JOURNEY’S END [2017]

Posted on May 11, 2018 by Jordan Dodd

Originally written for Cinemaaxis.com

Trench warfare has rarely been depicted in such a rough, emotional and visceral way. World War II seems to be the popular choice for war films, that or the Middle East, so Journey’s End is a refreshing experience that is hard to forget. Not wasting any time, we meet young leftenant Raleigh (Asa Butterfield), who is keen to see some action having just arrived in France. Being the nephew of the general for this operation, he is permitted to be transferred to a company where an old school friend, Captain Stanhope (Sam Claflin), has been fighting for years.

Raleigh eventually makes it to the front-line, where the stalemate between trenches has lasted for a year. Once with his new company, we meet a variety of soldiers who are all dealing differently with their situation: smoking, drinking, joking about as if at the pub. Reaching for any positive in such a negative environment. What Raleigh doesn’t realise is that the company has captured a German and know when the enemy is planning to blitz them: Thursday, five days from his arrival. His naivety though gradually fades as he realises the gravity of his and his company’s situation.

Another eye-opener for the young soldier is the condition of his highly praised old friend. When Raleigh and Captain Stanhope finally cross paths the greeting is far from warm. The look on the Captain’s face tells us everything we need to know. Before leaving for battle, he told Raleigh to find him if he ever joined the forces. Raleigh has found him in an extremely bad way, in the middle of an impossible situation that is only five short days away.

Captain Stanhope’s drinking problem and frequent outbursts of anger is well-known among the other men. There are some extremely powerful scenes in which he lashes out at others for the smallest of reasons, and then drunkenly realises what he has said. It’s clear that the process of waiting for the attack has eroded Stanhope’s sanity. The only thing keeping him somewhat sane is Officer Osborne (Paul Bettany), or ‘uncle’ as known by the rest of the company, a friendly senior officer.

Much like the stalemate between the two armies, there is no action for the first half of the film and not a lot after that either. What we see instead is how these soldiers were forced to live in the trenches. At one point the film notes that bodies of dead soldiers were used to fortify the trenches when nothing else was available. While there are a few moments of humour revolving around the food they eat, this is a dark look into the horrors of the trench warfare of WWI. Tackling the psychological effects of World War I in a powerful and raw way, Journey’s End is a fantastic film that will linger.

One short of a sixer

5/6

Category: 2017, Film

6 Comments on “JOURNEY’S END [2017]”

Lloyd Marken
May 11, 2018

There have been a lot of great films made about World War I and how horrible it was. This looks like another one to check out.

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- Jordan Dodd
  May 12, 2018
  
  It is great, slow paced with little action, its all what is happening in the trenches. What other recent movies have done WWI? I know Le Grande Illusion is one of the best but I’d like to see if there are any semi-recent films.
  
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  - Lloyd Marken
    May 12, 2018
    
    Well recent I guess Wonder Woman but I was thinking more about Blackadder Goes Forth, Lawrence of Arabia, All Quiet on the Western Front, Gallipoli, Peaky Blinders, Beneath Hill 60, ANZACs, War Horse, Paths of Glory, The Blue Max, The Light Horsemen, Legends of the Fall, From Here to Eternity. There’s a few more but I guess it’s just always loomed large in my culture but not so much in others.
    
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  - Jordan Dodd
    May 17, 2018
    
    Ahh Paths of Glory of course. What a film. I have All Quiet on BR but i haven’t watched it yet. Gallipoli was great but I don’t remember much. I also have Lawrence on BR, should watch that too. But those are pretty old, I don’t know of any real recent WWI films. Thanks for the recs tho mate!
    
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  - Lloyd Marken
    May 12, 2018
    
    I will have to check out Le Grande Illusion.
    
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  - Jordan Dodd
    May 13, 2018
    
    Oh my god you haven’t seen it!! It is magnificent. I actually got to see it at a French film fest on a giant screen. Was one memorable experience
    
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