Siegfried Sassoon was one of the most coruscating poets of the First World War – a war that, unlike his friend Wilfred Owen, he managed to survive.

Benediction
Director: Terence Davies

Siegfried Sassoon was one of the most coruscating poets of the First World War – a war that, unlike his friend Wilfred Owen, he managed to survive. Benediction, a film about his life by acclaimed British writer-director Terence Davies, suggests that, never escaping the guilt of being spared, he spent much of his life pursuing various kinds of redemption.

Before plunging into contemporary footage of trench warfare, the film opens with familiar tropes of a comfortable pre-war world about to be shattered, introducing a light-hearted Sassoon (Jack Lowden) being fitted for a ­tailor-made uniform along with his brother Hamo, who was to die at Gallipoli.

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