Passchendaele (film)
| Passchendaele | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Paul Gross |
| Produced by | Paul Gross Niv Fichman Frank Siracusa Francis Damberger |
| Written by | Paul Gross |
| Starring | Paul Gross Caroline Dhavernas Gil Bellows Joe Dinicol Jim Mezon |
| Music by | Jan A. P. Kaczmarek |
| Cinematography | Gregory Middleton |
| Edited by | David Wharnsby |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Alliance Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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114 minutes |
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $4,452,423 |
Passchendaele is a 2008 Canadian war film, written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Paul Gross. The film, which was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Fort Macleod, Alberta, and in Belgium, focuses on the experiences of a Canadian soldier, Michael Dunne, at the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. The film had its premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival on September 4, 2008, when it also had the honour of opening the festival, and it was released widely in Canada on October 17, 2008.
The main character is Sergeant Michael Dunne (later reverting to his mother's maiden name McCrae for re-enlistment), introduced in the spring of 1917 after Vimy Ridge, a decorated veteran of the 10th Battalion, CEF.
During heavy combat in a ruined town, Dunne is wounded and sent home from Europe as a neurasthenia patient. While recovering from his injuries, he meets nurse Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas) in Calgary, Alberta, where he had originally enlisted.
Sarah Mann is drummed out of the local nursing service, and ostracised in town, because her father was of German descent and had left Canada to rejoin the Imperial German Army in 1915. He was killed at Vimy Ridge on the opposing side to Sergeant Dunne. She has become addicted to morphine as a means of dealing with the recurring loss in her life.
David Mann (Joe Dinicol) is Sarah's younger brother. Despite being ineligible for military service due to asthma, he is desperate to win the respect of his girlfriend's father at a time when military service is demanded of all young men. He is vehemently anti-German and tries to expunge the fact that his father was German, and had died fighting for Germany, from the family history. His girlfriend's father pulls strings to get him enlisted, arguably in the hope that he will not return and marry his daughter. Sarah originally thinks Michael has enlisted David, in his role as local recruitment officer, but later finds this is untrue. The enlistment is further facilitated by a British recruiting officer whose malice and goading of David Mann and Michael Dunne makes him the film's principal antagonist. Michael however feels a responsibility and re-enlists as Private McCrae in order to protect David at the front.
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