Benediction | |
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Directed by | Terence Davies |
Written by | Terence Davies |
Produced by | Michael Elliott |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Nicola Daley |
Edited by | Alex Mackie |
Production companies |
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Distributed by |
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Release dates | |
Running time | 137 minutes [2] |
Countries |
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Budget | £5 million [3] |
Box office | $848,834 [4] [5] |
Benediction is a 2021 biographical romantic drama film written and directed by Terence Davies. It stars Jack Lowden and Peter Capaldi as the war poet Siegfried Sassoon, along with Simon Russell Beale, Jeremy Irvine, Kate Phillips, Gemma Jones, and Ben Daniels.
Benediction was Davies' final film before his death in October 2023. [6]
The film was released in United Kingdom on 20 May 2022 by Vertigo Releasing and United States on 3 June 2022 by Roadside Attractions.
The film follows the life of Siegfried Sassoon, a British poet and decorated World War I combat veteran who was sent to a psychiatric facility for his anti-war stance. He had love affairs with several men during the 1920s, married, had a son, and converted to Catholicism.
In January 2020, Jack Lowden joined the cast of the film, with Terence Davies directing from a screenplay he had written. [7] In March 2020, Peter Capaldi joined the cast of the film. [8] [9] [10] Principal photography began on 8 September 2020, [11] [12] [13] and finished on 22 October 2020. [14] [15]
Benediction had its world premiere as a Special Presentation at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival on 12 September. [16] That same month, the film's UK and Ireland distribution rights were acquired by Vertigo Films. [17] In October 2021, Roadside Attractions acquired North American distribution rights to the film. [18] It was released in United Kingdom on 20 May 2022 and United States on 3 June 2022.
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Benediction has an approval rating of 93% based on 149 reviews, with an average rating of 7.7/10. The site's consensus reads, "It isn't an easy watch, but Benediction uncovers a profoundly affecting drama in the real-life story of a combat veteran whose poetry warned against the horrors of war." [19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 81 out of 100 based on 32 critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [20] The IndieWire Critics Poll of 165 critics named it the 13th best film released in 2022. [21]
In response to the film's portrayal of Sassoon's conversion to Catholicism, the poet's niece, Sister Jessica Gatty (who attributes her own conversion to Sassoon's influence), repudiated the filmmakers by revealing that he had been both at peace and joyful in his later years, stating: "The redemption which he sought in many different ways and which he longed for, was found in the last decade of his life when he came home to Christ in the Catholic Church. He was transformed. I can witness to this, so I need to speak out." [22] [23]
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon was an English war poet, writer, and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches and satirized the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's view, were responsible for a jingoism-fuelled war. Sassoon became a focal point for dissent within the armed forces when he made a lone protest against the continuation of the war with his "Soldier's Declaration" of July 1917, which resulted in his being sent to the Craiglockhart War Hospital. During this period he met and formed a friendship with Wilfred Owen, who was greatly influenced by him. Sassoon later won acclaim for his prose work, notably his three-volume, fictionalised autobiography, collectively known as the Sherston trilogy.
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier. He was one of the leading poets of the First World War. His war poetry on the horrors of trenches and gas warfare was much influenced by his mentor Siegfried Sassoon and stood in contrast to the public perception of war at the time and to the confidently patriotic verse written by earlier war poets such as Rupert Brooke. Among his best-known works – most of which were published posthumously – are "Dulce et Decorum est", "Insensibility", "Anthem for Doomed Youth", "Futility", "Spring Offensive" and "Strange Meeting". Owen was killed in action on 4 November 1918, a week before the war's end, at the age of 25.
Stephen James Napier Tennant was a British socialite known for his decadent, eccentric lifestyle. He was a central member of the socialite group referred to as "Bright Young Things" by the tabloid press of the time. Tennant was noted for his affected demeanor, appearance and behaviors.
Terence Davies was a British screenwriter, film director, and novelist. He is best known as the writer and director of autobiographical films, including Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The Long Day Closes (1992) and the collage film Of Time and the City (2008), as well as the literary adaptations The Neon Bible (1995), The House of Mirth (2000), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), and Sunset Song (2015). His final two feature films were centered around influential literary figures, Emily Dickinson in A Quiet Passion (2016) and Siegfried Sassoon in Benediction (2021). Davies was considered by some critics as one of the great British directors of his period.
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