The film achieves just the right balance between the sombre reality of war, the long hours in the trenches waiting for something to happen, fearing the outcome when the boredom is disturbed, and the gallows’ humour, interpersonal squabbles and the real affection and respect that men had for each other. The film focuses almost exclusively on the officer class which is not a weakness in itself, but does mean that we are viewing the action from one perspective.
