Cheap Behind the Lines (DVD) (Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, Jonny Lee Miller, Stuart Bunce) (Gillies MacKinnon) Price
CHEAP-PRICE.NET ’s Cheap Price
$13.48
Here at Cheap-price.net we have Behind the Lines at a terrific price. The real-time price may actually be cheaper — click “Buy Now” above to check the live price at Amazon.com.
Among Rivers's patients is a mute, amnesiac officer named Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller), as well as the emotionally depleted poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce) and another poet and war hero, Siegfried Sassoon (James Wilby). Unlike the others, Sassoon is not, in fact, suffering from any disorder but is being quietly punished for writing a pamphlet denouncing the war. The army hopes Rivers can find some basis for mental incompetency in Sassoon, but the thoughtful doctor instead attempts to persuade him to add legitimacy to his criticisms of the war by returning to active duty.
Pryce brilliantly captures the cumulative effects of Rivers's responsibility--of fixing men and sending them back to their possible deaths--on the good doctor's nerves. Wilby is also fine as Sassoon, but the film belongs just as much to actors Miller and Bunce, whose characters are different kinds of men struggling to find their balance, one through a revived sense of duty and the other through his writing. Scottish filmmaker Gillies Mackinnon (The Playboys) is at the top of his form, telling a unique story about the invisible wounds of war while shedding light on the meeting of two visionary poets and one visionary physician. --Tom Keogh
| ACTORS: | Jonathan Pryce, James Wilby, Jonny Lee Miller, Stuart Bunce |
| CATEGORY: | DVD |
| DIRECTOR: | Gillies MacKinnon |
| THEATRICAL RELEASE DATE: | 14 August, 1998 |
| MANUFACTURER: | Lions Gate Home Entertainment |
| MPAA RATING: | R (Restricted) |
| FEATURES: | Color, Closed-captioned |
| TYPE: | Feature Film-drama |
| MEDIA: | DVD |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 012236139539 |
Related Products
Customer Reviews of Behind the Lines
"He wasn't a man. He was a fighting unit...being repaired." I'm quite surprised that this incredible war film has remained so obscure since it's U.S. release, although like the previous reviewers I can see how the deceptive title of "Behind the Lines" would mislead people into thinking of daring missions and epic battle sequences rather than an asylum. Even with very few combat scenes, "Behind the Lines" is a devastating portrait of World War I and one of the best depictions of the war I've ever seen. <
> <
>Jonathan Pryce stars as Dr. William Rivers, an army psychiatrist who must treat and heal shell-shocked soldiers at an asylum in Scotland so he can return them to the slaughter at the front. Although other doctors use brutal electrical shock treatment to "cure" shell-shock victims, Rivers uses patience, kindness, and understanding to treat his patients. But when he meets Siegfried (James Wilby), a decorated war hero who's sent to the asylum for publishing an anti-war pamphlet, he's faced with questioning his own beliefs about the war. As he becomes more and more attached to his troubled patients, Dr. Rivers eventually finds himself suffering from symptoms of shell-shock, and he reaches the point where he's about to break down physically and emotionally. <
> <
>This gripping film about World War I's devastating impact on the brave men at the front is one that you'll never forget. The music, superb performances, and incredible cinematography combine to make this one of the greatest war films of all time. Highly recommended!
Excellent adaptation
Pat Barker's "Regeneration" brought to the screen with such care; it's like a miracle when a great book is duplicated by a screenwriter. The only thing I didn't like about the film [and the words, "didn't like" are really too strong] was Jonny Lee Miller as Prior; and that's strictly personal because he just didn't LOOK like my idea of Prior. I picture Prior as fair; resembling Jude Law possibly. Also, the way Prior is presented here, you really didn't get the hint, as you do in Regeneration, that Prior is "one of those" as his roommate says! But to be fair, THAT was actually developed in the other two books in the trilogy...I suppose I was not distant enough from the books to totally appreciate this film on its own merits, although I do think it's excellent. The opening overhead shot of a field of battle, AFTER a battle, is just astounding.
<
>
<
>Why didn't this movie get more attention in America when it was released??!! Jonathan Pryce's performance is definitely Oscar caliber.
Looking into the minds of the Great War poets.
I understand the lament of some reviewers as to this film's name change from _Regeneration_ to _Behind the Lines_. The "lines" to which the title refers are not the battle lines, but the lines of poetry (and prose) of several of the film's key historical figures. (Mostly Owen and Sassoon, but Robert Graves also makes an appearance.) It is actually a very appropriate title if we understand it as investigating the cataclysm through which these authors forged their art.
<
>
<
>This is an excellent film for anyone who wants to understand the profound psychological change the Great War imposed upon the men of this generation. It is also a good jumping-off point for a discussion of the War Poets in any history or lit class.