Benediction

How do you create a biopic of one of the most famous First World War poets?

This month we’re joined by Dr Jane Potter (Oxford Brookes) to discuss the 2021 film Benediction about the life of Siegfried Sassoon.

Along the way we explore the long shadow of Regeneration, soldiers in drag, and the brilliance of Edith Sitwell. We also get very excited by a surprise cameo from the star of a previous episode!

References

Alice Winn, In Memoriam (2023)

Benediction’ is a shattering biopic of the English war poet Siegfried Sassoon, LA Times

Benediction review – Terence Davies’ piercingly sad Siegfried Sassoon drama, The Guardian

Brian Bond, The Unquiet Western Front (2008)

Edith Sitwell, Wheels (1919)

Jane Potter, Selected Letters of Wilfred Owen (2023)

Regeneration, dir by Gillies MacKinnon (1997)

Siegfried Sasson, The Complete Memoirs of George

They Shall Not Grow Old, dir by Peter Jackson (2018)

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Professor of Modern British History at Leeds University. My research interests lie at the intersection of the histories of gender, particularly masculinity, medicine and warfare.

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A historian focusing on the First World War and popular representations of warfare. I received my PhD from the University of Sussex in 2013. My thesis examined relations between British and French soldiers during the First World War.

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Is a Visiting Research Fellow at Leeds University. My current research focuses on manpower and authority in Britain, starting with the First World War and running through until the end of the Second World War.