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Set in 1916 in the Somme Valley, Northern France, “The Trench” tells of the 48 hours leading up to the bloody Battle of the Somme where 60,000 young British soldiers tragically lost their lives fighting the German enemy. The story unfolds through the eyes of seventeen year-old Billy MacFarlane (Paul Nicholls) who joined the Army to fight alongside his older brother Eddie (Tam Williams). The focus of the film is mainly confined to the “trench”, an eight foot wide, six hundred mile long man-made place from hell, where the Platoon and their Captain, Telford Winter (Daniel Craig), wait for the battle to begin. Reality hits when Eddie is hit by sniper fire and Billy’s platoon is ordered to go with the first wave of attack. “The Trench” is novelist William Boyd’s directorial debut. Cast also includes Julian Rhind-Tutt, Danny Dyer, James D’arcy, Antony Strachan, Michael Moreland.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
316094
Language
English
Audience classification
MA
Subject categories
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → Soldiers
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → War victims
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1914-1918 - Psychological aspects
Armed Forces, Military, War & Weapons → World War, 1914-1918 - Western Front
Feature films → Feature films - France
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Colour
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)