One can only applaud Production Companies who invest in films like this which hold nothing for the Multiplex set and not even that much for the Art House circuit but in which every single person involved both Above and Below the line gives a hundred and ten per cent. What we have is an excellent adaptation of an excellent novel concerned mainly with the work of a small hospital/asylum in Scotland during World War I in which, like M*A*S*H in a much later conflict the job of the medical staff was to patch up the (in this case mentally as opposed to physically) wounded so that they can return to the Front and have another shot at getting killed. This theme is sufficient in itself to sustain a novel/film but in this case we also explore the discussions of two patients, Sigreid Sassoon and Wilfrid Owen, whose poetry about the First World War still resonates today. It's difficult to imagine an actor who could play the lead, Dr. Rivers, more effectively than Jonathan Pryce but it is churlish to single him out when every actor is worthy of praise. In short this is one of the Biggest 'small' films around and well worthy of respect.
Review of Behind the Lines
