Film No. 23. BEFORE DAWN (2024). 12th April.

 

Film No. 23  (2024) April 12th.  10:20 AM  EVENT CINEMAS, Cine 10,  Innaloo.

"Hold the bloody line!" (The call from Sgt Beaufort which sent many a chill up the spine of the young Australian soldiers on the front).

NOMINEE: Most Authentic War Documentary (Jordan Prince-Wright)  AWM, Canberra.

Has there been a better, grittier, more sustained depiction of young Australian men fighting for their survival in the trenches of France/Belgium during WWI, than here in, BEFORE DAWN? If there has, I've not seen it. I might be going out on a limb, but Jordan Prince-Wright has created a visual masterclass, where his interpretation of true mateship helps us to understand why the ANZAC culture is immortalised.  

The script and character development is leaving audiences cold here, but I've not experienced a more immersive WW1 trench warfare experience in my cinema going life. I've always marvelled at the exuberance of excited young Australian men who bounded into battle, landing in the trenches of France in 1916/17/18. If they didn't die, a vast proportion were wounded. The scars they lived with turned their lives from innocence into a hell once war ended. 

The 400 odd days we spend with 18 year old Jim Collins is a savage reminder of why young men lost their innocence. Levi Miller is the face of that innocence. Mud and mateship could have been substituted with a stronger storyline. I understand the criticism but I was engrossed and compelled to be reminded of why 18,000 Australians died and there are no gravestones to remember them.  8GUMS.