Starts on a low and descends from there. It gets worse and worse for Kevin. He suffers from PTS and nobody seems to understand. His girlfriend deserts him and his fellow squaddies beat him up. This seemed to be a problem in the army at this time.
7 Reviews
Resurrected
Prismark1027 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
The feature film debut of writer and documentary maker Paul Greengrass.
This was a time in the 1980s when the British film industry consisted of output from Channel 4 films.
Resurrected starts with a memorial service of soldier Kevin Deakin (David Thewlis) thought to have perished in the Falklands war.
Several weeks later Kevin Deakin shows up in a farmhouse in Falklands with no memory as to what happened. He does not know that the war has ended.
Although his parents are elated, others especially his fellow soldiers have doubts about him. That Kevin was a coward and run away from battle.
With Tom Bell and Rita Tushingham playing Kevin's parents. There are nods to the kitchen sink dramas of the 1960s.
This is a small scale and a low budget film. It deals with the trauma of war. Being scared of going into battle.
When the film was released, Britain had found newfound confidence with the Falklands war. There was still a messy conflict in Northern Ireland.
As movies such as Tumbledown had shown. The mainstream press and the top army brass were simply not going to acknowledge issues such as PTSD, never mind army bullying.
There is a nuanced performance from Thewlis. The movie is vague as to what actually happened to Kevin in the Falklands.
As Paul Greengrass was a lefty who had co-written the banned in the UK book, Spycatcher. The movie was poorly received by some critics at the time.
This was a time in the 1980s when the British film industry consisted of output from Channel 4 films.
Resurrected starts with a memorial service of soldier Kevin Deakin (David Thewlis) thought to have perished in the Falklands war.
Several weeks later Kevin Deakin shows up in a farmhouse in Falklands with no memory as to what happened. He does not know that the war has ended.
Although his parents are elated, others especially his fellow soldiers have doubts about him. That Kevin was a coward and run away from battle.
With Tom Bell and Rita Tushingham playing Kevin's parents. There are nods to the kitchen sink dramas of the 1960s.
This is a small scale and a low budget film. It deals with the trauma of war. Being scared of going into battle.
When the film was released, Britain had found newfound confidence with the Falklands war. There was still a messy conflict in Northern Ireland.
As movies such as Tumbledown had shown. The mainstream press and the top army brass were simply not going to acknowledge issues such as PTSD, never mind army bullying.
There is a nuanced performance from Thewlis. The movie is vague as to what actually happened to Kevin in the Falklands.
As Paul Greengrass was a lefty who had co-written the banned in the UK book, Spycatcher. The movie was poorly received by some critics at the time.
Moving drama.
PlanetRuth6 March 2005
Warning: Spoilers
I found this film both compelling & upsetting despite some stilted acting from lesser supporting roles.
It is an excellent portrayal of a young man scarred by war & coming to terms with his actions (or inaction) on the battlefield. David Thewlis brings Kevin Deakin to life with sensitivity.
Admittedly, heavy handed in places (use of TV excerpts to drive points home was over-used), I felt that the message of the horrors of war was brought across well enough.
I am biased as I am a self-confessed pacifist that finds the military a bewildering institution, but will say that the progressive chewing up & spitting out of Deakin from the army was a believable series of events, more so in light of current revelations.
It is an excellent portrayal of a young man scarred by war & coming to terms with his actions (or inaction) on the battlefield. David Thewlis brings Kevin Deakin to life with sensitivity.
Admittedly, heavy handed in places (use of TV excerpts to drive points home was over-used), I felt that the message of the horrors of war was brought across well enough.
I am biased as I am a self-confessed pacifist that finds the military a bewildering institution, but will say that the progressive chewing up & spitting out of Deakin from the army was a believable series of events, more so in light of current revelations.
A subtle exploration of the nature of heroism
noveltykim17 March 2009
Warning: Spoilers
This film is a subtle exploration on the nature of heroism, and how a soldier can as easily be loathed as lionized. Taking as it's backdrop the 1982 Falklands conflict, the young soldier here has gone missing following the assault on Stanley. He is missing presumed dead, and a memorial service is duly held for him. However he turns up back from the dead freezing and frightened.
