Passchendaele the Movie

[John McGillivray]

Apparently Canadian Actor Paul Gross is making a movie about the battle of Passchendaele which will be on the big screen sometime this fall . I hope that they get the history right, but I’m not holding my breath .

http://www.passchendaelethemovie.com/



Here are links to portions of an NFB doc. on YouTube, dealing with the Canadian role during the battle of Passchendaele.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAyHopSq9ZI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3SC87mc64Y

[klambie]

Went to a talk here in Calgary a couple of weeks ago by the historian who was involved in the project, Norman Leach. Must admit that I got a mixed feeling on how it is going to turn out. Sounds like they took a lot of effort to make the battlefield realistic, and worked hard to get the details right wherever budget allowed. Leach is a collector and it sounds as though that background will contribute to the accuracy with respect to uniforms, and other kit, but he used the example of gas masks at $500 a pop or something like that (for however many hundred soldiers they had) as something that they just couldn't afford. Repros of the proper numbered titles for the Germans are also ridiculously expensive, so they went with something more generic. They sounded very receptive to his suggestions, so hopefully that kept things on track somewhat. He emphasized that their budget for the entire movie ($23 or $25 million) is what Spielberg spent on the first 20 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, so keep your expectations reasonable. They are representing 10 Bn CEF, so sounds like that aspect might be OK.

Less sure about the overall story itself and how that will turn out. It's loosely based on Gross's grandfather (or g-grandfather?), who served with 10 Bn, though not at Passchendale, including a love interest. He also admitted that they've taken some iconic stories from elsewhere in Canadian WW I history (no specifics) and grafted them in, so those who know their history might notice their being out of place. Those that know 10 Bn will also notice that they've juggled some of the officers around to better tell the story. It is not intended as a documentary, but I fear it might be a love story, based at Passchendale (please God not Pearl Harbour the movie again). Sincerely hope that's not the case.

They pleaded for us to support it on opening weekend (that largely determines whether it will be deemed commercially successful) and buy the DVD in order to have any hope of seeing other stories told some day, and I will probably check it out with fingers crossed on that basis.