The Burying Party. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Matthew Staite, Joyce Branagh, Sid Phoenix, Will Burren, Mike Barrowman, Andrew Caley, Tom Coliandris, Howard Corlett, Christian Faber, Ian Horseman, Mark Kitto, Benjamin Longthorne, Carl Mountfield, Will Mytum, Harry Owens, Sally Paffett, Ruth Rundle, Christopher Wollaton.

The truth of words is never valued until the poet dies, only then does the nation mourn and revere the simplicity, the timing, the passion of that composer of fruit-laden images, whether in war or peace, the poet is there to capture the reflection of their country’s right and wrongs but also to search deep inside for the truth of their existence. If a poet cannot write without unburdening their soul, then how do we expect politicians and generals to be legitimate in their actions and held to account for their own rights and wrongs as they order The Burying Party to stand guard and await the dead they have killed.

The 20th Century was a minefield when it comes to introspection, we have littered, destroyed so much that the repercussions are still being felt by the great-great grandchildren of those who went to fight in the fields of France between 1914-18, a fight that nobody chose but those who would see the opportunity to expand empires and to teach their European neighbours a lesson, of dealing out madness and mud, mustard gas and mechanisation. A fight in which British poets took on perhaps their greatest act of bravery, of showing the public the horror of war, that blind patriotism was just as great an evil as the march to Government ordered slaughter. Never was this more keenly felt than by those captured in Richard Weston’s beautifully framed film, The Burying Party.

Written by Laurence Thompson and Richard Weston, The Burying Party is a deep and elegant portrayal of the final days of Wilfred Owen, one of the architects of truthful observation in poetry that gained momentum during World War One. His relationship and friendship with fellow poets and writers, Robert Graves, Siegfried Sassoon, Robbie Ross and C.K. Moncrieff during this last year of his life, the toll of the war and the lies continually spun by Government and the higher ranks, all leaving their indelible mark on the psyche of the man.

Whilst the film doesn’t delve too deeply on some of the more private moments of the poet’s nature, it nevertheless captures the essence, the sense of guilt, the privacy and admiration he held for those whose talent he believed, perhaps unjustly, outstripped his own. The film also brings the softness, the delicate character of the artist, doing his duty, but understanding the depravity, the sense of injustice of asking men to fight a war that they didn’t truly comprehend they were fighting.

If the poet lives and breathes in truth, no matter the final consequences, then they have done their duty, they shall have their body committed to the Earth with honours, The Burying Party standing silently as the last vestige of humanity’s soul is forever laid bare. A film of outstanding delicacy and poise, incredibly well-written and honour driven!

Ian D. Hall