Battlefield

Filmmakers have used war movies to explore what it means to be human for decades. Whether that be celebrating astounding feats of heroism and camaraderie or showing the horrors that war inflects, each approach is as effective as the last.  Director Gianni Amelio’s Battlefield (Campo di Battaglia), however, takes a different angle on the genre. Set in a military hospital at the end of the First World War, the film (co-written by Alberto Taraglio) centres around two close friends who emply opposite methods in treating the wounded soldiers. Whereas Stefano (Gabriel Montesi) is ruthlessly clinical in his diagnosis, wanting to get each man back on the frontline as fast as feasibly possible, Guilio (Alessandro Borghi) is more sympathetic. Aided by a nurse friend (Federica Rosellini), he does whatever he can to get the injured men sent back home to their families.

Although the hospital is far removed from the ongoing gunfire, the patient’s horrific wounds are a constant reminder of what’s happening a few miles away. One man’s face is completely bandaged, a 19-year-old has been blinded in one eye, and another is deeply traumatised from what he experienced. Each one of these actors gives a spectacular performance which consequently works to give the film a sombre atmosphere, which is further heightened by the sparce use of music. When rare moments of violence do happen onscreen, their impact is felt that much more.

This is a very quiet and slow-moving picture. While the tone the filmmaker creates is outstanding, a lack of plot only makes the feature feel much slower and longer than it is.It’s not until after the halfway mark that the narrative begins to develop with the arrival of the Spanish Flu. As the hospital’s beds become overwhelmed and the bodies of the sick start to plle up, Giulio works to figure out what’s causing the illness. Had the script introduced this pivotal element earlier, then film could have been a captivating examination of the outbreak. However, this is unfortunately a case of too little too late.

Amelio’s Battlefield is an arresting and effectively atmospheric war story told from a unique perspective. Despite its excellent deployment of tone, an absence of plot results in the powerful ending falling flat.

Andrew Murray

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