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List Price: $29.95 | | Label: KINO INTERNATIONAL
Salesrank: 70817
Released: September 2, 2008 |
| Our Price: $16.71 |
| Used Price: $14.98 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
A stunning visual and serious music treat (Variety), Derek Jarman s (Sebastiane, Jubilee) 1989 War Requiem reunites British cinema s enfant terrible with his muse Tilda Swinton (2008 Oscar Winner for Michael Clayton) for a spectacular and moving interpretation of composer Benjamin Britten s groundbreaking 1961 orchestral masterpiece. Just as Britten combined the sacred Latin Requiem Mass with the searing unromantic war poetry of British infantry lieutenant Wilfred Owen, who was tragically killed in the final week of WWI, Jarman interprets Britten s six movements in eye-popping and heartbreaking dialogue-free tableaus illustrating war s infinite futility, sacrifice, and waste. War Requiem boldly combines archival footage of war s devastation with Jarman s keen and gifted eye for both the theatrical and the political as Owen, played by Nathaniel Parker, doggedly struggles to survive on the field of battle in defense of a cause rendered unjust by the human toll it takes in the trenches and on the home front. Featuring Sean Bean (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, National Treasure) as Owen s star-crossed German counterpart, and Sir Laurence Olivier in his final screen appearance, War Requiem is a violent, horrifying, ultimately inspiring film that remains Derek Jarman s definitive, eloquent, complex, and profoundly negative statement on war (Washington Post).
War Requiem Reviews:
An impressive visual to a great piece of music 
2009-09-24 - This film version puts a visual to the 1963 recording of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. The music is conducted by Britten, his partner Peter Pears sings the tenor lead, and it also features the German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and the Russian soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. The nationality of the soloists was itself part of Britten's pacifist message in post-WWII Europe, and Britten's recording of the War Requiem is still considered at least one of the best versions ever recorded, if not the best.
The War Requiem combines the standard Latin text for a Catholic requiem mass with the English-language poetry of Wilfred Owen, who was serving in the British army when he was killed exactly one week before the end of World War I. His poems capture the senselessness and pain of war, particularly of the terrible trench warfare of the time.
Derek Jarman has created a visual experience that respects and is true to the spirit of the music. Owen's poetry and Britten's music are both very expressive, providing opportunities for a strong visual narrative to communicate the tragedy of the music and the poetry on another dimension.
One good example is in the Offertorium section, where Owen's powerful poetic imagery speculates that WWI was the result of the Biblical Abraham going ahead and in fact killing his son Isaac, despite the pleas of the angel to set him free. This is one scene that lends itself to an almost literal adaption. However, the majority of the visuals build on mood rather than concrete narrative. Taking its cue from Owen's poetry, the visuals are in a WWI setting. I thought the ending of the film was worthy of the amazing ending of the music.
Tilda Swinton's performance -- wordless, like all performances in the film -- is stunning. An aged Sir Laurence Olivier makes an appearance as a modern-day (1980s) WWI veteran. Sean Bean, best known as "Boromir" in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, turns in a good performance as a German soldier.
I only have one real complaint about the DVD. It should have captions. I found myself going to the internet and following along in the libretto on my laptop while watching, which detracted from the film experience. This could easily be remedied with subtitles.
The film is definitely worth seeing, but I still believe the underlying music is more important than this film version. The music gets five stars, the film gets four, and the captionless DVD gets two.
PRETTY AWFUL! 
2009-05-22 - meaning WARFARE ~ interesting concept using the original recorded performance.
Lots of bad teeth throughout . reminding us of the British Dentistry failure, would have loved to have seen Spike Milligan's version.
This one can be seen as awfully pretentious and very homosexual - but then - what is not these days?
Poor WW1 nurthes ... always living in hope dealing with the utter horror of truly faceless soldiers entering the killing machines without choice and conscience.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
