Customer Reviews

Behind the Lines

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good grief, I finally found a US edition of this film so I can buy it. Can't the original title be put in brackets or something beside the 'nouveau' so you at least find it?! The philistine who came up with the new title didn't even bother to look at a Sassoon or Owens poem, obviously. My suggested title above (which admittedly may be no better as a film title) is from a Sassoon poem and I picked it more or less at random on the first page I opened in my anthology.

The film did manage to get across the awful (British) Imperial jingoism without ramming it down our throats more or less exclusively. The experiences that caused such acute suffering as displayed by the inmates of Craiglockhard were presented well, as was the personal humiliation of succumbing to mental illness or "shell-shock". Less successful however, was the treatment of the worst thing a soldier can do: failing to act with stoicism and diffidence. (Sassoon for example, developed an intense hatred for civilians as a result of this fairytale "let's all pretend we're having a lovely time in Flanders because that's what they want to hear at home, and we can't go upsetting the ladies, now can we, lads?", that at least outlasted the war.)

This was a well-scripted, well-acted,thoughtful and thought-provoking film. This is not a standard "tear-jerker" but if it does not make you shed a tear of sorrow and rage then you must have been multi-tasking.

This film actually rekindled a schoolgirl interest in the history of the First World War and in the extraordinary change in and range of poetry resulting from the experience of those in the foul trenches of France and Flanders.

BEHIND THE LINES is a film adaptation of the first volume of Pat Barker's excellent Regeneration trilogy. I was anxious to watch this DVD since I finished reading this book last week, but I had some reservations since film adaptations are often less than par. However, shortly after pressing the play button I was reassured that this DVD did the book a great justice. The directors did a phenomenal job in re-creating the atmosphere of the suffering of the soldiers and the horrific psychological consequences of trench fighting. BEHIND THE LINES follows a group of officers suffering from shell shock who are treated at Craiglockhart War Hospital outside Edinburgh. There is no doubt that what these soldiers experience can disturb even the most strong-minded individual today. The principle psychiatrist is Dr. Rivers, who suffered from his own personal demons and war symptoms. He created strong friendships with many of his patients and cared dearly for their well being. Rivers is a complex, nuanced character. While he portrays an exterior of believing in the War, he holds an internal debate of the War's philosophical warrants.

As stated by a previous reviewer, the original title of this film is Regeneration *not* Behind the Lines. I have no idea why the title was changed when it was released in the United States because the current title doesn't make any sense. Another complaint is that there is a lack of any special features on this DVD. It would have been marvelous to watch a director commentary or behind the scenes footage. It's unfortunate that this is a bare bones DVD. Regardless of these two negative aspects, BEHIND THE LINES is a wonderful and deeply moving film of British soldiers suffering from shell shock during the Great War.

Read Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy and watch this film. Both are highly recommended.

I'm quite surprised that this incredible war film has remained so obscure since it's U.S. release, although like the previous reviewers I can see how the deceptive title of "Behind the Lines" would mislead people into thinking of daring missions and epic battle sequences rather than an asylum. Even with very few combat scenes, "Behind the Lines" is a devastating portrait of World War I and one of the best depictions of the war I've ever seen.

Jonathan Pryce stars as Dr. William Rivers, an army psychiatrist who must treat and heal shell-shocked soldiers at an asylum in Scotland so he can return them to the slaughter at the front. Although other doctors use brutal electrical shock treatment to "cure" shell-shock victims, Rivers uses patience, kindness, and understanding to treat his patients. But when he meets Siegfried (James Wilby), a decorated war hero who's sent to the asylum for publishing an anti-war pamphlet, he's faced with questioning his own beliefs about the war. As he becomes more and more attached to his troubled patients, Dr. Rivers eventually finds himself suffering from symptoms of shell-shock, and he reaches the point where he's about to break down physically and emotionally.

This gripping film about World War I's devastating impact on the brave men at the front is one that you'll never forget. The music, superb performances, and incredible cinematography combine to make this one of the greatest war films of all time. Highly recommended!

