Private Peaceful (2012) Reviews

• A beautiful portrayal of love and loyalty.

  rhudson10662012-11-01

  A beautiful portrayal of love and loyalty, this film gives a convincing insight into the lives at home and at war of young men in the First War. Key relationships are poignantly rendered, firstly between cocksure Charlie Peaceful and his sensitive and introspective brother Tommo. Their relationship with their father is particularly moving as well, as is their mutual love for their friend Molly. One thing that stands out for me is the authenticity of the film's portrayal of their acceptance of each other, of one sibling's 'conquest' of Molly, and of the relative poverty of their situation as fatherless farm-boys - although the outbursts of politicised rebellion in this respect are also convincing, if not when blurted out to the landowner who is bizarrely drinking in the public bar with the lads. This is indeed one of several anachronisms in the film (along with unrealistic woodcutting of the forester and the strangely silent field hospital), but these do not undermine what is otherwise a deeply moving portrayal of an everyday tragedy.

• Beautifully constructed drama about sacrifices

  perkypops2013-06-25

  This story involves the lives of two English brothers growing up in the early twentieth century. We witness their comradeship at school as older brother Charlie looks after younger Tommo. We observe the hardship endured by their mother after her husband dies in an accident. We see them meet Molly for the first time and have a beautifully painted scene where we know exactly what each brother is thinking. And the passage of time leads us to the Great War and how they end up as soldiers. Each link in the chain is perfectly manufactured, perfectly fitted together and brilliantly paced apart. Every thing is carefully drawn in charcoal before the colours are added and we know what the painting is really revealing. The acting is of top quality, the costumes a delight, and the times, cultures, and habits carefully put to good use. There is poetry on the screen in abundance but it is not stuff that is hard to work through. In the whole it is entirely entertaining and satisfying because there is no artifice in the script. You know what the characters are and there is little sentimentality present but sensitivity in abundance. If you had made this film you would be well proud of it. Had Hollywood made it with major stars it would be in the Oscar stakes. As it is it is a work of art, lovingly put together by a crew who must all be congratulated on their skill. Warmly recommended for early teens and above.

• Very good war drama

  MattyGibbs2014-08-25

  Private Peaceful follows 2 brothers from childhood to their participation in World War 1. It features themes of friendship, loyalty, courage and sibling rivalry. It features a good UK based cast featuring the late Richard Griffiths and the always excellent Jack O'Connell. For a film covering a period of time it has a relatively short running time and therefore has a lot to pack in. Therefore there are a number of characters that aren't fully fleshed out. For a small film I thought the war scenes were extremely well done and managed to convey the full horror of war for the often under prepared soldiers. It all ends rather abruptly and doesn't tie up loose ends which is a bit risky from the filmmaker. I think in this case however it is justified as it makes a greater impact. This is a only small film but is very engrossing and well worth seeking out. Very enjoyable and thought provoking.

• Divided by love. United by war. Torn apart by injustice

  TheLittleSongbird2017-03-04

  Based on Michael Morpurgo's book, 'Private Peaceful' has garnered inevitable comparisons with Spielberg's 'War Horse' (to me a superior film, which is probably not going to be a popular opinion). On its own merits, it's a decent but not great film that does a lot right but somewhat too vanilla. Starting with the strengths of 'Private Peaceful', while not lavish it's very nicely shot in its own low-key way and even more expertly done is the contrast of the rustic charm of the early life scenes with the harrowing griminess of the war scenes. Rachel Portman's score is lushly orchestrated and understated without being over-sentimentalised. 'Private Peaceful' may have a lot of familiar elements, but the relationship with their father, the sibling love rivalry and feuding with their sergeant are done competently enough, if very familiar elements done to much stronger effect elsewhere. The story is compelling and moving enough, everything about the film is well-intended and the direction is solid. The acting is what comes off best, or at least most of it. George MacKay and Jack O'Connell are very good as the brothers with a very natural bond between them, and they are well matched by a charming Alexandra Roach as well as tortured and gruff John Lynch, affecting Maxine Peake and blustering Richard Griffiths. Not everything comes off well. The dialogue can be stilted and awkward in flow, with too much signposting and melodrama in the early scenes. The child performances also don't come off naturally and are actually pretty amateurish, particularly for young Charlie. A little too much of the film is cliché ridden and sadly this would not have mattered if it wasn't so vanilla, meaning it's all there but with not much spark. Lastly, the ending is far too abrupt and too much of a head-scratcher. In summary, well done but bland. 6/10 Bethany Cox