David Thewlis is superb as the ordinary young man who just happens to be doing the job of soldiering. Some reviewers saw this film as simply an attack on the military, which is woefully missing the point. There's no doubt that there's as much brutality in a fired up gang of young men, whether they be in a pub or a barrack room, civilian or military, as those experiencing the true face of battle. We push young men & now women into conflicts, expecting them suddenly with training to become super heroes. This film is saying that in reality our view of warfare is still as black and white as the film of 'Reach for the sky' that is shown playing on the television in the hospital ward, where the men who are not the acceptable face of war are being treated for more mental as well as physical injuries.
Really in the end it doesn't matter whether the soldier was a hero traumatised under heavy fire or a frightened kid who saw a ghost and ran. What matters is that there are as many grey areas in warfare & heroism as the bleak landscape of the Falklands itself.
David Thewlis is superb as the ordinary young man who just happens to be doing the job of soldiering. Some reviewers saw this film as simply an attack on the military, which is woefully missing the point. There's no doubt that there's as much brutality in a fired up gang of young men, whether they be in a pub or a barrack room, civilian or military, as those experiencing the true face of battle. We push young men & now women into conflicts, expecting them suddenly with training to become super heroes. This film is saying that in reality our view of warfare is still as black and white as the film of 'Reach for the sky' that is shown playing on the television in the hospital ward, where the men who are not the acceptable face of war are being treated for more mental as well as physical injuries.
Really in the end it doesn't matter whether the soldier was a hero traumatised under heavy fire or a frightened kid who saw a ghost and ran. What matters is that there are as many grey areas in warfare & heroism as the bleak landscape of the Falklands itself.
Stark first feature from Greengrass; a film entitled Resurrected which would incidentally go on to spur certain careers in what is a rather brave and involving effort.
johnnyboyz21 May 2011
The telling moment in Resurrected occurs, after many-a thing has been said and done, when the bedraggled lead character, whom has been ever-present thus far since returning from a war-zone having thought to have been dead, gets up out of the hospital bed he'd been placed within so as to physically move away from a television broadcast of what looks like an old British propaganda film from the 1940s. It is a devilishly clever instance; an instance that is at once a mere depiction of a man we presume to be suffering from bouts of insomnia, such is the strain he's going through, so moves away from the general area to a quieter place to try and combat this, but on another level, is the film itself physically moving its lead away from what it is that's being relayed across the TV's screen in a literal and thematic manner. The film playing out on the TV appears a piece very much about a British man returning from a war-zone and just 'clicking' back into the groove having arrived home again - in doing so, waltzing back into the life he left behind; picking up where his relationships with his wife left off and then triumphantly declaring that he'd be proud to "do it all over again".
Having the lead physically get up and walk away from such an instance is its own literal rejection of such a notion or mentality, a wry murmur under its breath along the lines of "Yeah, right...." as its lead dejectedly shuffles away, still unable to properly function. Renowned British director Paul Greengrass' debut feature from 1989 is a systematic rejection of the above items, a deeply moving and thoroughly worthwhile exploration of a man returning from a war-zone having signed up; fought and then felt very deeply about the newfound situation he was thence in. Here is a film about that returning war veteran whom it transpires didn't single handedly win the war; doesn't find it easy to merely readjust and is powerless to seeing links and ties to girlfriends and parents just crumble around him.
The distinction between genuine representation and fabricated portrayals of mythic heroism or whatnot begins with the opening sequence, a funereal for a certain soldier from the north of England named Kevin Deakin, here played impeccably by David Thewlis. The vicar in a packed church, already alluding to a larger extent of family and branch of friends, speaks of his dedication and bravery and so on – numerous people clearly upset at his passing before the film cuts to the less colourful and more vacant misty moors of The Falkland Islands complete with the lone figure of this soldier trudging across the screen eventually transpiring to be Deakin. The man arrives at a nearby farm populated by English speaking natives, they tell him the true-to-life The War of 1982 with Argentina is over and has been for some while; their informing of him that many-a medal for bravery and such will surely follow his actions appears to arouse Deakin's attention, but not for the good, as their later informing him that the army are on the way to pick him up elicits more in the way of nervous glances than it does relief. Such instances are the first to dramatically toy with which reality occurred within the last month and a half of Deakin's life.