I understand the lament of some reviewers as to this film's name change from _Regeneration_ to _Behind the Lines_. The "lines" to which the title refers are not the battle lines, but the lines of poetry (and prose) of several of the film's key historical figures. (Mostly Owen and Sassoon, but Robert Graves also makes an appearance.) It is actually a very appropriate title if we understand it as investigating the cataclysm through which these authors forged their art.

This is an excellent film for anyone who wants to understand the profound psychological change the Great War imposed upon the men of this generation. It is also a good jumping-off point for a discussion of the War Poets in any history or lit class.

In 1998 I saw a great war film that was lost in the glare of the nearly simultaneous American film releases of Terrence Malick's remake of The Thin Red Line- which is a great film, and Steven Spielberg's cliché and stereotype-dripping Saving Private Ryan. It was a 1997 Canadian and British film called Regeneration, directed by Gillies MacKinnon (who directed The Playboys, and Small Faces), based upon the famed book of the same title by British novelist Pat Barker. The screenplay was written by Allan Scott. There were a couple of differences between it and the other films; the first being that it was set during World War One, in 1917, while the other two took place during World War Two. The second was that Regeneration may have been the best film of the trio. In the years since, I have searched for the film on DVD, but it only was available in a Region 2 DVD format. Then, I recently found it online, released by Artisan DVD, for American audiences. The DVD is as bare bones as one can get- not a single bonus feature. But, even worse is the fact that it was released under a different, and far less compelling and more trite, title of Behind The Lines. Worse yet is the fact that this film is a bowdlerized, dumbed down version of the great film I remember seeing.
While I cannot pinpoint all the changes from the original film, the overall effect on me was not as great. Oh, it's still a good- even arguably a very good film, but the greatness has been lost due to the cutting out of some scenes entirely and the trimming of others- to get the nearly two hour original film down to 95 minutes, and re-editing the film into shorter scenes that are interspersed with each other, designed to appeal to a more MTV and video game mindset. Lost in the rush to appeal to typical American idiocy was most of a small romantic subplot, and extended scenes between two of the main characters, the War Poets Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby) and Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce). One has to guess that if the film had too much poetry in it that the McDonald's fed masses would be turned off. Yet, the worst cut, for me, comes about two thirds into the film, where Dr. Rivers (Jonathan Pryce), head of the asylum- Craiglockhart War Hospital in Edinburgh, Scotland, where shell-shocked soldiers go for psychotherapy, goes to London, on R&R, to visit a colleague, Dr. Yealland (John Neville), who is using a very effective form of electroshock therapy to get soldiers suffering from mutism to speak again. All these years later it was that scene, above all others, which stood out in my memory. As a mute soldier is strapped down and about to be shocked for the first time, the camera cuts away from the soldier, and as his agonal screams ripple outward, one only sees the slightly winced reaction of the doctor. It's a brilliant cut and displays the director's command of his craft, for it's a) always better to imagine such horrors, and b) the doctor is the more important character. However, in the Americanized DVD version, all that is lost. We see a standard, even generic, editing job of pain, the doctor wincing, pain, the doctor hanging his head, etc. Thanks, my native land!
The film still has, however bowdlerized, more contemporary relevance than the other two films which drowned it out in 1998, if only because- given the current U.S. treatment of both its Prisoners Of War and veterans of the Iraq War, it shows how little supposedly `civilized nations' have come in almost a century of warfare. It also touches on smaller aspects of the war, like mail censorship, which are never shown in war films, much less even discussed in many for a regarding warfare. While The film lacks the high tech graphics of its bigger budgeted cousins from 1998, the words of some of the poems, and the reactions of the soldiers say far more than mere `shocking' images can, for words that are well chose can never inure their readers. Images, even great ones, can do just that through sheer repetition. That said, the best images in the film are not elaborate war scenes, but those designed to show the aftereffects of war on the human body and mind. As example, there is a young soldier who is a quivering wreck, wont to running naked through the woods and mutilating himself, because, we learn, he was thrown by a shell explosion, into the air and when he regained consciousness he was lying face down in the rotted corpse of a German soldier. Hearing what caused him to become so disturbed is more effective than showing his face inside a bloodied, rotting mass of flesh, for, as in the cut scene of Dr. Rivers turning away from the sight of electroshock therapy, what is imagined is always worse than what can be portrayed, for each individual will fill in the horror with their own fears, rather than having a fixed image in their minds.
The cinematography, by Glen MacPherson, is stunningly realistic yet beautiful- especially in the sepia-tinged, color leeched war sequences, but throughout the whole film, as well; and it works well with the simple and understated musical score. It is a stark reminder that, then and now, one need not have all the high tech big budget special effects wizardry of a Steven Spielberg film to leave far more haunting images- perhaps the most effective one left in this bowdlerized film is the opening of a pair of human eyes buried in mud, so that the whites burn with startling intensity up at the viewer. If only the American distributors had not so badly butchered this film, from the title on, the rest of the film would have retained the intensity of those eyes which held me through nearly a decade.

