Benediction

Legendary 20th Century English war poet Siegfried Sassoon’s life-long quest for personal salvation through his experiences with family, war, his writing, and destructive relationships goes unresolved, never realizing that it can only come from within.

Written and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Terence Davies, Benediction explores the turbulent life of WWI poet Sassoon (Jack Lowden). The writer and soldier was a complex man who survived the horrors of fighting in the First World War and was decorated for his bravery but who became a vocal critic of the government’s continuation of the war when he returned from service. His poetry was inspired by his experiences on the Western Front, and he became one of the leading war poets of the era. Adored by members of the aristocracy as well as stars of London’s literary and stage world, he embarked on affairs with several men as he attempted to come to terms with his homosexuality. At the same time, broken by the horror of war, he made his life’s journey a quest for salvation, trying to find it within the conformity of marriage and religion.

Director Biography

Terence Davies was the youngest of ten children, and left school at sixteen and worked as a shipping clerk. He is today widely regarded as perhaps the greatest living English filmmaker. His features include Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988), The Long Day Closes (1992), and A Quiet Passion (2016) which screened at the 2016 MSPIFF.

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