Private Peaceful

2012 "Divided by love - United by war."
6.2| 1h40m| en
Details

Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.

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Reviews

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film
Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.
Loui Blair It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
morrison-dylan-fan 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.
perkypops This story involves the lives of two English brothers growing up in the early twentieth century. We witness their comradeship at school as older brother Charlie looks after younger Tommo. We observe the hardship endured by their mother after her husband dies in an accident. We see them meet Molly for the first time and have a beautifully painted scene where we know exactly what each brother is thinking. And the passage of time leads us to the Great War and how they end up as soldiers.Each link in the chain is perfectly manufactured, perfectly fitted together and brilliantly paced apart. Every thing is carefully drawn in charcoal before the colours are added and we know what the painting is really revealing.The acting is of top quality, the costumes a delight, and the times, cultures, and habits carefully put to good use. There is poetry on the screen in abundance but it is not stuff that is hard to work through. In the whole it is entirely entertaining and satisfying because there is no artifice in the script. You know what the characters are and there is little sentimentality present but sensitivity in abundance.If you had made this film you would be well proud of it. Had Hollywood made it with major stars it would be in the Oscar stakes. As it is it is a work of art, lovingly put together by a crew who must all be congratulated on their skill.Warmly recommended for early teens and above.
grayman175 A terrible portrayal of a really good book. The films acting and general scene work was awful,any viewer who knows a tiny little bit about world war one Will watch this and know that they didn't put any care into the costumes and special effects. Overall this film is dog poo when put next to morpurgo's war horse film. Greatly Disappointed! This film really annoyed me as I was waiting for a really well made film (like the war horse) but they showed me a cast who's accents are terrible and General acting skills of a four-year old! At one point in the film sergeant Hanley makes Tommo run around and Charlie squares up to him,this annoys me as it would never of happened.Charlie got given field punishment number one and was tied to a gun wheel in clean uniform, this is wrong as the gun carriage would have been pulled around. This film was tripe!
rhudson1066 A beautiful portrayal of love and loyalty, this film gives a convincing insight into the lives at home and at war of young men in the First War. Key relationships are poignantly rendered, firstly between cocksure Charlie Peaceful and his sensitive and introspective brother Tommo. Their relationship with their father is particularly moving as well, as is their mutual love for their friend Molly. One thing that stands out for me is the authenticity of the film's portrayal of their acceptance of each other, of one sibling's 'conquest' of Molly, and of the relative poverty of their situation as fatherless farm-boys - although the outbursts of politicised rebellion in this respect are also convincing, if not when blurted out to the landowner who is bizarrely drinking in the public bar with the lads. This is indeed one of several anachronisms in the film (along with unrealistic woodcutting of the forester and the strangely silent field hospital), but these do not undermine what is otherwise a deeply moving portrayal of an everyday tragedy.