`Regeneration” is a reminder of what many anti-war films were like before the Vietnam horror shows — and “Saving Private Ryan” — came along. It’s filled with noble sentiments, somber reflections, damaged psyches and a lingering war-is-bad feeling that you can brood about as you enjoy a nice dinner afterward.
Based on Pat Barker’s novel, the episodic “Regeneration” depicts mostly real-life characters during their stay in Craiglockart, a Scotland military hospital for men recovering from shellshock during World War I. Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby), a prominent poet and heroic soldier, is there because he publicly condemned Britain’s role in the war, and the military decided to commit rather than court-martial him. Pioneering psychiatrist Dr. William Rivers (Jonathan Pryce) is assigned to persuade him to rescind his views and return to the battlefield.
The irony is that Rivers realizes Sassoon is perfectly sane, while the doctor seems to be suffering from his own brand of shellshock via his patients. (Rivers’ stammer is the equivalent of Tom Hanks’ shaky hands in “Ryan.”) Also in the hospital are Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller), an officer rendered mute following an attack, and Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce), who idolizes Sassoon and eventually writes some of the finest poetry to come out of the war.
Director Gillies MacKinnon (“A Simple Twist of Fate,” “The Playboys”) opens the movie with a stunning overhead shot of a muddy battlefield, with the only color coming from the bodies encased in gray. But once he and writer Allan Scott (“In Love and War,” “The Preacher’s Wife”) move the drama to the hospital, the proceedings become rather dry.
Although I haven’t read Barker’s novel, I understand that its language and poetry are essential elements, and in this case neither translates particularly well to the screen. More troublesome is the lack of tension. Sassoon charges that Britain’s war of liberation has become a war of aggression, but those of us not so well-versed in World War I history must take his word for it; the idea is explored only in a brief argument between him and Rivers.
Otherwise, Rivers tends to be sympathetic to his so-called patient, so their scenes together, though well-acted, lack charge. Perhaps because the conflict is missing, this story gives way to a less compelling plot involving Prior’s recovery of his voice and his taking up with a factory girl. “Regeneration” opens Friday at The Fine Arts Theatre. MPAA rating: R (violence, sexuality, language). (star) (star)
