Deathwatch

Synopsis

1917. The Western Front. A million or more Allied and German troops face each other across the shattered landscape of northern Europe. A world of mud, entangled by a wilderness of barbed wire, scarred by miles of trenches, soaked with the blood of the fallen, the air fetid with the suffocating stench of death and gas. Hundreds of thousands of young men are already buried in this terrible wasteland; hundreds of thousands more will die here before the slaughter ends.

It is here that one young man must face the truth about himself; that he is a coward, unable to face the coming horror of battle. Private Charlie Shakespeare is frozen with fear. Forced over the top at gunpoint he is hurled into the chaos of battle, witness to the decimation of his comrades; bodies shredded by machine-gun fire, others are blown apart by stray shells. He is alone, desperate to turn and flee. Then the poison gas drifts over the nightmare battle field and all he can do is fumble for his mask, press himself deeper into the mud and pray for dawn.

When the battle is over, Shakespeare and the handful of other survivors from Y-Company are utterly lost somewhere in enemy territory. Their only shelter is an abandoned German trench. It's a claustrophobic maze of blind corners and underground tunnels, overflowing with war dead and infested with rats. Here, exhausted and terrified, they seek refuge, waiting to be rescued.

But no one will come and as the night draws in, one by one, the young men of Y Company begin to die. An unseen enemy is stalking them, driving them insane with fear until they begin to turn on each other. Is their refuge possessed by something even more terrible than the war that surrounds them?

In this cursed, lonely place, Private Charlie Shakespeare must find the strength to overcome his own deepest fears if he is to survive.

Details

Year

2003

Type of film

Features

Running Time

95 mins

Format

35mm, Kodak

Director

Michael J Bassett 1st Feature

Producer

Ralph Kamp, Dan Maaq, Michael Bischopf

Editor

Anne Sopez

Screenwriter

Michael J Bassett

Director of Photography

Hubert Talzanowski

Sound

Nick Adams

Music

Curt Cress, Chris Weller, Rob Lane

Principal Cast

Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Hugo Speer, Matthew Rhys, Hugh O’ Connor

Genre

• Drama

Production status

Complete

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Last updated 26th November 2005