A Beautiful Corpse

Rating: 5/10 (13 February 2020)

This film, much-hyped and ballyhooed, richly deserves the technical Oscars it received; the cinematography is truly, starkly beautiful, and the "one shot" approach to its filming is interesting, if gimmicky. Its biggest flaw, however, is its failure to engage and move the viewer on an emotional level.
One is painfully conscious of an ironically heavy-handed effort at understatement, and this effort succeeds too well, to the point of outright blandness. The acting is quite wooden-you can almost hear the directorial instruction, "more starch in the upper lips gentlemen; remember, this is the British army!" This flatness persists throughout the film, preparing the viewer for a payoff that never comes. When there is a scene that is meant to be emotionally powerful, it feels forced and insincere.
This movie borrows heavily from "Paths of Glory", from the long shot through the trenches to the wispy, meant-to-be affecting song just before the attack, both of which were far better done in the former movie.
In short, like too many movies coming out of Hollywood today, heavy reliance on the technical aspects of moviemaking while eschewing the transcendent has resulted in the production of "a beautiful corpse".