Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.5

Passchendaele Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov April 18, 2010

Screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and winner of the Golden Reel Award for Canada's top-grossing film of 2008, Paul Gross' "Passchendaele" (2008) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors High Fliers Films. The only supplemental feature on the disc is the documentary "The Road to Passchendaele". In English, without optional subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

At Passchendaele

Written, produced, directed and starring Paul Gross, Passchendaele is the most expensive Canadian film ever made. It was first screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2008 where it received mixed reviews from the critics. In 2009, however, the film won the Directors Guild of Canada Team Award and the Canadian Society of Cinematographers’ Best Cinematography in Theatrical Feature Award (Gregory Middleton).

Passchendaele is set during WWI and tells the story of a young Canadian soldier, Michael Dunne (Gross), who is seriously injured during an attack of a German stronghold. He is sent back to Calgary to recuperate where he meets and falls in love with a beautiful nurse, Sarah (Caroline Dhavernas, La belle bete). Michael also meets Sarah’s brother, David (Joe Dinicol, George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead), who wants to go to the front but can’t because he has asthma.

The father of the girl David dates, however, makes sure that he is allowed to join the Canadian Army and the young man is immediately sent to the front. Upon learning that David has left, Michael decides to follow him and do his best to protect his life. The two soon find themselves in the middle of the Battle of Passchendaele, where men are dying like flies.

The intent behind Passchendaele is obvious. Inspired by his father’s stories about WWI, Gross wanted to shoot a film that would make Canadians proud and honor their heroes. He was provided with the proper funds such a film would require and given enough time to complete it.

Unfortunately, while the film Gross shot looks pretty, it truly is an average one, filled with overused cliches and dull, surprisingly transparent characters. Its constant tiptoeing between drama and romance is also so awkward that you’ve got to wonder whether anyone else other than Gross read the script before shooting began.

Gross, however, is a very interesting young director, one that I felt perfectly understands the complex world we live in. There are a couple of excellent points he makes in Passchendaele about patriotism and duty that resonated strongly with me. For example, there is a scene in the film where we see Sarah being harassed and her loyalty questioned because of her German ancestry. The words she utters when she attempts to explain to Michael how she feels made me think about a lot that has happened in my life during the last twenty years.

I believe that this particular scene is in the film for a good reason. Considering that Gross is very much a cosmopolitan person who has lived in a number of different countries, I am fairly certain that there is a very clear message in it. I don’t know who the recipient of the message is, but I know that there is one.

The few reviews of Passchendaele that I’ve read, however, do not mention the scene. They either praise the film for being a sweeping war epic honoring the Canadian heroes who fought and died during WWI or completely dismiss it for being an ultra expensive, at least according to Canadian standards, piece of soapy melodrama.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that aside from writing, producing and directing Passchendaele, Gross, together with actor David Keeley, also composed the final song for it, "After the War", which is sung in the film by Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah Slean.

Passchendaele Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1, encoded with MPEG-2 and granted a 1080p transfer, Paul Gross' Passchendaele arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors High Fliers Films.

This is a problematic high-definition transfer. First, the film has been severely cropped from its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 to 1.78:1. As a result, a number of scenes in it look terribly chaotic. Second, while fine object detail is acceptable, clarity levels are inconsistent. During the darker battle scenes, and with the heavy rain falling, at times it is almost impossible to figure out exactly what is happening on the screen. Furthermore, I noticed mild digital noise creeping in, some of it in addition to macroblocking and aliasing. Mild edge-enhancement is also present during many of the outdoor scenes. On a positive side, the film's color-scheme appears to be mostly intact - the grays, blues, greens, brown and blacks look convincing. Also, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. However, I did notice a few flecks popping up here, which some of you may find annoying. All in all, it is fairly obvious that the severe image cropping is a serious issue with this release, which is why I recommend that you opt for the Canadian Blu-ray release, should you wish to add a copy of Passchendaele to your library. (Note This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you need to have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Passchendaele Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and English Dolby Digital 2.0. For the record, High Fliers Films have not provided optional English subtitles for the main feature.

The audio treatment isn't overly convincing either. The English Dolby Digital 5.1 track is notably flat, with seriously disappointing surround activity. The bass is also weak, though the high-frequencies are unproblematic. This being said, the battle scenes are far from impressive. The dialog, however, is clean, stable and easy to follow. Still, I have to voice my displeasure that optional English subtitles are not provided. Finally, I did not detect any disturbing pops, cracks or hiss to report in this review. (Note: The Canadian Blu-ray release of Passchendaele arrives with two lossless audio tracks - English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. It also has optional English SDH and French SDH subtitles for the main feature).

Passchendaele Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Road to Passchendaele - a standard featurette with raw footage from the shooting of the film, comments from the cast and crew, some documentary footage from the real Battle of Passchendaele, footage from the final version of the film, etc. In English, not subtitled. (44 min, 480/60i).

Passchendaele Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I have mixed feelings about Paul Gross' Passchendaele. Technically, it gets a lot of things right. Artistically, however, it is clearly a disappointment. I don't think that it is in any way disrespectful to its subject matter, but clearly it isn't the realistic war drama many Canadians expected and wanted it to be. The Blu-ray disc herein reviewed, courtesy of British distributors High Fliers Films, is problematic. If you wish to add Passchendaele to your library, I suggest that you opt for the Canadian release, which preserves the film's original aspect ratio, it boasts two lossless audio tracks, and arrives with optional English SDH and French SDH subtitles for the main feature.