I and one of the best depictions of the war I've ever seen.
Jonathan Pryce stars as Dr. William Rivers, an army psychiatrist who must treat and heal shell-shocked soldiers at an asylum in Scotland so he can return them to the slaughter at the front. Although other doctors use brutal electrical shock treatment to "cure" shell-shock victims, Rivers uses patience, kindness, and understanding to treat his patients. But when he meets Siegfried (James Wilby), a decorated war hero who's sent to the asylum for publishing an anti-war pamphlet, he's faced with questioning his own beliefs about the war. As he becomes more and more attached to his troubled patients, Dr. Rivers eventually finds himself suffering from symptoms of shell-shock, and he reaches the point where he's about to break down physically and emotionally.
This gripping film about World War I's devastating impact on the brave men at the front is one that you'll never forget. The music, superb performances, and incredible cinematography combine to make this one of the greatest war films of all time. Highly recommended!
Excellent adaptation
Pat Barker's "Regeneration" brought to the screen with such care; it's like a miracle when a great book is duplicated by a screenwriter. The only thing I didn't like about the film [and the words, "didn't like" are really too strong] was Jonny Lee Miller as Prior; and that's strictly personal because he just didn't LOOK like my idea of Prior. I picture Prior as fair; resembling Jude Law possibly. Also, the way Prior is presented here, you really didn't get the hint, as you do in Regeneration, that Prior is "one of those" as his roommate says! But to be fair, THAT was actually developed in the other two books in the trilogy...I suppose I was not distant enough from the books to totally appreciate this film on its own merits, although I do think it's excellent. The opening overhead shot of a field of battle, AFTER a battle, is just astounding.
Why didn't this movie get more attention in America when it was released??!! Jonathan Pryce's performance is definitely Oscar caliber.
Looking into the minds of the Great War poets.
I understand the lament of some reviewers as to this film's name change from _Regeneration_ to _Behind the Lines_. The "lines" to which the title refers are not the battle lines, but the lines of poetry (and prose) of several of the film's key historical figures. (Mostly Owen and Sassoon, but Robert Graves also makes an appearance.) It is actually a very appropriate title if we understand it as investigating the cataclysm through which these authors forged their art.
This is an excellent film for anyone who wants to understand the profound psychological change the Great War imposed upon the men of this generation. It is also a good jumping-off point for a discussion of the War Poets in any history or lit class.
This is an excellent movie for World War I buffs. Why? For one reason, there is little enough out there for the amateur historian of this period, and the depictions and language exchange are useful to understand trench warfare. This is not about character development to the ultimate degree. This is about a snapshot of history, and it is well done, for what it set out to achieve. And the price is right. Buy it, now.
Several things are lacking, like the dry trenches (never happen) and the clean uniforms (Britain had been in the war for two years), but perfection would make it five stars, rather than four.
The true World War I story of an American unit that was surrounded by German troops and pounded mercilessly for days (at times even by its own artillery) is vividly portrayed in this made-for-television film starring Rick Schroder. Playing a patrician New York City lawyer commissioned a major and sent into combat, Schroder commands a battalion composed of New York wiseacres as well as so-called "apple knockers" from the West. The plot is straightforward (and will be familiar to those who know World War I history), but the film rises above what could have been a clichéd telling of the story of Major Whittlesey and his heroic men. The action sequences, shot tightly with hand-held cameras, owe a debt to Saving Private Ryan, and the surreal horror of World War I, in which armies... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Russell Mulcahy DVD Release Date: Released the 29 January 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Taken from the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, All Quiet on the Western Front is a devastating portrait by Delbert Mann (Desire Under the Elms, Marty) of a small group of German soldiers throughout the World War I.
The star-studded cast is headed by Richard Thomas (The Waltons) as Paul Baumer, and includes such award-winning actors as Ernest Borgnine, Ian Holm, and Patricia Neal. As both narrator and star, Thomas occasionally seems to reincarnate his familiar John-Boy persona, but creates a character that has many more levels than that television alter ego. Watching Paul as he watches all of his high school buddies die is a highly emotional experience. He returns to his home a different person, conflicted in his feelings about the Army and war,... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Richard Thomas - Ernest Borgnine Director(s): Delbert Mann DVD Release Date: Released the 23 April 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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William Wharton's autobiographical novel of World War II becomes a moving portrait of war's madness in the microcosm of a small intelligence patrol on the German front in 1944. The unit, composed of high IQ soldiers, is sent to scout ahead. They discover a small platoon of Germans hiding in the forest, but these soldiers would rather fight with snowballs than guns and exchange Christmas presents instead of mortar fire. The young, rather unsoldierly Americans are offered the opportunity to "capture" the Germans without a fight--until a fatal misunderstanding plunges their efforts into tragedy. Director Keith Gordon, who also penned the screenplay, creates an unusually eloquent, offbeat platoon drama shot amidst the tranquil beauty of a snow-covered forest. His excellent cast includes... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Peter Berg - Kevin Dillon Director(s): Keith Gordon DVD Release Date: Released the 04 June 2002 Usually ships in 24 hours
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First broadcast on HBO in June of 1998--shortly before the theatrical release of Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan--this World War II drama offers an equally intimate and devastating study of combat and its tragic aftermath. Set in Germany during the closing days of the war, the film uses a little-known episode of U.S. military history--the bloody battle of the Hurtigen Forest--as the backdrop for the story of a battle-weary private (Ron Eldard) who is the only surviving member of his platoon. Despite his request for dismissal on the grounds of mental disability and shell-shock, he is considered a promising soldier by his superiors, promoted to sergeant, and assigned to command a fresh platoon of young, inexperienced soldiers. The cycle of war continues, and the film ends as... More Info about this DVD Director(s): John Irvin DVD Release Date: Released the 07 August 2001 Usually ships in 24 hours
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