The Trench (film)
| The Trench | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | William Boyd |
| Produced by | Steve Clark-Hall |
| Written by | William Boyd |
| Starring |
Paul Nicholls Daniel Craig Julian Rhind-Tutt Danny Dyer James D'Arcy |
| Edited by | Jim Clark |
| Distributed by | Arts Council of England |
Release dates | 17 September 1999 (UK) |
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country |
United Kingdom France[1] |
| Language | English |
The Trench is a 1999 independent war film directed by William Boyd that portrays a group of young British soldiers on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in the last 48 hours.[2] The film stars Paul Nicholls, James D'Arcy plus Daniel Craig and Ben Whishaw and Charlie Crick (uncredited)
Synopsis
The film paints a picture of the soldiers’ emotional experience in the confines of the trenches; an experience running the gamut from boredom to fear, panic to restlessness. Billy MacFarlane (Paul Nicholls), 17, along with his older brother, Eddie (Tam Williams), has volunteered for service. The whole platoon, all of them in their late teens, depend on the war-hardened Sergeant Winter (Daniel Craig) and the scholarly Lieutenant Hart (Julian Rhind-Tutt) for their survival. When word arrives that the platoon will join the first wave of attacks, they do not yet know they will be present when the British Army loses the greatest number of soldiers in a single day in its history.
Cast
- Paul Nicholls as Pte. Billy Macfarlane
- Daniel Craig as Sgt. Telford Winter
- Julian Rhind-Tutt as 2Lt. Ellis Harte
- Danny Dyer as LCpl. Victor Dell
- James D'Arcy as Pte. Colin Daventry
- Tam Williams as Pte. Eddie Macfarlane
- Anthony Strachan as Pte. Horace Beckwith
- Michael Moreland as Pte. George Hogg
- Adrian Lukis as Lt. Col. Villiers
- Ciarán McMenamin as Pte. Charlie Ambrose
- Cillian Murphy as Pte. Rag Rookwood
- John Higgins as Pte. Cornwallis
- Ben Whishaw as Pte. James Deamis
- Tim Murphy as Pte. Bone
- Danny Nutt as Pte. Dieter Zimmermann