“The Wipers Times” is a made-for-BBC
movie based on the famous satirical trench newspaper printed on the Western
Front during WWI. The title refers to
the name of the paper which was known by the British slang for the Ypres
Salient. Members of the 12th
Battalion, Sherwood Foresters found an abandoned printing press and one of them
had been a printer before the war. Capt.
Fred Roberts and Lt. Jack Pearson edited the paper. It was printed from February, 1916 until the
end of the war.
The movie is book-ended by
Roberts (Ben Chaplin) being interviewed for a newspaper job. He is asked if he has any experience. Queue flashback. In war-torn France, a unit of Tommies
discover a printing press in a bombed out town.
Since one of them was a printer, it is decided to put out a
newspaper. Roberts and Pearson (Julian
Rhind-Tutt) discuss what should be included in the paper. They agree it should be about “optimism” but
in a snarky way. The humorous, cynical output draws the ire of a typically
hide-bound British officer who takes the matter up with Gen. Mitford (Michael
Palin), but the general has a good sense of humor and thinks the paper will be
good for morale. This subplot is
reminiscent of “Good Morning, Vietnam”.
The war keeps getting in the way of production as the unit has to
occasionally fight in the trenches.
These guys are not rear echelon types.
Roberts gets a medal for bravery.
They know what the war is really about.
Roberts sums it up as being “nothing more than wallowing in a dirty
ditch”. Why be glum about it? Look at the humorous aspects. Turn that soldier grumbling into published
satirical grumbling. They get moved
around a lot. They see action at the
Somme, St. Quentin, Amiens, and Ypres. There is some action, but it is
brief. Don’t watch this movie if you are
a combat junkie.
“The Wipers Times” is a nifty
little movie. The acting is good with
Chaplin and Rhind-Tutt making a nice team.
They combine for their version of the Cronauer character from “Good
Morning, Vietnam”, but they are not manic.
The movie is actually closer to the vibe of “Black Adder Goes Forth”,
only not as silly. Their banter is
intellectually cheeky. There is a lot of
talking and not a lot of combat, but the dialogue is rat-a-tat in its own
way. This gives the production the feel
of a play. But because it is a TV
production, they have the luxury of seguing into black and white scenes that
represent the newspaper’s articles and advertisements. There are even some music hall type
tunes. It is certainly a different take
on the Great War. But like a vast
majority of the other movies, it is distinctly anti-war. And, of course, anti-brass. Since the movie takes the soldier’s point of
view, we get an appropriately “gallow’s humor” approach to the war.
The best thing about the movie
is it sheds light on a little known aspect of the war. We are coming up on the centennial
anniversary of the first edition. I had
never heard of “The Wipers Times” before, but researching it for this review
was enlightening. The movie is pretty
accurate historically. The newspaper
specialized in poems (mostly pedestrian, but some high quality by the likes of
Gilbert Frankau). There was a running
joke that the paper was being swamped by soldier submissions. It also included
soldier accounts, satirical cartoons, and mock advertisements. The adverts smack of “The Onion”. Popular topics were the effects of shelling,
sex, drinking, and rats. The paper is an
excellent primary source on soldier life.
It does not really question the war, but it does question how it was
being fought. It’s catch phrase was “are
we as offensive as we might be?” The
movie makes clear that the soldiers were fighting for their mates and the
newspaper was written for that same group.
Most of the movies I have waded through in cleaning up my queue have been losers, but this is one of the rare ones that I can recommend. It is by far the best movie about putting out a newspaper in the Great War.
GRADE = B
I'll definitely look for this one online!
ReplyDeleteI know you will enjoy it. Let me know what you think.
ReplyDeleteWatched this movie by chance, knowing very little, sadly, of WW1. More so because both my grandfathers fought.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was brilliantly done.
The gallows humor allows or helps the horror of trench warfare to be consumed, much like sugar on some nasty medicine.
Highly recommend!!
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