Private Peaceful
Kryst Maddox-Lue
Before I review this film, I want to tell you a little story about how I discovered the book Private Peaceful, by Michael Morpurgo. I was about thirteen or fourteen when I found it in Waterstones (UK bookstore chain) and decided to give it a try based on the strength of the blurb, despite not really being a fan of wartime novels. Now, I know it’s a MASSIVE cliché but I’m gonna say it anyway: this book changed my life.
Okay, so slight overstatement. It didn’t exactly change my life, but it certainly altered my perception of war, particularly the First World War, and the soldiers who fought in it, which is something. It's also one of the few books with the ability to make me laugh, cry and fume at the major and minor injustices scattered throughout it’s pages. In fact, I can think of only two other books, which have had a similar effect on me, To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) and The Tulip Touch (Anne Fine). Therefore, when I found out that it had been turned into a film it was with excitement, but slight trepidation that I watched.
It has to be admitted that films are never as good as their written counterparts, To Kill a Mockingbird’s a good example of this (ask anyone: brilliant film, but there aren’t even words in existence to describe the beauty of the book) and Harry Potter’s an even better example! Not that the film’s aren’t good on their own, but when compared to the books... That aside, as I say, I watched this film with slight concern, especially having seen War Horse (based on another Morpurgo book) which, whilst being a good watch, tends to deviate rather far from the book at times.
However, I need not have worried.
This film sticks very close to the original storyline given in the book, and filled me with the same sort of emotions that reading it gave me. The story is based around that of two brothers, Charlie and Tommo Peaceful who grow up in the county of Devon. The brothers childhoods are both blighted by the premature death of their father and the hardships of attempting to continue their lifestyle in the wake of this, their relationship with developmentally disabled older brother, Joe, and their mutual love for local lass, Molly. Whom eventually ends up married to the older of the siblings, Charlie.
Seeking to escape the hardships of rural poverty, and the heartache of his teenage love, Tommo enlists into the army, followed closely by Charlie; who enlists despite being about to become a father, in order to look after his little brothe? On the field Tommo and Charlie face the hardships and injustices of war, whilst contending with the volatile temper of the sadistic Sergeant Hanley, brilliantly portrayed by John Lynch. But the stringent rules of army life, coupled with sergeant Hanley's blatant dislike of the Peaceful brothers and their desire to look after one another, means that only one of them will survive the war...
This is a brilliantly executed piece of cinematography, saying that it’s easy to see why it never got the commercial success of WAR HORSE. Not only does it lack the rather large advantage of being tied to one of the biggest names in Hollywood, in terms of directing at least (Steven Spielberg), but there’s nothing particularly dynamic about the film’s execution though, saying that there is something slightly beautiful about the pure simplicity of the piece. Furthermore, the film does sum up rather brilliantly, and accurately, the effect that the first world war had on, not only the soldiers fighting it, but the families, friends and employers they left behind.
On that point, I feel I should mention the late, great Richard Griffiths, who offers a superb final performance, portraying The Colonel - the wealthy and bigoted local landowner. But of course, the entire cast were brilliant!
All in all, this is a beautiful story about war, poverty and above all, the strength of brotherly love.
