Beautifully filmed,expertly directed and the acting sublime.alost generation and a loss of one's self,in an age when love that dare not speaks its name was reviled.the interaction of the poetry and film is used to great effect.on a lighter note some of the acidic one liners would have made lady Grantham wince.
Benediction
2021
Biography / Drama / War
Benediction
2021
Biography / Drama / War
Plot summary
BENEDICTION explores the turbulent life of First World War poet, Siegfried Sassoon, through the eyes of the revered filmmaker Terence Davies. Sassoon was a complex man who survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery but who became a vocal critic of the government's continuation of the war when he returned from service. His poetry was inspired by his experiences on the Western Front and he became one of the leading war poets of the era. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London's literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality. At the same time, broken by the horror of war, he made his life's journey a quest for salvation, trying to find it within the conformity of marriage and religion. His story is one of a troubled man in a fractured world searching for peace and self-acceptance, something which speaks as meaningfully to the modern world as it did then.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
June 20, 2022 at 03:33 AM
Director
Top cast
Tom Blyth as Glen Byam Shaw
Kate Phillips as Young Hester Gatty
Jack Lowden as Young Siegfried Sassoon
Jeremy Irvine as Ivor Novello
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB 1.23 GB
1280*534
English 2.0
PG-13
24 fps
2 hr 17 min
P/S ...
Movie Reviews
Reviewed by
Elegy for lost generation.
Reviewed by
Interesting topic -- poorly directed
The once-great director Terence Davies fails to pull it together for this overlong, meandering story of gay World War I poet Siegfried Sassoon. The story lumbers on and on and on -- and then is further padded out with scenes from a church service and some unneeded songs. There are several poems as well, but, hey, it is a movie about a poet.
Late in the film, we transition to other actors playing old Siegfried. There was absolutely no feeling of character continuity between young and old Siegfried (Peter Capaldi), nor young and old Stephen (Anton Lesser).
The performances all were fine and the production values were high. The problems lay entirely with Davies.
The most interesting stretch is in the shell-shock (PTSD) hospital with fellow gay World War I poet Wilfred Owen. But even this was covered more cohesively in the 1997 movie 'Regeneration' (aka 'Behind the Lines'), also about Sassoon and Owen. (And then there's 'Hedd Wynn' if you want a really fine move about yet another gay World War I poet!)
The final poem was, to my unpoetical ears, by far the best. Ironically, it was one by Owen, not Sassoon. Maybe a movie about Owen might have been more the ticket. At least it could not have been so long as 'Benediction'!
Reviewed by
Genius
I'll be writing a review for Art Report Today so I just wanted to say: this is the best film of the year so far and Davies' finest achievement. Bring the tissues, it's a weeper. And the acting is sublime.
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