Weekly Witch Hunt: IWM Voices of the First World War & The BFG

We decide what artistic endeavour passed approval to earn the Scorcher label from the past seven days & what also had the dishonour of being that week's Torture...

Unfortunately life has got in the way a bit this week and cut short the amount of time I have had available in my role of Inquisitor.  I did catch Doctor Strange at the cinema and was highly entertained by this new Marvel movie, I recommend seeing it on the big screen.

The Scorcher

This week's Scorcher is something completely different to anything I have had on trial before.  The Imperial War Museum's podcast Voices of the First World War is a series of fifty episodes covering all aspects of the Great War.
The series tries to run sequentially while tackling the many different and varied methods of warfare employed, some for the very first time, during WWI.  Each episode goes for about thirty minutes.  The focus isn't only on the combatants as there are episodes covering such topics as conscientious objectors; women's war services and animals in war.
Each episode has a narrator to provide some background information.  In between this narration are the people who were present during the events discussed.  These ex-service men and women give their own views on what took place from their perspective.  The stories they tell are fascinating and give a real insight as to what they experienced.
While the vast majority of the interviewees are British, there are also people from other nations represented.  A lot of these are from the Allied countries but we do get some of the German perspective; especially from those stationed on the Western Front.
I can't fathom what it must have been like to go through this harrowing experience.  To think that these people not only survived the war but still managed to maintain their sanity afterwards is a credit to them.
There were many times whilst listening to this series where I found myself feeling deeply moved by what I was hearing.  These brave men and women, from both sides, were thrust into a conflict that they had no control over; much like every war that has occurred throughout history.  Their stories deserve to be heard and I can only hope that by doing so it makes future leaders think before going to war ever again.  Lest We Forget indeed.

The Torture

I will start by saying that this is not a particularly bad film.  The BFG has a lot going for it; the motion capture is excellent as are most of the special effects.
At times though I did feel that Ruby Barnhill, as the heroine Sophie, had been inserted into a scene.  It felt at points that she was acting against a green screen.  This is not an indictment on her overall performance because I can imagine just how hard it would be for any actor to perform against such a backdrop.  I would expect it to be even harder on someone twelve years of age and starring in their first big movie.
This aspect did have a big impact on my overall enjoyment of the film.  It also felt that some of the conversations between Sophie and BFG were a bit stilted too.  I don't know if this was due to Mark Rylance performing opposite Barnhill and having to accommodate for scale or due to something else.  I couldn't quite put my finger on it; but their conversations felt a bit like: then he says, then she says, then he says and so on and so forth.  These conversations felt more like a stage play.
Overall though I just found this to be run of the mill Steven Spielberg.  I get the impression that he could do this type of film in his sleep.  I would have appreciated him stepping out of the comfort zone a little and challenging himself a bit more.  I guess when your films generally resonate with audiences though he doesn't have too.
For me this was just a little bit run of the mill; nice for a Sunday afternoon watch but quickly forgotten.