[Canadaka]

I went to see 'Charlie Wilsons War' tonight, and it was pretty good. But what got me excieted more than the movie was one of the previews they showed. Its for a movie coming in November 2008 that i had never heard of but is looooong overdue. A Canadian world war movie, focusing around Passchendaele.

The trailer was very cool, kinda a cut-out 3D effect and about half way through it i knew it was about Canadians and i had goose bumps all over. And of course at the end you know its about Canadians.

I have been wanting to see a significant budget motion picture focused on Canadians for so long. Would it be so bad to have one Canadian war movie? there is 50 gagillion American ones.

I'm sure this isn't news to some of you, but its exciting for me. Not sure how wide its release will be, or ifs even going to be playing outside Canada... i sure hope so.

Also whats sweeet, one of the stars is the guy rom Due South!

Quote:

Paul Gross (Due South, Slings and Arrows) is nothing if not totally passionate about his current project, the epic movie Passchendaele, a First World War romance inspired by stories his maternal grandfather, Private Mike Dunne, told him when he was a boy. Those stories – harrowing tales of life in the trenches, of comradeship and loss - remained with him, becoming the basis for this ambitious project. “The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the great crucibles of the First World War in which thousands of Canadians took part. My grandfather was one of them,” said Gross. “His stories about the war have resonated throughout my life and it’s our hope that Passchendaele will ignite a similar interest and justifiable pride in the grit and valour of all the Canadians who fought for their country, contributing to the birth of the nation.”

The film, now in principal photography in Alberta, Canada, follows a Calgary soldier’s life as he joins the front lines of World War I and culminates in the battle at Passchendaele. In the offensive, after 16 days of fighting, Canadian troops successfully took the Belgian town following three months of failed allied attacks on the German lines. Twenty thousand Canadian soldiers fought in the battle, considered to be a defining moment in Canada’s military history. Five thousand of these men never returned home.

Rhombus Media, Whizbang Films and Damberger Film and Cattle Company recently announced that the film will star Gross and Caroline Dhavernas (Breach, Hollywoodland). Written and directed by Gross, the film is produced by Niv Fichman (Rhombus Media), Frank Siracusa (Whizbang Films) and Francis Damberger (Damberger Film and Cattle Company). The producers have also launched a website and blog that will be updated direct from the set of the film. Passchendaele is scheduled to launch in Canada on Remembrance Day, 11 November 2008.

http://www.passchendaelethemovie.com/
you can see the trailer on the website blog, its tiny and crap quality though... if anyone can find a better version post it.

[Canadian_Mind]

Trailer is kinda corny, but epic at the same time; I'm looking forward to the movie.

Would be a nice touch if members of the military are used as extras in the movie. I just hope it is a film of high caliber, being true to the facts of what happened and have a good storyline, but a good war/romance movie at the same time... Akin to Pearl Harbour.

if it does well, would be nice to see a movie about Vimy and our involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic and Battle of Britain.

[ridenrain]

Although I share the desire to see a Canadian war movie, I lament that we always must defer to WW1. We always return to WW1 because that was the last war where we can honestly say that Canada was united, only because it was so long ago. Even WW2 divided much of the country.

There are more than enough stories of heros and valor from Afghanistan. Lieutenant Trevor Greene, of Vancouver, B.C is a perfect example. Here's a guy who leaves a wife and family to help people a world away and in the process of talks, gets an axe in the head. He's recovering and improving and his is a story that all Canadians should know. he's a Canadian hero fer christ sakes.
Canadians need to know where Passchendaele is, but they also need to know where Kandahar, Medac, and Korea are and everywhere Canadians fought and died to make the world a better place.

Isn't that the CBC's job? It's telling Canadian stories to Canadians, not contributing to a political witch hunt.

[Canadian_Mind]

I'm sure CBC will get around to it eventually. however, part of the problem si that stories told via CBC don't get as much attention as big-budget, mass-marketed movies.

Also, it would be tough to make a 2 hour long movie out of a guy getting an axe in the back of his head. Now, if the movie were more about the general process of the guy joining the military, war breaking out, and him going, cumulating to him getting an axe in his head, that would make for good plot and an exciting movie to watch.

[ridenrain]

Shit on the CBC! I don't trust them to forcast the weather.

Quote:

I'm sure CBC will get around to it eventually.

New flash: That was 1994.
If we rely on the CBC to get aound to ww1, we will all be dead by then.

My point is that Lieutenant Trevor Greene's story is something that Canadians must know. The CBC headlignes every Canadian death so they better damn well follow up with who these people were and what they were fighting for.
These sons and daughters fought and died for something they believe in and it's definately the mandate of the CBC to tell their stories.

[Canadian_Mind]

1994? Trevor Green was 2006 wasn't he?

[ridenrain]

Please disreguard the date. I'm pretty livid that thhe CBC has found this specific time to rekindle their WW1 rhetoric.
You're date is correct.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpz102bDzH4[/youtube]

[Canadian_Mind]

ridenrain wrote:

Please disreguard the date. I'm pretty livid that thhe CBC has found this specific time to rekindle their WW1 rhetoric.
You're date is correct.

Date disregarded.

However, when did the CBC rekindle it's WWI rhetoric? I never knew there ever was WWI rhetoric spewed by the CBC before, nevermind them starting it up again. This movie isn't produced by the CBC, it is produced by an independent film company.

