R.C.
Sherriff’s classic stage play was such a definitive depiction of WWI, Heinz Paul
opted to maintain the characters’ Britishness for his 1931 German language film
production. Ironically, it would be Aces
High, a 1976 Franco-British co-pro that took the most liberties, shifting
the drama from the trenches to a fighter squadron. This time around, director Saul
Dibb and screenwriter Simon Reade closely follow the original text with their
faithful yet still powerful adaptation of Journey’s
End (trailer
here), which opens today in New York.
Hopelessly
naïve with respect to the war, 2nd Lt. Raleigh manages to get
himself assigned to the infantry company of Captain Stanhope, his senior at
school and his sister’s romantic interest. Unfortunately, the war has taken a
drastic emotional toll on Stanhope, who now regularly self-medicates with
whiskey. Nevertheless, his is still the best trench-level officer in the
British Army.
With
the launch of what would be known as the Spring Offensive imminent, Raleigh’s
timing is downright perverse. In fact, Stanhope bitterly resents his presence,
fearing Raleigh will inform his sister of his post-traumatic condition and that
Raleigh’s blind hero-worship will lead to his death. The latter concern becomes
especially pressing when Stanhope’s superiors order him to dispatch Raleigh and
the beloved second-in-command, Lt. “Uncle” Osborne on a dubious daytime raid.
Dibb
opens up the drama just a bit, giving viewers a sense of the intricacies of the
trenches, but he retains the feeling of airless claustrophobia. Just being
there looks like a miserable experience, so it is easy to see how the added tension
of the anticipated German attack would try men’s souls. The film itself feels more
than sufficiently realistic, but Dibb is also clearly attuned to the
institutionalized class differences between officers and the enlisted.
Sam
Claflin is terrific and almost terrifyingly intense as Stanhope. It is an
achingly brittle performance that actually pairs up nicely with his work in Their Finest, which is tonally quite
different, yet shares some overlapping themes. Likewise, Paul Bettany really
gives the film depth and soul with his humanistic portrayal of Osborne. Much
like he did in Zoo, Toby Jones finds
his opportunities to inject pathos and dignity into Mason the cook, who might
otherwise be a stock character cliché in someone else’s hands. Frankly, the
maturation and disillusionment of Asa Butterfield’s Raleigh seems a bit slow,
but his character is really just there to serve as a foil and mirror to
Stanhope.
It
is nice to see Dibb finally get another film released in American theaters after
the Weinsteins dithered away his quality adaptation of Suite Française. This is an even better film that captures the
horrifying futility of war without indulging in graphic gore. Highly
recommended, Journey’s End opens
today (3/16) in New York, at the Landmark 57.
