Benediction

Excellent production detailing the life of poet Siegfried Sassoon, played brilliantly by Jack Lowden. We are taken from the early days of the first world war to his late years, played by Peter Capaldi. Performances are excellent throughout. The only area I think could have improved the movie was if we had had a couple of flashback sequences from Sassoon's life in the trenches. The horror of the first world war is referenced throughout, and although I commend the use of actual footage from the time, I feel it would have been better to have included scenes of Sassoon's wartime experiences first hand. Without these I never felt the weight of the war as the poet would have done to determine his pacifist actions. Show, not tell.

I would like to give it a 6 — but only for these four reasons: I lack the historic appreciation for British cultural pleasantries; I never knew the poet Siegfried Sassoon before this movie; I do not personally relate with the struggle of homosexuality (while I can appreciate the struggle of it); and I’m not accustomed to frequent, long, “static shot” scenes [meaning the camera doesn’t move]. Analyzing the movie beyond my lens, I give the movie a 74/100. Read on to learn why [with no spoilers in my review]. The script oscillated from an 8-9 to a 5-6 — a mix of occasional great intellectual poetry and dialogue, to casual and ordinary dialogue that was acted well, but very ordinary. I would say the script consisted of more ordinary script than I liked, but the smart and charming parts of the script + a beer in my hand kept me in the theater. The acting was well done and suited the situations, save for a few instances; overall I give the acting an 8-9. The movie did a fine job conveying the life and struggles of Siegfried Sassoon in both realistic and artistic fashions. There are lessons in the movie that I think everyone can learn from. The artistic portrayal of war was abstract in its attempt, but fairly basic in its execution; its execution was that of a novice filmmaker. Overall, if I were a British grandma or an elderly gay man who saw this movie pop up on TV, on BBC, I would watch this movie in full without any problem. Maybe this movie would appeal more to mid-life and young gay folks than mid-life and young heterosexuals, though the younger audience might overall opt for other cinema. Lastly, one doesn’t have to be British to like the movie but it probably helps.