The horrors of war in visual and verbal poetry. True horror doesn't have to be shown only with on-your-face violence and gore (though this film is not lacking of those).

Very interesting work. The person that wrote the description on the back of the box didn't know his WWI literary history or never actually watched the movie. The movie deals with the poets Sassoon and Owens and their feelings on war. There are very few front line combat scenes. The emphasis instead is upon the horrors in the minds of the men. Read something about Sassoon and Owens. If it interests you, get this movie.

This shows the other side of war. Taking place in a hospital during WWI, it is excellent in giving a true picture of the English doughboy. Using real-life characters (Sigfried Sassoon, Wilfred Owens, Robert Graves)one feels the horror of war seen by sensitive poets. A good follow up to "Great War and Modern Memory" by Paul Fussell, a National Award winning book, published by Oxford University Press.

I think Pat Barker's World War I trilogy is one of the finest literary works of this century. Thus it was a treat to see a film adaptation of the first of the three novels, Regeneration, in this DVD, "Behind the Lines". There were many solid strenghts to this film.

First, the cinematography and art direction was exceptional. The confined atmosphere of a Scottish mental hospital contrasted against the muddy horror of the front lines and trenches of World War I was exceptional. Scottland in quiet snow is contrasted with France in bloody mud.

Second, the acting is great. Jonathan Pryce did an excellent job of playing a humane psychiatrist that gradually assumes the psychosomatic symptoms of his patients. James Wilby and Jonny Lee Miller pay the other lead roles to perfection. However a surprize performer and performance was the great job Stuart Bunce did portraying poet Wilfred Owen.

Third, the script honored the complexity of Barker's novel. Dr. Rivers must treat shell shocked men so they can return to an insane war. The ethical and psychological issues abound from this situation. Sasoon, played by Wilby, is a hero who responds to the rising insanity of the war. He is a rational man of great courage and compassion. The fact that he is a hero makes his criticisms of the English military leadership even more biting. The contrast of the humane and gentle treatment provided by Rivers with that of one of his colleagues is amazing. A young man is repeatedly shocked with electricity around the tongue and mouth until his mute symptoms are suppressed. A very frightening demonstration of behavior modification at its worst.

My only wish would be that the second novel, "Eye in the Door" and the third novel "Ghost Road" had also been made into films.

This movie is excellent throughout. I've seen many anti-war movies, but none quite like this. It centers around a hospital in England for recovering shellshocked, traumatized men.

A doctor whos duty is to return these men to active service runs into a war hero who suddenly turns into an anti-war soldier. Sounds kind of flakey from this review, but this isnt your typical run-of-the-mill antiwar film.

I wish I could give the details, but the way the movie unfolds is difficult to write a clear and understanding review without giving something away.

No frontline antiwar film such as Cross of Iron, Platoon, Stalingrad, etc. is anything like this. I highly recomend it to anyone who is interested in the psychological cost of war on the human mind. I gave it a 4/5 because there was two scenes which really threw off the strong emotion of the show, those being sexual scenes which seemed to have been placed in for decoration and spice, and not much else. They definetly should have been left out...