He arrives home to a chorus of cheers and, above all else, faces of amazement at his still existing. Thought dead; missing for several weeks and suffering a vanishing which came about under some circumstances we're manoeuvred into wondering whether or not are questionable, spawn certain consequences. Here, the newspapers are quick to heroise the man; like the aforementioned example of the television movie, the instance is a further example of a fabricated example of a medium covering the surface material and painting an invincible, machine-like persona of someone. Principally, this clash of the mediafied and the realised comes to affect Deakin's life in a physical sense when he is sent back to his barracks post following leave; aside from the fact his first action upon returning is to walk into his quarters to the diegetic sounds of a Culture Club song asking the question as to whether one wishes to victimise, his fellow soldiers, lead by the thuggish Slaven (Fulford), proceed to make his life rather Hellish as this person whom rejected the more manly ideal of fighting with the enemy rejoins the ranks. Their actions are of an aggressive and oppressive nature, reminiscent of the very things they themselves fought against and defeated mere months ago now ironically incurring onto another.
Thewlis' performance, as stated, is superb; the man doing so well to capture the angst and nervousness that comes with being thrust back into a proverbial fire and the heated scenarios born out of that. As things unfold, Resurrected essentially reveals itself as one party's word against another's; the ambiguity in regards to Thewlis' character suffering immense feelings of pain, or indeed guilt, in often not wishing to speak of what truly happened, is captured wonderfully by the man – the maintaining of that ambiguity throughout additionally impressive. Greengrass deals expertly with all of the material; balancing the tonal jumps from sequences featuring people merely existing in a space verbally running through certain things to the tougher scenes of anger and violence, in what is a really interesting film doing well to sensibly explore a thesis that it takes on with immense degrees of competence; the likes of which equate to a film well worth seeing.
Having the lead physically get up and walk away from such an instance is its own literal rejection of such a notion or mentality, a wry murmur under its breath along the lines of "Yeah, right...." as its lead dejectedly shuffles away, still unable to properly function. Renowned British director Paul Greengrass' debut feature from 1989 is a systematic rejection of the above items, a deeply moving and thoroughly worthwhile exploration of a man returning from a war-zone having signed up; fought and then felt very deeply about the newfound situation he was thence in. Here is a film about that returning war veteran whom it transpires didn't single handedly win the war; doesn't find it easy to merely readjust and is powerless to seeing links and ties to girlfriends and parents just crumble around him.
The distinction between genuine representation and fabricated portrayals of mythic heroism or whatnot begins with the opening sequence, a funereal for a certain soldier from the north of England named Kevin Deakin, here played impeccably by David Thewlis. The vicar in a packed church, already alluding to a larger extent of family and branch of friends, speaks of his dedication and bravery and so on – numerous people clearly upset at his passing before the film cuts to the less colourful and more vacant misty moors of The Falkland Islands complete with the lone figure of this soldier trudging across the screen eventually transpiring to be Deakin. The man arrives at a nearby farm populated by English speaking natives, they tell him the true-to-life The War of 1982 with Argentina is over and has been for some while; their informing of him that many-a medal for bravery and such will surely follow his actions appears to arouse Deakin's attention, but not for the good, as their later informing him that the army are on the way to pick him up elicits more in the way of nervous glances than it does relief. Such instances are the first to dramatically toy with which reality occurred within the last month and a half of Deakin's life.
