Private Peaceful (2012)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Another film based on a Morpurgo novel,War Horse being the other,and like that film it's an exercise in emotional button pushing for the generation who are likely to know sod all about the history on which the work is based.It's laying on 21st century attitudes and morality to events which occurred 100 years ago when the world was very different.Yes it was terrible by our standards that deserters were shot and that poor defenceless horses were killed,but it's infinitely more horrifying that a huge portion of a generation who didn't run away, died or were maimed..The film is the cinematic equivalent of the kind of "ooh wasn't this terrible?" documentaries which infest the lesser Free To Air TV channels here in the UK.And by the way I'm by political persuasion a Lefty.The film making is OK.The story of the brothers growing up in a rural village in Devon is fine and Alexandra Roach has the bonniest smile on British TV.It's when the lads join up that it pumps out the clichés like a Lewis gun.Watch "For King And Country" for a good depiction of a soldier on trial for desertion and perhaps " Journey's End" for life in the front line(the 1970's version is really good".

Life in the trenches WW1, with malicious sergeant, thoughts of affectionate memories in back home Devon... This movie made a lasting and emotional impression on me, the director Pat O'Connor, screenwriter Simon Reade, and the BBC should all be proud… a grand tribute to one of the cast Richard Griffiths, he is no longer shining his starlight. I was literally taken there to that era, reminding me of time with my grandparents in Northern England, it was WW1 memories for them, with postwar WW2 shortages, ration books for me… No farm labourers left to plough the fields... I have seen a lot of war movies, but this small budget (presumably) film is perhaps superior, certainly more authentic than the big epics before it, with simple undisputed and reliable truths…. the actors portraying the characters relatively unknown to me, yet solid performances from all. This is what it was like for the British lads in WW1… fighting for King and Country, for the generals and the politicians, for the landowners, two brothers trying to survive the war with the Hun… a malicious insecure sergeant does not help…sending his men, following orders, to be mowed down by German machine guns... The storyline nicely interwoven returns to their childhood and first love, very sensitively screened and depicted. At times I found it very gripping and exasperating when Haig is seen playing billiards in his country estate home, a court martial warrant is sent in to be approved and signed. Hardly a moment's notice and the warrant is signed, a British soldier is to be shot for supposed "cowardice" … Haig immediately goes back to his game of billiards. Shocking and tragic… but I have no doubt it happened like that. It is interesting to note that writer Michael Morpurgo first published his book in 2003... and all the British soldiers "executed for cowardice" were pardoned in 2006. Worthwhile BBC production, highly recommended… Malcolm in Toronto July 2015

This film is a great WW1 film. It shows how harsh some of the sergeants are. I didn't realise before I what he'd this film that deserters would be shot. Personally I think they should have just been put on the front line, rather than just murdering them. This film brought some questions to me. One of them was; why were sergeants so differing in their treatment of their soldiers? Some sergeants treated the soldiers as if they were muck, others treated them like they were friends or brothers. Also this film showed how many families were torn apart by the war, many fathers didn't come home. Also it brought into light that you were seen as a coward if you didn't join, and the fact that many teens joined in and lied about their age so that they could go to war. Plus many innocent people were killed in the war. It had a sad ending as most of Michael Morpergo's books do. It is a great film to watch, as it is informative as well as entertaining.

With my dad's Birthday fast approaching,I suddenly remembered seeing a poster outside a local outhouse cinema a few months ago,for what looked to be a very interesting British WW1 movie.Tracking down the name of the title after checking the listings of movies shown in the art-house cinema's archive,I went straight away to Amazon UK,where I was shocked to find the movie being sold at an insane high price.Deciding to try and find put if there were any other DVD editions of the movie by searching online,I was instead happily caught by surprise,when I discovered that a supermarket website was selling the movie at an extremely good price,which led me to excitingly getting ready to experience "peace time" for the first time.The plot:1914:As he awaits his sentence for disobeying a general's order's to re-enter no man's land,Private Peaceful begins to think back to his childhood.1908-Devon:England.Being the 5th generation to work for the family as a games keeper and groundsman ,James Peaceful push's his annoyance over the family's superiority complex aside, by thinking about the wage that he receives,which is allowing James to send his 2 sons Charlie and Tommy "Tommo" Peaceful to a good school,as his loving wife Hazel looks after the couple's autistic son,"Big Joe" Peaceful ,and also feeling happy that one of his son's will follow in his footsteps in the future.Despite both of them playing some rather naughty games around the school yard,Tommy and Charlie each hold the bond with their family dearly.Joining his dad in the family ground's to help cut down some trees,Charlie fails to notice a huge tree failing near him.Pushing Charlie out of the way,Jack is sadly unable to avoid the falling tree,which leads to him getting crushed to death.Haunted by the sight of his father taking his dying breath,Charlie vows to do everything possible to make amends in himself for "killing" his dad.View on the film:Appearing within the first 5 minutes of the film (and also on a mini making of) the late Richard Griffiths makes his final screen appearance a joy to witness,with Griffiths making sure that the wealthy man who is currently hiring the Peaceful family,strong,traditional views are clearly shown,whilst also making sure to smartly deliver the dialogue in a charming manner,which allows for the character to appear much more dimensional than other actors would have allowed him to be.Taking place from 1908-1914,the Peaceful's children and childhood friends are each played by two different actors who brilliantly make each character's transition from childhood to adulthood feel completely natural,with Jack O'Connell and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin both superbly showing the deep scar that is left on Charlie from his father's death,which gradually becomes more consuming as Charlie and "Tommo" both decide to make their mum proud by signing up with the other youngsters in the village for the front line.Whilst some of the anti-WW1 sentiment that the character's express dose feel a bit against the real life events which took place in the "last gasp" era of the Victorian period, (where dozens of villages tragically lost almost all of their young men and boys,who largely signed up to join the front lines of WW1 in large groups of either friends or family) the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel by Simon Reade carefully balances the tragic events that take place for the Peaceful family with that of the events of WW1,with Reade showing James sense of optimism being replaced by Charlie and Tommo having a deep desire for the darkened corners of the old era to fade away,in the faint hope of a new horizon slowly appearing.Shooting the WW1 scenes in an unflinching,raw manner which shows the full horrific world that Charlie and Tommo find themselves in,director Pat O'Connor and cinematography Jerzy Zielinski contrast the gritty nature of the 1914 scenes by making the 1908 scenes ones that are filled with a brightly lit sense of joy and peaceful optimism,which as the years get closer to 1914,tragically starts to fade away.