• Richard Griffiths Last Film.

  morrison-dylan-fan2013-07-15

  With my dad's Birthday fast approaching,I suddenly remembered seeing a poster outside a local outhouse cinema a few months ago,for what looked to be a very interesting British WW1 movie. Tracking down the name of the title after checking the listings of movies shown in the art-house cinema's archive,I went straight away to Amazon UK,where I was shocked to find the movie being sold at an insane high price.Deciding to try and find put if there were any other DVD editions of the movie by searching online,I was instead happily caught by surprise,when I discovered that a supermarket website was selling the movie at an extremely good price,which led me to excitingly getting ready to experience "peace time" for the first time. The plot: 1914: As he awaits his sentence for disobeying a general's order's to re-enter no man's land,Private Peaceful begins to think back to his childhood. 1908-Devon:England. Being the 5th generation to work for the family as a games keeper and groundsman ,James Peaceful push's his annoyance over the family's superiority complex aside, by thinking about the wage that he receives,which is allowing James to send his 2 sons Charlie and Tommy "Tommo" Peaceful to a good school,as his loving wife Hazel looks after the couple's autistic son,"Big Joe" Peaceful ,and also feeling happy that one of his son's will follow in his footsteps in the future. Despite both of them playing some rather naughty games around the school yard,Tommy and Charlie each hold the bond with their family dearly.Joining his dad in the family ground's to help cut down some trees,Charlie fails to notice a huge tree failing near him.Pushing Charlie out of the way,Jack is sadly unable to avoid the falling tree,which leads to him getting crushed to death.Haunted by the sight of his father taking his dying breath,Charlie vows to do everything possible to make amends in himself for "killing" his dad. View on the film: Appearing within the first 5 minutes of the film (and also on a mini making of) the late Richard Griffiths makes his final screen appearance a joy to witness,with Griffiths making sure that the wealthy man who is currently hiring the Peaceful family,strong,traditional views are clearly shown,whilst also making sure to smartly deliver the dialogue in a charming manner,which allows for the character to appear much more dimensional than other actors would have allowed him to be. Taking place from 1908-1914,the Peaceful's children and childhood friends are each played by two different actors who brilliantly make each character's transition from childhood to adulthood feel completely natural,with Jack O'Connell and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin both superbly showing the deep scar that is left on Charlie from his father's death,which gradually becomes more consuming as Charlie and "Tommo" both decide to make their mum proud by signing up with the other youngsters in the village for the front line. Whilst some of the anti-WW1 sentiment that the character's express dose feel a bit against the real life events which took place in the "last gasp" era of the Victorian period, (where dozens of villages tragically lost almost all of their young men and boys,who largely signed up to join the front lines of WW1 in large groups of either friends or family) the adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's novel by Simon Reade carefully balances the tragic events that take place for the Peaceful family with that of the events of WW1,with Reade showing James sense of optimism being replaced by Charlie and Tommo having a deep desire for the darkened corners of the old era to fade away,in the faint hope of a new horizon slowly appearing. Shooting the WW1 scenes in an unflinching,raw manner which shows the full horrific world that Charlie and Tommo find themselves in,director Pat O'Connor and cinematography Jerzy Zielinski contrast the gritty nature of the 1914 scenes by making the 1908 scenes ones that are filled with a brightly lit sense of joy and peaceful optimism,which as the years get closer to 1914,tragically starts to fade away.