He arrives home to a chorus of cheers and, above all else, faces of amazement at his still existing. Thought dead; missing for several weeks and suffering a vanishing which came about under some circumstances we're manoeuvred into wondering whether or not are questionable, spawn certain consequences. Here, the newspapers are quick to heroise the man; like the aforementioned example of the television movie, the instance is a further example of a fabricated example of a medium covering the surface material and painting an invincible, machine-like persona of someone. Principally, this clash of the mediafied and the realised comes to affect Deakin's life in a physical sense when he is sent back to his barracks post following leave; aside from the fact his first action upon returning is to walk into his quarters to the diegetic sounds of a Culture Club song asking the question as to whether one wishes to victimise, his fellow soldiers, lead by the thuggish Slaven (Fulford), proceed to make his life rather Hellish as this person whom rejected the more manly ideal of fighting with the enemy rejoins the ranks. Their actions are of an aggressive and oppressive nature, reminiscent of the very things they themselves fought against and defeated mere months ago now ironically incurring onto another.
Thewlis' performance, as stated, is superb; the man doing so well to capture the angst and nervousness that comes with being thrust back into a proverbial fire and the heated scenarios born out of that. As things unfold, Resurrected essentially reveals itself as one party's word against another's; the ambiguity in regards to Thewlis' character suffering immense feelings of pain, or indeed guilt, in often not wishing to speak of what truly happened, is captured wonderfully by the man – the maintaining of that ambiguity throughout additionally impressive. Greengrass deals expertly with all of the material; balancing the tonal jumps from sequences featuring people merely existing in a space verbally running through certain things to the tougher scenes of anger and violence, in what is a really interesting film doing well to sensibly explore a thesis that it takes on with immense degrees of competence; the likes of which equate to a film well worth seeing.
David Thewlis Filmography Project
gink1027 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
#10 Resurrected
Kevin Deakin = The Straight Up Character
Pros: He's David's first character and he's pretty solid, he looks like a common guy, is the kind of person you easily identify with, and at least I feel identified with his behavior and/or feelings, since some scenes between him and his girlfriend are the best examples of that, despite not being a big fan of military/army issues in the movies, this one is very easy to watch without not being so boring, a solid film in general. Here he personifies Kevin, a boy who returns after everyone had believed him dead in the war of the Malvinas, but when he returns he realizes that his life is no longer the same, it is very empty, more than he imagined as if he had really died...
Cons: As I said before, Kevin is a very conventional character like all this movie, Kevin is not a bad guy, good, boring, shy or nerd, he is a simple individual like a normal person in real life and it is more than obvious that here David does not show all his skills and potential actors, however, the film itself does not seem to demand much, the script and the direction of it could have been more solid. Although the ending seeks to expose a message does not have enough drama to generate a great impact or enhancement.
Kevin Deakin = The Straight Up Character
Pros: He's David's first character and he's pretty solid, he looks like a common guy, is the kind of person you easily identify with, and at least I feel identified with his behavior and/or feelings, since some scenes between him and his girlfriend are the best examples of that, despite not being a big fan of military/army issues in the movies, this one is very easy to watch without not being so boring, a solid film in general. Here he personifies Kevin, a boy who returns after everyone had believed him dead in the war of the Malvinas, but when he returns he realizes that his life is no longer the same, it is very empty, more than he imagined as if he had really died...
Cons: As I said before, Kevin is a very conventional character like all this movie, Kevin is not a bad guy, good, boring, shy or nerd, he is a simple individual like a normal person in real life and it is more than obvious that here David does not show all his skills and potential actors, however, the film itself does not seem to demand much, the script and the direction of it could have been more solid. Although the ending seeks to expose a message does not have enough drama to generate a great impact or enhancement.
Survivor's Guilt
richardchatten18 March 2022
Paul Greengross makes an auspicious debut with this harrowing drama that makes an interesting comparison with Lubitsch's 'The Man I Killed' and Henry Jaglom's 'Tracks' in it's depiction of the emotional rather than physical havoc wrought by war.
Not an Argentinian is seen as a shockingly young David Thewliss discoverers the hard way the real battle is with his own side rather than with the enemy.
Not an Argentinian is seen as a shockingly young David Thewliss discoverers the hard way the real battle is with his own side rather than with the enemy.
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