BENEDICTION

Review: A biographical drama film which explores the turbulent life of legendary 20th Century English war poet Siegfried Sassoon.
Director: Terence Davies
Actors: Tom Blyth, Kate Phillips, Jeremy Irvine, Jack Lowden, Julian Sands, Peter Capaldi, Anton Lesser, Geraldine James, Ben Daniels, Gemma Jones, Harry Lawtey, Simon Russell Beale, Lia Williams, Calam Lynch, Kellie Shirley, Daniel Tuite, Suzanne Bertish and Georgina Rylance
Year: 2021
Genre: Biography, Drama, History and War
Conclusion: 3/5
This is a film I am glad I have seen. I don’t really know why the director made this film or what Terence Davies was trying to achieve or even what the ultimate message of the whole film was about. There was no need for it to be 2 hours 17 minutes. I also felt that the young and the old Siegfried Sassoon didn’t work quite so well. I don’t want to say which scene it is but there was a scene that suddenly jumped but with no explanation of how the scene or story-plot got there. I found myself thoroughly confused. I did find that the jumping in the film backwards and forwards of the subplot didn’t work well. I never knew quite where I was within the story. Despite my negative review I did think that both Jeremy Irvine and Jack Lowden were fantastic and perfectly cast. I think one thing you have to remember is that it is very much a Terence Davies film. If you are aware of other films he has done (Distant Voices, Still Lives, 1988) then you know what sort of film you are going to watch.