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Wednesday, October 3, 2007 |
| Calgary Herald |
Paul Gross fulfils a dream
Filmmaker has wanted to make a film about Passchendaele for years
Alexandra Burroughs
Calgary Herald
Sunday, September 30, 2007
CALGARY - In the foothills west of Calgary, a herd of wild horses grazes in a meadow under the sun, creating an unmissable juxtaposition with a harrowing scene nearby.
Nearly 100 soldiers have taken position in a burned-out forest of birch and pine.
Pummelled by hundreds of gallons of cold water, the troops take cover in muddy, smoke-filled trenches,where they will remain for the better part of the next 10 hours.
This is the set of Passchendaele, a movie based on the famous First World War battle heroically fought by 50,000 Canadians in the bloodied fields of Ypres, Belgium. The film set is a stunning replica of a 1917 war zone, complete with bayonets, barbered wire and a menacing battlefield.
This week, Paul Gross, the man behind the film, was orchestrating this chaos to capture a climactic moment in this film. The sunshine was playing havoc with the film's gritty mood, his cast was cold despite the wet suits beneath their uniforms, and every moment lost was costing money. But no matter how bad it got, Gross managed to keep his perspective.
"Just spending a little bit of time in this mud -- and we're pampered since no one is actually shooting at us --
I have to say it is miserable," said Paul Gross, the filmmaker behind this $20-million war epic.
In a way, the making of Passchendaele has been Gross's own war. As the writer, director, producer and star of Passchendaele, Gross is shouldering nearly all of the risk, but is also living an emotional lifelong dream of capturing a seminal moment in Canadian history.
"I keep catching myself, wondering how (the soldiers) actually did it. I get knocked sideways, at least a few times a day. Just looking at these guys is very moving, it's heartbreaking. They were a breed of men that's now lost."
Gross represents his own unique breed of Canadian talent. His success as a director, writer and producer has enabled him to mount a production the size of Passchendaele, the largest homegrown, Canadian-financed war movie ever made.
As a self-proclaimed army brat, who was born in Calgary and grew up on various bases throughout Canada and Europe, Gross remembers being enthralled with stories from his grandfather, who fought in the First World War. Historical references, film footage and personal diaries continued to fuel his passion for the Canadian military throughout the years, until he sat down to write the script for Passchendaele.
"As long as I can remember he's been talking about making it," says Alberta director Francis Damberger, who went to theatre school with Gross and co-produces Passchendaele.
"I've known him long enough to know how passionate he can be about something, and he was particularly excited about this movie." In addition, Gross has gone to extreme lengths to achieve historical accuracy by employing Norman Leach, a Canadian military expert.
"This movie can go toe-to-toe with the great, big-budget military movies like Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers," says Leach. "It's breathtaking to watch." With Passchendaele, both Gross and Leach seem to have a higher mission. Leach wonders if the average Canadian really appreciates the impact Canada had on the Great War.
"I know this sounds corny in 2007," says Leach. "But we made a difference to the war. Some say we made the difference. When they were in trouble, they'd call in the Canadians." According to historians, Canadians possessed several strengths that aided the war. Canadian soldiers were known for their mettle, earned growing up as farmers, loggers and ranchers.
"The British prime minister Lloyd George summed it up when he said, 'Whenever the Germans found the Canadian Corps coming into the line, they prepared for the worst,' " says Gross.
Financially, the movie got a surprising $5.5-million kick-start from former Alberta premier Ralph Klein during Alberta's 2005 centennial celebrations, stunning the province's film community long accustomed to applying for limited film grants through the province's bureaucracy. The federal government added $3.5 million.
But the bulk of the movie's budget --up to $11 million -- has been acquired through private donators, investors and corporate sponsorship. It's a new way of doing business in Canadian film.
Many have said Gross exercised his innate "Albertan ingenuity" by going outside standard guidelines for funding, but the pressure that comes from spending private money is undoubtedly adding to the filmmaker's burden.
Watching the 46-year-old manoeuvre dirt piles and mingle with extras in period uniform, however, you'd think he was having the time of his life.
"If you watch me, you'll see I have no control over this at all," joked Gross, looking out a mischievously from beneath muddied and bloodied makeup.
Taking his place as director behind a TV monitor, inside a tent safe from the man-made rainstorm, it's clear Gross is very sure of what's going on around him. Looking in the monitor at a scene shot of soldiers in trenches, the sight of his dream come to life makes Gross giddy.
"Can someone get my wife, please? This is so cool. She'll want to see it," he says. A crew member scuttles off to find Canadian actress Martha Burns in Gross's trailer.
If Gross wins this war, there will be many other Canadians who want to see it as well.
CanWest News Service
© The Edmonton Journal 2007 |
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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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