Pvt. Ravel's Bolero
Pvt. Ravel's Bolero (2022, 28mins)
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Documentary, V (Violence), L (Coarse Language)
43 international awards "Pvt. Ravel's Bolero", is an antiwar, "filmic poem" and historical documentary wrapped in WWI and the music of Maurice Ravel. It is based upon the poem of the same name by author and filmmaker, JZ Murdock.
From LgN Productions.
A film about a man who was later France's "greatest composer", Joseph Maurice Ravel and his time served in WWI as a truck driver. The poem is a musician's/composer's/soldier's fantasy about creating his "Bolero" while in the trenches, and the effect it could have had upon all involved...living, and dead.
When WWI began, Maurice Ravel had a desire to serve, but also to experience adventure. He signed up. "Pvt. Ravel's Bolero", is also about Ravel's most famous musical piece, "Bolero". This film asks, "What if he had written it during his experiences in, "The Great War". Which was how that war was referred to until people found a need to number Earth's World Wars.
This film is also an "experience", presenting how war affects people. Just as war is often too fast to "read", or to assimilate at times, the viewer will find the experience moving too quickly, serving up too much, too fast. Or they may find what they see & hear is not beautiful, not perfect, as they are used to in documentaries. But not necessarily because they are too graphic to behold. There are scenes shown in this film that have likely never seen a public audience before this. Because they are not perfect, or pristine, and thus never used.
For such is War.