Passchendaele the movie

Antipodean Andy · Jun 17, 2008

The Canadian Press: Paul Gross's First World War epic 'Passchendaele' to open Toronto film fest - I wonder if this is the same Paul Gross who was on that show about a Mountie in Chicago - Due South?

TORONTO — Paul Gross's "Passchendaele," a sweeping First World War epic inspired by his grandfather's experiences on the Belgian battleground, will open this year's Toronto International Film Festival.

The film, still in post-production, will have its world premiere at the festival on Sept. 4. "Passchendaele" is the largest homegrown Canadian movie ever made, with a budget of $20 million.

"It's a terrific honour," Gross said Tuesday. "I think it should be a really fun night, a great night, and that there will be a lot of enthusiasm for it. The film is unabashedly emotional, so it should stir everyone up."

Gross's grandfather, Michael Dunne, an Alberta veteran of the First World War, was the inspiration for much of the movie. He fought in the famous battle, alongside 50,000 other Canadian soldiers, in the fields of Ypres, Belgium, in 1917.

The heart-wrenching war stories his reticent grandfather finally told his family - some as he laying dying in hospital - haunted Gross, and he dreamed of making "Passchendaele" for much of his life.

"The inspiration for doing it at all was my grandfather, and it was something I'd wanted to do for years," said the 49-year-old Gross. "My real interest in the war began with him, because he served there, and some elements of the story were his - pretty much everything except for the main romantic plot line. Almost everything was drawn from his diaries, and narrative accounts from various soldiers."

While the film is as much a sweeping romance as it is a historical account of the Ypres battles, Gross said, he hopes young Canadians will become interested in Canada's role in both world wars as a result of the movie.

"That was one of the big secondary pushes of it, to have this whole educational component that ran alongside the film," he said.

"If you can get youth excited by a film, then they won't feel that great distance between themselves and history, and it will bring it closer. Their interest will actually be genuine."

The response from test audiences so far has been "exceptional," Gross said. A final cut of the film is expected by the end of July.

Piers Handling, director and CEO of the festival, said he was honoured to have the film open this year's event.

"It is rare that Canadians get to experience their own histories via the moving image, particularly on the big screen," he said in a news release, calling the film "personal and passionate, as significant to both Canadian film and Canadian history."

The 33nd annual Toronto International Film Festival runs from Sept. 4 to 13.
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Pathfinder · Jun 17, 2008

That sounds like an interesting movie

Hopefully it might come out to New Zealand cinemas sooner or later.

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