Saul Dibb breathes new life into R.C. Sherriff’s World War 1 drama, Journey’s End, with his sense of urgency, faithfulness to the source material and the freedom afforded to his talented cast making this revival a resounding success. The film stars Asa Butterfield as the young Lieutenant Raleigh, Paul Bettany as Lieutenant “Uncle” Osbourne and Sam Claflin as the troubled Captain Stanhope while elsewhere Toby Jones, Tom Sturridge and Stephen Graham all hold key roles.
The production glamourises the classic source material with a touch of hollywood but succeeds in keeping enough of the original play’s gritty charm and raw emotion to give the play something of a 21st century makeover. Set in an officers’ dug out in the British trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of World War 1, The play observes the experiences and the effects of war on a number of young officers – including the somewhat deluded new arrival Raleigh and his childhood friend turned alcoholic Captain Stanhope – in the four days leading up to a massive German offensive.
Journey’s End – Available on Sky Store as of Monday 2nd of July.
