The cast is superb, particularly Daniel Radcliffe as Jack Kipling, but a very poignant story. We were warned almost 2000 years ago that he who takes up the sword will die by the sword and yet we have not learned our lesson.
shareYes, I could not imagine a better choice for Jack's role than Dan. He is the same age as Jack was when he died. He was really good and I saw few traces of "Harry Potter" (which, admittedly, is the only reason I watched it).
shareyes, you know it did remind me just a little bit of fahrenheit 9/11 (sorry if i butchered that!), remember when that mother from michigan lost her son?
she had always been so patriotic and actually encouraged not only her own children but many others in the community (i believe she worked at a labor office or something similar)to join the army/armed forces.
as detriot and surrounding areas are rather impoverished, she saw it as a chance to gain skills and possibilities for college education, where many of these young people might not have otherwise had the opportunity.
then her son dies and she is lost.
how awful that must be for parents.
what do you do with you patriotism and so on when your own child dies as a result of being sent to war?
certainly thats not an end any parent would design for their child, honourable or not.
mrs kipling showed great restraint i think.
if my beloved son was killed as a result of my husband and his strutting sense of patriotic pride and war propagating, i fear that i should have to shoot my husband.
i was completely moved and felt that if anything, the movie was much too short.
i was surprised at how evocative it was.
i was fearful for young jack, risking life and limb for the sake of doing his bit for his country, anger at rudyard's dogged determination to see his son serve, i felt the anxiety of the kipling women for their soldier boy, and pride at jack's accomplishments in training.
i cheered his actions on the field, wept when he was shot, shouted in hopes of him locating his specs and securing safety for himself and sobbed when those last fatal shots rang out.
then i shouted abuse at the soldier who told his story to the kiplings and his terrible admission that he had not sought to help jack as he fumbled in the mud for his glasses, and then sorrow for the guilt he must have suffered.
and wasnt it sad; watching the kiplings searching through that great stack of photos, looking for their son?
all those lives lost.
it makes you think how silly war is and why any country fights at all, even if it seems the only thing to do?
its such a high price to pay, often paid by youth's innocent blood.
i was surprised at the competency of kim catrall and i loved carey mulligan in this as much as i adored her in bleak house.
daniel was very good and i was delighted to see his growth away from the potter series.
a very good effort all around!