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Not quite regenerated >> Back to the battlefield with Regeneration by MATTHEW HAYS
All of that changed this summer, of course, when Steven Spielberg released his typically epic Saving Private Ryan. Thank god for Spielberg; everyone seemed to have forgotten that during wars bones actually got broken and people really got killed. Now we have a cinematic reminder that indeed war is a bad thing. Thank Christ for the movies! Regeneration, director Gillies Mackinnon's adaptation of Pat Barker's celebrated Booker Prize-winning novel, is bound to be eclipsed by Spielberg's flashier, more star-studded film. And that isn't entirely fair, seeing as Mackinnon makes a valiant effort at creating a touching anti-war statement, and does so using far fewer obvious cinematic tricks than Spielberg does. Set during World War I, Regeneration revolves around a psychiatrist (Jonathan Pryce) desperately trying to help patients at a hospital set up for the shellshocked. Those interned include conscientious objector Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby), poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce) and a man who has gone mute because he's been so horrified by what he's seen on the front lines (Jonny Lee Miller). The film's script raises some questions which transcend most average war movies. There are only a few battle scenes, and most of the film takes place within the clinic. As Regeneration progresses and we learn more about the characters, the overriding question is: how can sanity be measured during a the ultimate act of insanity, war? Mackinnon has assembled a remarkable cast and they are universally outstanding. Regeneration does, however, suffer some of the pratfalls of cinema mined from literary sources: there are nuances lost and there's a sense of the plot getting a tad too convoluted at points. Undoubtedly, the standout scene occurs when a quack at the clinic applies one of his cures to the mute Miller. Miller writhes in his chair as shock treatments are applied (via his mouth, which is pried open by metal clamp). This is the most horrifying scene I've seen in years, at least as gruelling as any of the gore Spielberg spills in his hype-and-glorified Saving Private Ryan. Regeneration opens Friday, August 21
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I thought war movies had gone decidedly out of vogue. Perhaps it's just that North American movie audiences don't have a lot of first-hand experience with war, but Hollywood hasn't been churning them out since the spate of Vietnam movies in the '80s.