Film Review: Benediction

Director: Terence Davies
Starring: Tom Blyth, Jack Lowden, Kate Phillips
Running time: 137 minutes

Benediction covers the adult life of Siegfried Sassoon in its various stages, an area probably familiar to many through study of Sassoon’s poetry and, more recently, the publication of Pat Barker’s Regeneration trilogy and its subsequent release on film. Director Terence Davies shows Sassoon as a soldier, highlighting his bravery both in combat and as protestor against the unnecessary prolongation of the war. The film highlights the hedonism of post-war Britain, where Sassoon’s lavish life style is explored. A significant proportion of the movie is devoted to exploring Sassoon’s string of male relationships at a time when such an activity was criminalised - but on a more ponderous level, it covers Sassoon’s growing dissatisfaction with his life and his search for peace and solace.

Each episode of Sassoon’s life offers a useful chronology to the structure of the film, with Jack Lowden playing the character in his younger years and Peter Capaldi in his older. Davies opens the film in Sassoon’s present day with some rather dramatic shots of him splayed in cruciform position before a priest, as he follows the procedure converting to Catholicism. As the film unravels and our understanding of Sassoon’s life is more informed, it becomes apparent that this is Sassoon’s final, maybe in extremis, attempt to reach some sort of clarity and salvation in his life through God.

An ordinary soldier’s experiences of the war is covered using modern cinematography interspersed with - probably familiar - historical documentary evidence. However, the contrasting sepia tinted film works well, and is a useful reminder of the horrors of the war which inspired Sassoon’s early poetry. Of course, Davies uses recitations of both Sassoon’s and Owen’s poetry throughout the film which provides a measure of gravitas and relevance in the script. However, its use is rather scanty and one can’t help feeling rather short-changed; this is, indeed, a biopic about one of our most famous war poets and this resource seems to have been neglected. 

Sassoon’s sojourn at Craiglockhart Hospital while convalescing from shell shock is one of the more uplifting sections of the film. His conversations with Rivers (his physician) are revealing, as is his encounter and subsequent friendship with Wilfred Owen, an encounter already imagined in Pat Barker’s Regeneration. This section explores Sassoon’s restrained sexual attraction to Owen and conveniently segues into his post-war Bohemian lifestyle, where restraint is far from his and other people’s minds. Here, Davies presents us with a catalogue of deeply unpleasant people, Ivor Novello for one, with seemingly no purpose other than to revel in each other. These are the spoilt brats of the moneyed classes and theatre. 

Ironically, Sassoon - who represented the common soldier in the past as part of his anti-war protest - is seen to blend in with those very people he criticised. The acting is excellent, particularly from the cast of young men who strut around in parody of themselves. The sets are sumptuous, the costumes lavishly reflecting this social set in all its hyperbolic glory. The ‘jolly times’ are reflected through lots of violent Charleston dancing and the rendering of the music hall songs of the time, which provide a relevant reminder of 1930s London. Davies’ choice of diegetic music is more profound. It enhances and lends dignity to the purpose of the film, Sassoon’s search for peace, while rooting it in quintessentially Britishness. Listen up!  

The dialogue is razor sharp. It’s witty and it’s clever, as the characters verbally spar with one another. In fact, there are sections where it’s exhausting trying to keep abreast of the verbal thrusts the characters hurl at each other. Frankly, a fluent, completely understandable conversation between characters would come as a relief.   

The depth of Sassoon’s misery is almost palpable in the gloomy, latter part of the film. He is trapped in an impossible marriage, searching for some form of redemption and seemingly failing. One can only feel sorrow for his wife living with this prickly and frankly unpleasant man. The ‘hope’ he longed for in marriage has clearly not transpired. Peter Capaldi’s presentation of an older Sassoon is excellent and he evolves effortlessly into a more tired version of the man.

A long film, Davies has given himself an enormous amount of ground to cover and his purpose is not always clear. The film appears disparate because its many and various strands do not neatly tie up, and it’s difficult not to feel some sense of dissatisfaction by the end. However, on the positive side, it boasts excellent acting (from a stellar cast) and excellent cinematography, and the re-creation of the Bohemian period is beautifully done.    

Did you know? Terence Davies was made a Fellow of the British Film Institute in recognition of his outstanding contribution to film culture.

Benediction is now showing at Broadway Cinema