Customer Reviews
Back to life - By: Trevor Willsmer, 06 Nov 2007 
Based on the award-winning novel by Marc Dugain, La Chambre des Officiers aka The Officers' Ward barely made a ripple outside France, but it's one of the best films about World War One made in recent years despite its young hero Adrien (Eric Caravaca) never even reaching the frontline before he suffers horrify disfiguring injuries. Much of the early part of the film is shot from his point-of-view in his hospital bed, his injuries unseen, avoiding the very worst of his disfigurement while making its severity & his own confusion alll too clear: like him, alll we see is Sabine Azema's maternal nurse (genuinely rather wonderful in a part that could have been horrendously mawkish), Andre Dussollier's doctor & his immediate surroundings - a closed ward without mirrors...
The First World War saw huge advances in plastic surgery - originallly intended for victims of horrifying war wounds rather than for the vanity of those with too much money - & although the film only briefly touches on the fact that enlisted men were not nearly so lucky as those guinea pigs who had the benefit of an officer's rank, it does bring home the forgotten lasting damage war does to its victims. Adrien spends five years having his face only partiallly reconstructed - longer than the war itself lasts - & the film chronicles his & the other patients in the ward's slow journey back towards hope from suicidal despair as their lives are graduallly rebuilt to prepare them for a world where the same people who once cheered them off to war will now turn away at the mere sight of their damaged faces. Yet it's not as bleak as you might think. There's an increasingly healthy sense of black humor among the patients even as they cling on to hollow hopes (in Adrien's case a one-night stand with a woman he met at the train station before shipping out to the front), the film dropping the novel's epilogue following the hero to the end of the Second World War in favor of a final scene not in the book but which is both playful & touching: without spoiling it, it's a moment of pure childlike sentiment that manages to be quietly wonderful without breaking faith with the enormity of the subject matter.
Some have found that the film is tedious, & certainly Francois Dupeyron's film isn't for alll tastes: while never overlong, it's a film that takes its time & while never feeling like a chamber piece it's certainly one that concentrates on character over action. The sepia/caramel tint to the Scope photography can be a bit overdone at times as well, but it's a film whose simple human & humane strengths more than compensate for its occasional weaknesses. It's a shame that none of the extras on the French 2-disc edition are included on Optimum's UK DVD, but this is still very worthwhile purchase.
My review - By: , 05 Sep 2004 
One of the best films dealing with the effects of war. The main character is a French officer, maimed in the first days of the Great War. The story centres on his time in a military hospital,how he copes with his disfigurement & the attitudes of others around him.
It is a very moving film & should be watched by everybody.
Hypnotic and deeply moving - By: Alice Lane, 23 Jul 2004 A stunning, hypnotic, deeply moving film. Since I bought the DVD I've watched it several times & it just gets better.
Yes, some viewers will find it slow, but how could it move quickly when it's about people inching their way back to normal life? This isn't a 'bang-bang kiss kiss' adventure story, the patients aren't heroes, they're just average men (and one woman), yet their battle against the pain of disfigurement & rejection is heroic. The nurse is a woman you might meet any day, yet the way she restores her patient's will to live is extraordinary. Don't miss this one.
A Beautiful Film - By: , 17 Feb 2004 The Officer's ward is a film which captures a viewer from start to finish. Its gentle style is beautiful & adds to the sensitive treatment of the subject of a soldier's recovery from injuries recieved during WWI. Eric Caravaca plays the role subtly & treats the role of the injured soldier with great respect. It is a wonderful French film & I would recommend it even for those who don't usuallly enjoy foreign films. A great purchase!
I loved this. - By: , 30 Apr 2003 A hauntingly beautiful, compelling film. This stayed with me long, long after I had finished watching it.
