As a bit of a WW1 enthusiast, I was expecting a depiction of the harsh realities of trench warfare. Sadly I was left disappointed. Almost all the accounts I have ever read from soldiers who fought on the Somme talk about the filth, the stench and the dreadful weather conditions (the Allied advance itself was delayed for three days due to heavy rain). However this film was clearly shot in a nice warm dry studio with the "trench" itself being made of plastic. There was no hint of any weather at all throughout the entire film and no attempt the make it look as though the events depicted had taken place outdoors. Needless to say there was no mud or reference to it, and the plastic "trench" showed no signs of crumbling or shaking under the relentless shellfire of the German shelling. To add to the implausibility of the film, non of the soldiers had anything about them to suggest that they had been living under these conditions for any length of time. We know that it was not uncommon for soldiers to wear the same clothes and boots for weeks at a time without washing or changing, but all the soldiers we saw looked as though they had just walked out of the local hair dressers - perfectly clean styled hair to a man.
We also know that lice were a constant problem in the trenches, and infested the uniforms of the soldiers and made daily life a misery. However the film is far too clean and well groomed to feature such things.
I know that these are all relatively small historical errors and it is necessary to allow for a little 'artistic license' and I am not the sort of person who would claim a film was ruined because someone had the wrong regimental badge on their cap or something! But it seems that the purpose of the film was to examine the realities of trench warfare and the impact that living in these conditions had on the boys who were sent to fight there. A bit of effort on the part of the writer/director to actually understand his subject would have gone a long way. Even just filming it outside would have made a huge difference to the whole feel of the piece. I really did not enjoy it and actually consider that it played down the enormous sacrifice made by the men whose stories it tried to tell.
We also know that lice were a constant problem in the trenches, and infested the uniforms of the soldiers and made daily life a misery. However the film is far too clean and well groomed to feature such things.
I know that these are all relatively small historical errors and it is necessary to allow for a little 'artistic license' and I am not the sort of person who would claim a film was ruined because someone had the wrong regimental badge on their cap or something! But it seems that the purpose of the film was to examine the realities of trench warfare and the impact that living in these conditions had on the boys who were sent to fight there. A bit of effort on the part of the writer/director to actually understand his subject would have gone a long way. Even just filming it outside would have made a huge difference to the whole feel of the piece. I really did not enjoy it and actually consider that it played down the enormous sacrifice made by the men whose stories it tried to tell.