[VIFF 2021] REVIEW: A droning 'Benediction'
Jeremy Irvine and Jack Lowden in Benediction, directed by Terence Davies.
“In a bad melodrama, I’d kill myself.”
Rarely does a quote sum up my experience, but that’s pretty close to what I felt about Benediction, Terence Davies’ biopic about Siegfried Sassoon, a First World War veteran who became disillusioned with the armed conflict and later became a poet. Jumping back and forth between the past and the present with Sassoon reminiscing about his life and relationship with Wilfred Owen, another war-era poet who was greatly influenced by Sassoon.
Jack Lowden portrays a young Sassoon, who is already a decorated soldier by the time we meet him. He is principled and full of vigor but already very much anti-war, which lands him in a mental institution. (If you didn’t follow the norm back then, you must’ve been crazy). It’s a far cry from the older version of himself, portrayed by Peter Capaldi, who is withered and slow. While being treated for his “symptoms,” Sassoon meets Wilfred (Matthew Tennyson), who becomes his protégé, and also begins to explore his sexuality, engaging in multiple affairs with various actors. In between the dalliances, the film clumsily chugs along with readings of Sassoon’s poems and archival footage of the war.
Benediction escapes most of the traps in a straightforward biopic – we don’t really see the events that turn Sassoon into a vocal critic of the war, nor do we see many scenes of him writing out poems. That can be a good thing, but what’s left behind is a smattering of sometimes incoherent scenes and little connective tissue. Capaldi and Lowden portray such different versions of Sassoon that it’s sometimes difficult to tell they’re the same character. There’s a lot to dig through, in part because Davies himself is gay and had a difficult time coming to terms with his sexuality, and at times the movie feels more like an exercise for himself rather than a strict focus on Sassoon.
The exploration of Sassoon’s gay relationships teeters on the edge of a bad melodrama with various blow-ups about big egos and not getting enough attention, and a mess of unfaithfulness and affairs that makes it difficult to follow. The quote above is typical of the smugness and antipathy between two jilted lovers, but it’s delivered with such drama that it toes the line between cringe and comedy. Are we following Sassoon’s impact on anti-war literature or is this an exploration of a literary figure who doesn’t conform? Spanning 137 minutes, the film depends on the audience being able to really sympathize with Sassoon’s struggles, otherwise it can be a chore to sit through.
Benediction gets two stars out of four.