[danikyvor]

Canadaka wrote:

I went to see 'Charlie Wilsons War' tonight, and it was pretty good. But what got me excieted more than the movie was one of the previews they showed. Its for a movie coming in November 2008 that i had never heard of but is looooong overdue. A Canadian world war movie, focusing around Passchendaele.

The trailer was very cool, kinda a cut-out 3D effect and about half way through it i knew it was about Canadians and i had goose bumps all over. And of course at the end you know its about Canadians.

I have been wanting to see a significant budget motion picture focused on Canadians for so long. Would it be so bad to have one Canadian war movie? there is 50 gagillion American ones.

I'm sure this isn't news to some of you, but its exciting for me. Not sure how wide its release will be, or ifs even going to be playing outside Canada... i sure hope so.

Also whats sweeet, one of the stars is the guy rom Due South!

Quote:

Paul Gross (Due South, Slings and Arrows) is nothing if not totally passionate about his current project, the epic movie Passchendaele, a First World War romance inspired by stories his maternal grandfather, Private Mike Dunne, told him when he was a boy. Those stories – harrowing tales of life in the trenches, of comradeship and loss - remained with him, becoming the basis for this ambitious project. “The Battle of Passchendaele was one of the great crucibles of the First World War in which thousands of Canadians took part. My grandfather was one of them,” said Gross. “His stories about the war have resonated throughout my life and it’s our hope that Passchendaele will ignite a similar interest and justifiable pride in the grit and valour of all the Canadians who fought for their country, contributing to the birth of the nation.”

The film, now in principal photography in Alberta, Canada, follows a Calgary soldier’s life as he joins the front lines of World War I and culminates in the battle at Passchendaele. In the offensive, after 16 days of fighting, Canadian troops successfully took the Belgian town following three months of failed allied attacks on the German lines. Twenty thousand Canadian soldiers fought in the battle, considered to be a defining moment in Canada’s military history. Five thousand of these men never returned home.

Rhombus Media, Whizbang Films and Damberger Film and Cattle Company recently announced that the film will star Gross and Caroline Dhavernas (Breach, Hollywoodland). Written and directed by Gross, the film is produced by Niv Fichman (Rhombus Media), Frank Siracusa (Whizbang Films) and Francis Damberger (Damberger Film and Cattle Company). The producers have also launched a website and blog that will be updated direct from the set of the film. Passchendaele is scheduled to launch in Canada on Remembrance Day, 11 November 2008.

http://www.passchendaelethemovie.com/
you can see the trailer on the website blog, its tiny and crap quality though... if anyone can find a better version post it.

Trev you need to check out your own site more LOL There's a Passenchdaele thread somewhere on this board. They finished filming it back in October and is now in editing. I REALLY hope it gets released international because I want to see it!!!

[Canadaka]

lol yah i guess i should have done a search first! here is one thread:
http://www.canadaka.net/modules.php?nam ... c&p=715154
that you started

[danikyvor]

I really can't wait to see it. They did a pretty good job keeping the website up to date with the diaries and stuff during filming. I am definitely VERY pleased that it's Paul Gross who is in charge of this project. You know he's going to do everything he can to make it the movie that it should be!!

I wish someone would do one on Vimy though.

[Canadaka]

Something like 20% of hollywood is Canadian, it would be awesome to see a vimmy movie made with mostly Canadian talent, we have all thr right people in all the fields. Just need someone to pay for it, i guess the big studios don't think a Canadian story will sell in the US market.

[danikyvor]

Yeah, more than likely....

I say we make em though! The world has to put up with american stories of heroes and war, we should make them watch ours.

I find it interesting actually, now that I think on it. There's not a lot of British movies either, where they are not under American influence. Sure we have a lot of "period" films like Elizabeth etc, but they are not British in the sense that there's American actors, american money etc. Britain could do so many movies, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Saxon invasions, etc.......

Canada could do movies on so much too! Arctic exploration, Queenston Heights, Plains of Abraham, Louis Riel, Vimy, Dieppe etc....even the Beothuks of Newfoundland! It would be like The Last of the Mohicans!

*sigh*

[sasquatch2]

I was reading movie reviews in the Beaver and there was a glowing report on a movie about Vimy. Can't remember the title but it was something simple like "The Battle of Vimy Ridge." It included some original footage.

Most military colleges put a lot of empasis on Vimy Ridge because of the inovations made against the backdrop of mass attacks by both sides which were SOP until then. The Canadian tactics of flowing around strong points and isolating them rather than bogging down reducing them, better support fire and meticulous planning and training.

Vimy was the example from which the final, decisive Battle of Amiens was patterned. The success of Amiens was for the most part a result of the contributions of Canadian planners......

Indeed the success of Amiens, combined arms attack, that inspired the tactics of Fuller which were copied by Whermacht planners such as Guderian and Manstein in the next war.

Passchendaele" was an example of having to play by somebody else's rules. A military blunder but the Canadian's tactical success was due to their tactic of manuever, isolating strong points, by bypassing then enveloping them.....which so impressed the Germans that they emulated it with their "stormtroopers".

[dossettd]

I was thrilled to be an extra in Passchendaele. I travelled from Kingston Ontario to Calgary and stayed there for five weeks to be in the movie as a background extra. For those who are wondering about how well it will be received, I would like to assure you that what I saw was thrilling. When special effects, musical score and all the other goodies are added I am sure that it will make all Canadians proud. If you are interested in seeing some pictures of the film shoot visit my website at http://www.daviddossett.com