The Unknown Soldier

The subject of shell-shock is rarely touched upon in so realistic a fashion. Also, the class distinctions in England are made quite plain in this presentation. If you were an enlisted man during this period of time, 1914-1918, you did not receive the same consideration in a court of justice as an officer in the same army. This policy, I believe continued even up to World War II (1939-1945).

As for medicine, little was known on how to treat shell-shocked men. The administering of electric shock was graphically portrayed. It was not a gentle therapy and many people suffered during this treatment.

All the actors and actresses performed wonderfully. And as someone mentioned, the costumes and scenery appeared very authentic for that time. Oh, in spite of their dedication and intelligence, women were still second class citizens.

All in all, I consider the film a very, very, good one.

This fine mini-series, directed by David Drury (THE CRY, RHODES, and PRIME SUSPECT 3) is a touching and thought-provoking depiction of the futility of the Great War, a slaughter which wiped out a generation, and changed the role of women forever. Written by Peter Barwood (TV series HEARTBEAT) it includes the cruelty of the courts-martial and executions for desertion, the further losses from the the post-war influenza outbreak, the blurring of class distinctions, and the disappointment of women who must relinquish their wartime jobs to the returning men. Beautifully and sensitively acted by Juliet Aubrey as Carey's strong-willed daughter Sophia in one of her best roles since GO NOW and STILL CRAZY. Sophia plays a Nurse who has suffered her own losses and feels very strongly for the disabled men as they and their families try to adjust to normal life. She falls for one of her patients, the enigmatic Unknown Soldier (Gary Mavers, PEAK PRACTICE's hunk Dr. Attwood) found shell-shocked and wandering naked in No-Man's Land. The men call him Angel, as he saved the life of another officer, but who is he really? Is he an Officer or an enlisted man ? In their efforts to find his real identity he faces the horrors of electric shock therapy, accusations of malingering, threats of being returned immediately to the fighting at the front, court-martial as a deserter, and conflicting witnesses including a couple desperately claiming him as their son. Compared to the epic THE English PATIENT (beautifully filmed but too Hollywood) this is more grittily realistic. Mavers' performance is wooden, and Aubrey is altogether too modern and earnest in her commitment to those men (why is she attracted to Angel?) but the cast includes familiar British faces Frederick Treves, Pip Torrens and Tom Chadbon who are as excellent as ever.

this was on PBS here is St Louis last week, and oh my god was it ever so terrible. I hated it. The cameras are filterless and it has the look of an American style soap opera (minus the juicy story lines and the sex).

However the costumes worn by the actors looked chronologically correct. .....but that is all the good that I am going to say about this movie.

it sucked, I mean it really sucked.

there is almost no background music, the acting godawful. You could watch the actors glance up at the camera from time to time. And there is almost zero backgraound music(almost none).

and as for the storyline......so let me get this right....if you got shell shock in World War I, and you forget your idenity, then it becomes your free ticket to start screwing your nurses??? - Oh my God please!...and hell, they didn't even show the sex scenes (it was implied)..gimmie a break!

if it weren't for the camera lighting and the close sets, you would've almost had a feeling that you were watching a home video of a play. ........yes its true.

don't watch this movie. its awful. It makes me wish I had shell shock so I could forget this bastard of a film.

no good acting, my basset hound is sexier than the old wrinkly women in this movie. the acting is so bad, that i found myself ignoring the movie and i smoke a bunch of pot and then i started jerking off just to keep myself entertained.....that was how bad this movie is. The score is absolutely lousy....there are no special effects. They didn't even use filters on the cameras when then filmed it...so it has that soap opera look to it(porno movies have that same filter-less camera lens look too). don't waste you time on this movie .please don't watch it. I beg you go watch something good. The whole movie has a feel to it that the actors were just going through the motions of some play that they had just rehearsed moments earlier (there eyes are often glancing back to the camera....just stupid

I watched this as a 12y.o when it was first released and remember it vividly. I rewatch it on occasion and think it is well acted and accurate.