Wilfred explores the personal witness to the pity of war experienced through the poetry of Wilfred Owen. A timely film, in Owen's poetry the impact of war is the faceless enemy that makes victims of all it ensnares. Live-action and animation combine here to evoke the vision of war artists such as Otto Dix, Epstein and Paul Nash, experiences that inspired Owen's poetry ending with Spring Offensive written days before the poet's own futile death. This film was made by Duchy...

Wilfred explores the personal witness to the pity of war experienced through the poetry of Wilfred Owen. A timely film, in Owen's poetry the impact of war is the faceless enemy that makes victims of all it ensnares. Live-action and animation combine here to evoke the vision of war artists such as Otto Dix, Epstein and Paul Nash, experiences that inspired Owen's poetry ending with Spring Offensive written days before the poet's own futile death. This film was made by Duchy Parade Films which is a Harrogate-based independent production company. It was directed by Bradford born Peter Kershaw in 2000. The film was also the winner of the Royal Television Society Award (NE) for Best Independent Production by an Independent Producer, and the SONY Award for Cinematography. Film opens with the film classification certificate which shows that the film is suitable for viewers of 12 years and older. Title-Duchy Parade Films in association with Northern Arts, Tyne Tees Television and the Arts Council of England. The first shot is of two soldiers lying on a raft on water on the battle field with shooting and bombing going on all around. Title-Michael Higgs as Wilfred Owen. The two soldiers wade through the water with gun fire all around. Title-A film directed by Peter M. Kershaw. A soundtrack can be heard, then there is a shot of a man's hand writing a letter; there is a voice over by Wilfred Owen a shot of two statues in a garden embracing. Wilfred Owen is saying that his poetry `is about war, the poetry of war'. Title-Wilfred The soldiers carry a cart through the water while bombs go off all around them. The camera suddenly goes under the water level and comes up in a new scene, in the trenches. A soldier stands and shouts at the soldiers as a bomb explodes beside the trench. Soldiers carrying bayonets run around the trench as another bomb goes off. Wilfred goes over to help a soldier who has been hit. He gets a lighter and waves it in front of the soldier's eyes but he can't see anything. The soldier cries out that he is blind and Wilfred walks away to talk with another soldier. The injured soldier can then be heard talking quietly to himself and saying that he can see now; a tear rolls down his face and he dies. There is a voice over with Wilfred reciting parts of a poem. Shot of Wilfred sitting in the trench writing on paper as soldiers scurry about carrying and lifting. An animated image of a bomb exploding fills the screen, then there are shots of the trench and more animated images. There is a montage of shots of the trench, the statues in the garden and the animated images. Wilfred falls back as if injured but he is not, and beside him there is the charred body of another soldier. The next shot is of Wilfred writing in the trench, the embracing statues in the garden, the animated images and the poetry voice over. Two soldiers are filling sacks with gravel when they suddenly start banging their tin cups off the pipes in the trench and yelling `gas, gas'. All the men pull on their gas masks except for one young soldier who wanders about looking confused. Wilfred is about to put his mask on when he spots the young man. Cut to shot of Wilfred in a hospital bed having flashbacks to the trenches full of gas fumes. He runs through the fumes to see the young soldier wandering along without a mask and gasping for breath. He watches him and he falls down and dies. The next shot shows Wilfred caught up in barbed wire, struggling to free himself. There is a constant voice over reciting pieces of poetry. There are cartoon images of a soldier on a battlefield. Shot of Wilfred back in the hospital bed tossing and turning and being tended to by the nurses. Next shot shows a soldier crawling through the water which is littered with dead bodies. Shot of Wilfred in the camp shaving in a mirror, other soldiers sit around playing cards and smoking. A young soldier runs around delivering letters. Then there is a cut to a shot of Wilfred jumping into the trench and struggling to breath. He tries to open the buttons on his coat but a soldier helps him and gets a bullet in the head. More animated shots with poetry voice overs. The final scene shows lots of dead bodies in the water including Wilfred's, who has a bullet in the head. Credits Voice; Robert Duncan, Tony Harrison, Sir Derek Jacobi, Edward Fox. Screenplay: Peter M. Kershaw Cast: Wilfred Owen-Michael Higgs, Private Jones-Edward Price, Sergeant-Alan Gordon Casting by Acting Up North The Great War Society-Geoff Carefoot, Dale Heaton, Ian Millar, Steve Milton, Neil Wallin, Harry Watson, Wade H. Russell. First Assistant Director-Raza Mallal Production Coordinator-Mary Kershaw Tandem Films-Digital Production Frameline Film, Rostrum, Duchy Parade Films Logo designed by Catherine Buny. Directed by Peter M. Kershaw,.