The Cure Is Often Worse Than the Disease: A Turgid WWI Medical Drama

1918 in Italy was dubbed “the year of victory,” but Gianni Amelio’s WWI film “Battleground” presents a starkly different picture. The opening scenes feature moonlit piles of soldiers’ corpses, a scavenger stealing from the dead, and a shell-shocked survivor. This heavy irony sets the tone for a drama stifling in its gravity, capturing the bleak reality faced by Italian soldiers and civilians during the war.

The national despair is embodied in the characters Stefano (Gabriele Montesi) and his fellow doctor Giulio (Alessandro Borghi). Both work in a crowded military clinic in Northern Italy and share a deep, albeit undefined, bond. Stefano’s patriotism drives him to send soldiers back to the front, even if they’re unwell. Giulio, on the other hand, is moved to help his patients avoid returning to the battlefield, even if it means making them sicker with their consent.

Giulio secretly runs a surgery in his attic lab, giving soldiers ailments like venereal diseases or performing unnecessary amputations to make them unfit for duty. The impressive prosthetics and makeup enhance the depiction of these conditions, showing ghastly wounds and infections.

As Giulio continues his controversial work, there is an unsettling stoicism and hint of fanaticism in his demeanor. This suggests a more intriguing storyline that the film, unfortunately, does not fully explore. Instead, the narrative digresses into a half-baked romantic subplot involving Anna (Federica Rosellini), a nurse whose career was hindered by sexism. The love triangle between Anna, Stefano, and Giulio lacks chemistry and feels out of place in the grim setting.

The period details and atmosphere of the clinic, emphasizing the military’s priorities over medical care, are well-rendered. This is illustrated when a guard refuses entry to feverish local children, prompting an old woman to scream “Murderer! Murderer!” at him. However, despite these moments, the film suffers from structural issues and disjointed storytelling. The characters are underdeveloped, and entire subplots feel like they’ve been cut out, leaving behind a story that limps from one scene to another. “Battleground,” set in a time of significant historical drama, fails to connect on an emotional level, leaving viewers detached from the portrayed suffering and devastation.

Source: Variety