A basic, one-dimensional script starts the rot and the performances finish it
bob the moo
Sometimes I hate not getting the first review on a smaller title because you lose the opportunity to say things first. Sometimes it is made worse when the…
Sometimes I hate not getting the first review on a smaller title because you lose the opportunity to say things first. Sometimes it is made worse when the first reviewer gets it so right or, as is the case here, nails it on the head with his summary line. So it is here with the review with the heading "Your favourite racial struggle clichés and World War One clichés, together at last!" which is bang on the money. I watched this because I had never heard of the man and thought this film might be my chance to find out what was worth knowing beyond that he was a professional footballer who served in the war and that (and you'll be shocked here) he struggled to be respected due to the colour of his skin.Well, OK that much I could have guessed so there must be something else that makes this story worth the special focus. Well, if there is then it is not brought out here as Casualty's Kwei-Armah's script feels like it started life as a load of clichés that are then filled in with words. In fairness the opening credits inform us that not much is recorded about Tull other than memories and perhaps it is no surprise that there isn't much specific in the film. This is a bit of a problem when attempting an historical piece but at the same time ti gives you massive scope when doing the writing. Sadly Kwame is not able to do much with this. His Tull is nothing short of perfection and bears his struggles with pride and an air that puts the others to shame. Now I'm not suggesting that Kwame shouldn't go down this road but I do have an issue with just how damn one-dimensional the whole affair is. The script feels like it was the first draft where basic events and characters are laid out but with the detail or development yet to do except in this case that first draft turned out to be the final one as well. Maybe Tull deserved more we'll never know because the script is so lame that you never care for the man or his struggles. It is quite a failure considering how many stories have successfully done the "overcoming prejudice" thing.It doesn't help the film that Fagbenle gives a characterless, colourless, humourless drip of a performance. Serious, you might as well have had a hand-puppet in the title role because he brings little to this. I cannot believe he is really as weak as he was here so I'll be generous and say that the director perhaps told him what to do based on the bland material hence the material is bland and just ticks the "worthy struggle" boxes. The director should also carry blame for the construct of the piece. Lazy flashbacks of war etc are just so obvious that they hurt. The supporting cast are a collection of stuffy white men who are either a) shocked by this "negro" or b) won over by Tull's dignity that's it. In fairness it is no surprise that these characters are this way considering how basic the main character is.Walter's War is a basic, obvious and dull affair that feels like a first draft got submitted by mistake. Like Kwame's other attempt at writing that I have seen it has little in the way of subtlety or depth and as a result the direction and the performances are basic and lacking anything of interest. Not worth the time.
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★ 2 / 10
Your favourite racial struggle clichés and World War One clichés, together at last!
james_gb
This is the worst piece of television I have seen on BBC Four. If the objective was to trot out the archetypal racial conflict story amidst well-worn World War…
This is the worst piece of television I have seen on BBC Four. If the objective was to trot out the archetypal racial conflict story amidst well-worn World War One clichés, and it seems that it was, then congratulations are in order. At no point did the viewer encounter anything vaguely surprising, illuminative or original.
The main character's only personality trait seemed to be that he was suffering from shellshock, thus allowing us to be treated to some gloriously schlocky flashbacks. The supporting characters were even less developed, a lazy roll call of the belligerent drill sergeant, the unbending army administrator, the sensitive young officer and more than one officer bound to service by his ancestors' example. The romance between Walter Tull and a local girl was completely isolated from the narrative and served little purpose beyond furnishing some painfully contrived love scenes.
In addition to these shortcomings, little effort seemed to have been made to evoke the era. Beyond a few mentions of the futility of the particular war, it could have been a black officer learning his trade in 1942 or 1951. Better research could have saved the sensitive officer from referring to "the establishment" in a manner that did not come about until the 1950s or exhibiting an unrealistically developed understanding of post-traumatic stress syndrome for a young man living at that time who had not even seen action. The dialogue was lifted wholesale from the present day, more Jerry Springer than fighting gerry. Does the writer really consider, "Whatever happens, happens. If I've done my best, what else can I do?" an accurate representation of 1917 parlance?
The writer also came a cropper with his treatment of racism. He decided to embellish the historical evidence so that Tull was booted off his football team in the face of hostility from his own fans, and prejudice from his club chairman. But, while people could not accept a black man on the football pitch, we are expected to believe that his brother work as a doctor, a profession that would require close personal contact between races?
In defence of the writer, he was hamstrung by the relatively short running time and seemed to want to cram too many threads into the script. Perhaps, with more room to work in he could have developed it into something worth watching, but the poor quality of the work on display would not cause me to hold out much hope. Constraints of time also left us with an insulting brusque conclusion, that lacked even the most basic pathos that the death of a young man in his prime tends to evoke. The failings of this drama are only magnified by its proximity to the broadcast last year of 'My Boy Jack,' a television film that dealt with the militarism and colonial attitudes of the time with subtlety and intelligence.
The struggle for racial equality is undoubtedly one of the great narratives of the twentieth century and it is a rich mine for dramas of this sort. However, I do not consider it sufficient to merely greenlight any idea that begins, "the first black
" We have all seen that idea brought to the screen before and there is now a need to unearth stories with greater nuances in order to cast new light on the issues. It is even less forgivable in this instance because it would seem that the writer was given considerable historical license and yet chose to use it only to follow others down a well-worn path.
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6.8/10
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