I had to read up on this battle and it breaks your heart to see how many men died during this one battle alone, just to gain 8 km of ground. The most shocking line was at the end of the article though, "All ground was quickly lost again in April 1918 during the fourth battle of Ypre."
The dutch aren't too focussed on WW1 because we stayed neutral (so I doubt the film will be released here) but the war was a subject when I was in my final year in high school. It's actually baffling that we shoved it under the carpet because the war had such a big impact on Europe's history.
Had to read "All quiet on the Western front" by E.M. Remarque and that was graphic enough for me that I pretty much stayed away from WW1 movies.
Yes, the sheer brutality and carnage is absolutely horrifying. And, as you say, all that ground was lost the following year.
While Passchendaele doesn't flinch from any of the graphic elements of war, it wasn't nearly as grim or depressing as I thought it would be. In fact, most of the film is set on the homefront in Alberta. You don't see any of the trench warfare until the end, which is a relief because I thought the whole film might be set in that environment. I would say that I definitely found All Quiet on the Western Front more disturbing and difficult to deal with.
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The dutch aren't too focussed on WW1 because we stayed neutral (so I doubt the film will be released here) but the war was a subject when I was in my final year in high school. It's actually baffling that we shoved it under the carpet because the war had such a big impact on Europe's history.
Had to read "All quiet on the Western front" by E.M. Remarque and that was graphic enough for me that I pretty much stayed away from WW1 movies.
no subject
While Passchendaele doesn't flinch from any of the graphic elements of war, it wasn't nearly as grim or depressing as I thought it would be. In fact, most of the film is set on the homefront in Alberta. You don't see any of the trench warfare until the end, which is a relief because I thought the whole film might be set in that environment. I would say that I definitely found All Quiet on the Western Front more disturbing and difficult to deal with.