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Friday, September 28, 2007 |
| Canadian Press |
First World War film stars Paul Gross, strives for authenticity on Calgary set
5 days ago
CALGARY - It was one of the key battles of the First World War and a time of both loss and valour for Canadian soldiers. For Canadian actor and director Paul Gross, its re-enactment is also personal-a chance to go back to 1917 and relive events experienced by his grandfather.
The $20-million Canadian film "Passchendaele" focuses on the experiences of Gross's grandfather, Michael Dunne, a soldier who served in the 10th Battalion, CEF (Canadian Expeditionary Force) at the Battle of Passchendaele (also known as the Third Battle of Ypres). The film is tentatively set for release on Remembrance Day next year.
The set's battlefield in a remote area southwest of Calgary is a swirl of mudpits, trenches and dead trees denuded of foliage - a scene right out of the First World War. Machines that simulate almost constant rain and fog and mimic the sound of mortars exploding add to the experience.
"With all of that I can tell you there's really no acting required," Gross said during a break Thursday. "When you're soaked to the bone, you get a sense of what it must have been like and I don't understand the breed of men who could survive this thing.
"We're wearing wetsuits and no one's shooting at us and we're all whining and complaining," Gross said. "The principle is we're going to see it more or less how the soldier would see it, so it's pretty close.
"My grandfather said he didn't know what the hell was going on except for what was going on for 30 feet on either side of him. The intention is to draw the audience right inside the scene, so it's very visceral."
Gross's grandfather, who was wounded three times before being "invalided out" in 1918, never talked about the war to his five daughters. But after repeated questioning from his grandson, he finally opened up while the two were on a fishing trip when Gross was 15.
Dunne was the only survivor after a day-long battle against a German machine gun nest in northern France. When there were no further shots fired from the German position, he went to investigate.
"All of the German crew was dead with the exception of one really young German gunner. He was quite badly wounded. My grandfather said he had these eyes that were a water blue and the German boy lifted his hand to my grandfather, smiled and said, 'Comrade,' " Gross reflected.
"My grandfather bayoneted him in the forehead and he lived with that till the end of his days. I was never quite the same after that and for years I've wanted to do something about his story."
The set includes a replica of a bombed-out village. A church spire is just visible over the next hill.
The movie is striving to be as completely authentic as possible and has military historian Norman Leach on-site keeping track of every minute detail.
"We don't have 15,000 men charging the hills, but in terms of uniforms, backdrops and props, all of that is 100 per cent authentic," said Leach.
"If what we're seeing during filming translates on the screen, it'll be like those openings of great movies that suck you in and keep you for the next 90 to 120 minutes, and what I'm seeing daily is it has the potential to do that."
It's taken 10 years to get the project off the ground, which is long even by industry standards, said executive producer Niv Fichman. "This one has brewed for a long time and the longer it brews, the better it gets. It's like a fine wine."
Financing for the film includes $5.5 million from the Alberta government.
The battle began at the end of July in 1917 and continued to November. The aim of the campaign was to break through enemy lines and destroy German submarine bases on the Belgian coast. But the heaviest rains in 30 years turned the region into a swamp. Veterans would come to refer to it as "The Battle of Mud."
Gross hopes the film will succeed financially and educate the public on the bravery of Canada's military at the time.
"What's amazing about the Canadian soldiers is the term 'shock troops' was invented by the Germans to refer to us. We were the most feared in the British Order in battle. We were the most terrifying and that continued into the Second World War.
"We've sort of lost that ... in how we teach our history. That doesn't mean because we were good warriors, let's go off and fight wars, but we should at least acknowledge what our history is."
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Copyright © 2007 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. |
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| About the Blogger |
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The motion picture Passchendaele, an epic set amidst the horror of war, was shot in Alberta from August 20th to October 23rd 2007, directed and written by Paul Gross. The film is now in post production and will premiere in Theatres fall 2008, thus culminating a lifelong dream of Paul's, who learned of this extraordinary period in Canadian history from his Grandfather, Michael Joseph Dunne. The Battle of Passchendaele represents a story of determination, commitment and triumph, and this defining chapter in the forging of a nation shall never be forgotten. |
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