No. 95 (2021) BENEDICTION Nov. 22nd.

 

Film No. 95 (2021)  November 22nd.  6.30 PM   Cinema 1.  LUNA,  Leederville. 

"Duty, well that word covers a multitude of sins. In the face of such slaughter one cannot order ones conscience"(Siegfried sits at his court-martial, answering questions about the reasons for his objections to the War).

 

Did writer/director Terence Davies see something of himself in war poet Siegfried Sassoon when it came to his interpretation of an under-recognised artist? Davies recently spoke about being an outsider, and he saw Sassoon in the same light. Davies understanding of Sassoon was that he died feeling very unfulfilled, his film gives a powerful insight into that lack of fulfilment.

Davies is not a film-maker who deals in the trivialities of language. Every word is written with great purpose and every scene plays like a stage play. This won't be to everyone's liking. But if you liked THE HOUSE OF MIRTH (2000), another of Davies's under valued classics, then BENEDICTION will, I believe, be to your tastes. 

BENEDICTION, plays out in three acts. Sassoon, played by Jack Lowden, establishes himself as the film's centrepiece in a tight, sharp and very witty opening stanza. He is secure about who he is. His objections to the war are strongly played out. He's committed for psychiatric treatment and while we feel no-one could be more sane, he becomes less sure of himself. His path through early manhood as a homosexual sees him becoming subservient to two of his lovers; Ivor Novello (Jeremy Irvine) and Stephen Tennant (Calam Lynch). The war, falling in love with a fellow poet, Wilfred Owen (Matthew Tennyson) and life in hospital seem to sap his self-esteem. He even gets married to the beautiful and loving Hester Gatty, (Kate Phillips) who becomes his life partner. 

The third act has us flicking between post WWII, (with Sassoon now played by Peter Capaldi) , and the Lowden era. Sassoon is the complete embodiment of an embittered genius. Hester mkII (Gemma Jones) and son George (Richard Goulding) are good, loyal people, but Siegfried "bubbles away" in silence. The Sassoon we first meet is not the Sassoon we farewell as the screen turns to black.

The film is good. One of Davies' best. The history lesson via Google later, gave me a wonderful insight into why Davies interpreted Sassoon via BENEDICTION as he did. Seventy six year old Davies, like Sassoon, could well be suffering similar artistic ailments! 10GUMS.