During World War I, a group of British miners are recruited to tunnel underneath no man's land and set bombs from below the German front in the hope of breaking the deadly stalemate of the Battle of Messines.
‘The War Below’ captures the despair and claustrophobia of trench warfare and the tension and terror of working deep beneath the battlefield. The miners known as Claykickers left vital work in British coal mines to tunnel under German lines in order to plant vast amounts of explosives.
The tunnel scenes were filmed only in candlelight which gives the film an authentic and oppressive mise-en-scene. The cast includes Sam Hazeldine (Peaky Blinders), Tom Goodman-Hill and Kris Hitchen.
Our thanks to Vertigo for this screening.
