The Trench (1999)

A story about a group of soldiers last days before the battle of the Somme in 1916 it shows the conditions in the trenches during world war 1 and takes you into the minds of the soldiers.

Director:

William Boyd

Writer:

William Boyd

Stars:

Paul Nicholls, Daniel Craig, Julian Rhind-Tutt

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Nicholls	...	Pte. Billy Macfarlane
Daniel Craig	...	Sgt. Telford Winter
Julian Rhind-Tutt	...	2nd Lt. Ellis Harte
Danny Dyer	...	Lance Cpl. Victor Dell
James D'Arcy	...	Pte. Colin Daventry
Tam Williams	...	Pte. Eddie Macfarlane
Anthony Strachan	...	Pte. Horace Beckwith
Michael Moreland	...	Pte. George Hogg
Adrian Lukis	...	Lt. Col. Villiers
Ciarán McMenamin	...	Pte. Charlie Ambrose
Cillian Murphy	...	Rag Rookwood
John Higgins	...	Pte. Cornwallis
Ben Whishaw	...	Pte. James Deamis
Tim Murphy	...	Pte. Bone
Danny Nutt	...	Pte. Dieter Zimmermann

Storyline

A story about a group of soldiers last days before the battle of the Somme in 1916 it shows the conditions in the trenches during world war 1 and takes you into the minds of the soldiers.

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Plot Keywords:

soldier | battle | battle of the somme | trenches | combat | 

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Taglines:

It is a place 8ft wide, 600 miles long, man-made and God-forsaken.

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Genres:

Drama | War

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Details

Country:

France UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 September 1999 (UK)

Also Known As:

Az árok

Filming Locations:

Bray Film Studios, Windsor, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arts Council of England, Blue PM, Bonaparte Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

98 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In preparation for the film, the director sent to main cast to a replica trench for a night to experience the conditions the British army suffered.

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Goofs

The shelling of German trenches and the nomansland before the actual attack was immense. First of all the shelling would have been deafening, secondly, the nomansland would have been a moon-like scenery full of craters and barbwire, not a nice meadow.

User Reviews

trench life made to look cosy

Strangely this film has grown on me and I'm not sure why but still have a hate for it. The acting is fairly sound and it has some good moments but there isn't much feel for realism. For a start the trenches would have been infested with rats and lice and from what I've read about The Somme it seemed a lot more draumatic than what was portrayed in this film. It just looked too clean. The main hardship they had experienced was boredom, not relentless rain and the constant madness of bombardments. Also what was the point of capturing a German and then not interrogate him, but give him a fag and then let him go? Another wrong point is that the battalions would have been from the same region. Yeh, I'm being picky but why the scots were with southerners and northerners I don't know. The end of the film is the worst. Surely if there had been nights of endless shelling you'd expect to see some shell holes when going over the top? Could of had a nice picnic on that land. Shame, if the director had read more relevant books it could have been really good.