Behind the Lines

Critics Consensus

No consensus yet.

80%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 1,186

Super Reviewer

Behind the Lines Photos

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Movie Info

This period drama was based on the Booker Prize-winning novel by author Pat Barker, one of a trilogy dealing with World War I. James Wilby stars as Siegfried Sassoon, the real-life war hero and poet who, in 1917, writes a statement against the war that is read in Parliament. Faced with the choice of either a court-martial or time in a mental hospital as a result, Sassoon chooses the hospital, and is sent to Craiglockart, a Scottish castle where shell-shocked vets are being treated by Freudian therapist Dr. William Rivers (Jonathan Pryce). Sassoon soon befriends a pair of fellow inmates. One, Billy Prior (Jonny Lee Miller) is suffering from battlefield trauma. The other is shy young fan and fellow poet Wilfred Owen (Stuart Bunce), whose own anti-war writings, encouraged by Sassoon, will go on to make him posthumously famous as well. In the meanwhile, the once-zealous Dr. Rivers begins to question his role of mending patients' minds so that they may simply go back to the front lines. ~ Karl Williams, Rovi

Rating:

R (adult situations/language, violence)
Genre:

Art House & International, Drama
Directed By:

Gillies MacKinnon
Written By:

Pat Barker, Allan Scott
In Theaters:

Nov 1, 1999 wide
On Disc/Streaming:

Apr 22, 2003
Runtime:

110 minutes
Studio:

Artisan Entertainment

Watch it now

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Cast

Jonathan Pryce
as Dr. William Rivers

James Wilby
as Siegfried Sassoon

Jonny Lee Miller
as Billy Prior

Stuart Bunce
as Wilfred Owen

Tanya Allen
as Sarah

John Neville
as Dr. Yealland

James McAvoy
as Anthony Balfour

Dougray Scott
as Robert Graves

Alastair Galbraith

David Hayman

Eileen Nicholas

Julian Fellowes

Paul Young

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Critic Reviews for Behind the Lines

All Critics (10) | Top Critics (3) | DVD (2)

Although the stories in the film are moving, director Gillies MacKinnon is never able to weave them into a compelling whole.

Jan 1, 2000 | Rating: 2.5/4 | Full Review…

Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

View All Critic Reviews (10)

Audience Reviews for Behind the Lines

Jul 08, 2009

Behind the Lines aka : Regeneration . This Movie is from the 1997 Toronto Film Festival. Its a war movie that shows how bad conditions were in World War I, and what the soldiers had to go thru back in hospitals to get straighten out. Main character in this one is a poet who is an officer who in the end goes back to front lines. Its Ok not one of the best from the film festival. 3 1/2 stars best I can do.

Bruce B Super Reviewer