‘The War Below’ film on Messines

[RichardsProductions99]

My feelings on the film are mixed really, having seen it on initial release, and re-watched it when Netflix put it up.

As many have said, including @Petroc For a very limited budget picture (and having been a student of film I know how restrictive budget can be!) and for one shot in quite a short space of time, one must give it credit for its attempt.

I feel it rather well portrays the sense of claustrophobia, and fear that the 'claykickers' must've faced. The tension of discovery by opposing German tunnelers was most prominent, and the small scale of the set I think enhanced that, so well done to the team on that!

That said, there were (what I perceive to be, again from experience) avoidable errors in timeframe, the saluting of officers without headgear, use of a Reichsadler marked stick grenade and a few other things  that could've been put right with a bit more research.  I will however give them leniency on the early appearance of medals for poignant effect as explained by the filmmakers.

The plot was okay, although it felt just like any other modern war film Dunkirk, 1917 (which I admit in hindsight was a missed opportunity, despite my defensive fervour), and relied a lot on visuals for drama.

At the end of the day, it isn't a documentary though, and purely an entertainment piece with some historical characters put in and some real locations mentioned so at least it did that.

I managed to watch it a second time, though I understand many haven't, but each to their own feelings.

Fair effort to those who took part, hopefully the feedback from various sources can provide guidance for future historical work.

 

[James Power]

Having just watched this film one is left under the clear impression that reluctant consent to mining was only given by the Commander in Chief 1917, as if no mining operations had been undertaken prior to that year.  The film rightly depicts the terrible losses of the Somme offensive the year before, lamenting that mining under the enemy redoubts would have saved the day, whereas we all know that mining operations with varying degrees of success underpinned the opening phase of the Somme Offensive  offensive on 1 July 1916. 

The other impression the viewer is left with is that just half a dozen or so miners saved the day detonation one mine on 7 March 1917, this date supposedly being the start of the Messines Offensive, which we know commenced on 7 June.  Such unnecessary inaccuracies, of which there were many, gloss over the true origins of early mining operations of 1915, and the scaling up of operations in 1916 - and the rapid growth of mining companies over this time on the Ypres Salient.  Why were these and other inaccuracies permitted, yet with such commendable attention to detail in many other aspects of the film more or less correctly portrayed?  Such a shame.

A film more accurately featuring the role of Norton Griffiths and the rapid development mining operations on the Western Front, whilst keeping the mine subject of the film as a central example, may have provided a more compelling and more accurate backdrop.

 

Edited 2 January , 2022 by James Power
Word corrections

[Jervis]

The movie seem to have moved the battle of Messines to the 7th of March 1917!!!

To be fair the dialogue refers to June, but the person in charge of the captions could have tried a little harder! 

[Andy davidson]

Watched this for the first time yesterday, thoroughly enjoyed it. I can leave the inaccurate facts and due to the budget was quiet happy to have to story tell of a few miners while echoing the experiences of the many who served there.

I would recommend this film, I was highly critical of 1917 mainly due to the rapids suddenly appearing on the battlefields but some movies have to add narratives to make the story flow etc. But all in all glad I spent my time watching this.