Passchendaele is much more than a war epic
Published Friday October 24th, 2008
Plaster Rock native and crew member says movie keeps Canadian history alive
It is a long way from the war-ravaged Belgium community of Passchendaele in 1917, but 90 years later an Alberta field transformed into a sea of slimy mud and peppered with dead trees is eerily similar to the blood-soaked Belgium town depicted in grainy black and white photographs.
Cranes tower over the movie set, bombarding the scene with tons of water. Several hundred shivering actors, huddled in fox holes, get ready for another take for the feature film Passchendaele.
Behind the scenes, Dean Goodine, a native of Plaster Rock now living in Summerfield, B.C., was shivering and shaking too, but he was loving every minute of his work on the largest Canadian war movie ever conceived.
"I just wish they would teach more of this in schools," Goodine said. "The best part of my job is the research and I become a mini-historian for a short period of time. It is amazing what those soldiers went through and how tough they were … The Germans never attacked the Canadian part of the line in World War One. The Germans called the Canadians ‘English stormtroopers' because they know if they attacked that part of the line they were in for a huge fight."
Goodine served as property master for Passchendaele, a made-in-Canada film about a historical First World War battle that helped define Canada's history. The movie was the brainchild of veteran actor Paul Gross, from Due South and Men With Brooms fame, who wrote the script, and produced, acted and directed the film. Passchendaele was inspired by Gross' grandfather, a First World War veteran who told his young grandson stories about the terrible conflict in Passchendaele.
Passchendaele is the latest achievement of Goodine's 23-year film career. As property master, anything an actor touches while on the set is his responsibility.
"For instance, if you were doing a scene in a movie right now I would have gotten you your camera, notepad, recorder, watch, even your pen," he told the reporter during the interview. "I buy it, rent it or have it manufactured if it doesn't exist anymore. I do a lot of historical films, including western films."
For Passchendaele, Goodine literally searched around the globe to find authentic uniforms, gear and weapons for the Canadian contingent and their German enemies.
"The challenge now with the Internet is that all of these historical artifacts are snapped up so fast by collectors. In 1993 when I did the World War One sequence Legends of the Fall there was a lot more stuff available then I found this time with Passchendaele. I had to go a lot further away for specific things."
The 120 Lee Enfield rifles used by the Canadian actors were located in Nepal and took 12 weeks to ship to Canada. A supplier of the Mauser rifles for the Germans came from another far-off source. An Indian company custom-manufactured the wool uniforms and webbing for the actors.
"And those were the easy things. No one has done the artillery in a World War One movie very well and we really wanted to take it up a notch. Luckily I developed a relationship with The Royal Canadian Artillery Museum in Shiloh … We ended up hiring their museum curator to run our artillery sequence so we would do it properly. Because the museum pieces are just that, we decided for safety reasons to fake the firing. Our special effects guys put steel cylinders down the tubes and faked the firing pieces."
The two Lewis guns used in the film were extensively restored. Goodine explained the Lewis gun was a vital part of the Canadian soldiers' arsenal because it held 45 rounds of the same bullets used by the Lee Enfield rifles.
"The Lewis gun played a big role in this battle," he said.
Goodine said Passchendaele's intense war scenes required all the actors and extras to participate in a training "boot camp" to understand how to use the First World War gear, uniforms and weapons. Because the movie features dramatic hand-to-hand combat sequences, Goodine had to obtain retractable and rubber bayonets and knives.
"It was very intense on that set," he explained. "We were dealing with exceptionally muddy and wet conditions all the time. We had to break from convention and get away from mechanical things in the mud. We plowed up 80 acres of dirt, planted 1,000 trees that looked like they were bombed and the effects department watered the field for months on end.
"While we were filming we had huge trusses on cranes just pounding the water down on us. It was in October and everyone was wet, everyone was cold, but no one complained because it would have been an embarrassment to complain after what the real soldiers went through."
The battle for Passchendaele is well recorded in the history books. Commonwealth troops fought the Germans to a stalemate for months and, in late October, the Canadians were brought in. In 20 days the Canadians took the hill with a heavy casualty toll, but at the end of the battle the hill had no strategic value, prompting outraged Canadian officials to complain about their young men being used as "cannon fodder."
While the film is a fictional love story and war drama, Goodine said Gross's extensive historical research has unveiled letters, diaries and historical articles to prove similar scenarios did happen. He pointed out that after a major battle, wounded soldiers from both sides would be routinely pulled back behind the lines because each group respected the need for medical attention.
"This movie had a $20-million budget, of which Paul raised $12 million privately through investors. It took him 10 years to get it made," Goodine said. "Once I read the script, I realized in all of my time it was one of the best scripts I had ever read, I had to be on the movie."
Preparing for the movie took nine weeks, and the actual film was shot in 45 days. Both Dean and his wife Janice, who decorated the set, said the film was one of the best experiences of their extensive careers.
"One of the best experiences we have even had is working on the set of Unforgiven (the 1992 film starring Clint Eastwood that won a Best Picture Oscar). This was right in there. To work in our business you have to have a passion for it. To be able to tell our story, a Canadian story and really tell how these ordinary guys, these farm boys from all over Canada, went out there and fought in those elements with wool clothing and bad boots in all that rain and mud."
Goodine hopes the new movie helps spark pride in Canada's role during World War One and breathes new life into the history books.
"Here is a story as to why I think this film is important. Two weeks ago I was showing the Passchendaele slide show to my 14-year-old nephew who is an honour student in Vancouver. He looked at me and said ‘Canada fought in WW1? I did not know that.' He is an honour student in Grade 9. Our children are not learning about the sacrifices that these soldiers made for Canada."
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