“What makes this somber exploration about self-harm so compelling is the fact that there are two sides to its complex central character.”

When we meet Giulio, the soft-spoken but strangely menacing protagonist of Gianni Amelio’s new Golden Lion contender Battlefield (Campo di battaglia), he is shaving in front of a two-mirror set-up and slightly cuts himself. Indeed, what makes this somber exploration about self-harm so compelling is the fact that there are two sides to its complex central character; one can see Giulio as both an angelic savior and an ominous threat at once.

Saying anything fresh or vital in an old-fashioned period piece set during wartime may feel like quite a tall order in 2024. Once considered a safe template for handsomely crafted prestige pictures, the genre has long gone out of fashion and seemingly exhausted everything there is to be said about the horrors of never-ending battles. But in Battlefield, Amelio manages to offer a surprisingly topical, morally complex take with strong contemporary resonance. Boosted by Amelio’s considerable pedigree as a former Golden Lion winner (for the affecting 1998 drama The Way We Laughed) and Marco Bellocchio’s involvement as one of the producers, it should emerge as a success upon its imminent domestic release in Italy. Furthermore, strong performances from Alessandro Borghi (probably best-known to international audiences for his turn in the recent Cannes prizewinner The Eight Mountains) and Gabriel Montesi (who recently collaborated with Bellocchio on 2022’s acclaimed mini-series Esterno Notte) may help this modestly scaled but consistently engaging picture to attract more attention than the director’s last few outings and enjoy a robust festival run before it makes its way to arthouse venues or small screens around the world.

Despite its deliberately misleading title, Battlefield does not feature any action sequences and instead focuses on two military doctors, who are tasked with treating injured soldiers and sending them back to the front line. Since the film is set in 1918 near the end of the First World War, it is easy to understand why everyone appears so exhausted, deeply traumatized, and unwilling to return to the battleground. Stefano (Montesi) is certainly aware of this, but he still strongly believes in militaristic values and notions such as valor, patriotism, and duty. He doesn’t hesitate to discharge even seriously wounded patients after just a few days’ rest and quickly identifies soldiers who harm themselves in order to become unfit for further service. In his eyes, this is unacceptable, cowardly behavior that requires severe punishment. Giulio (Borghi) approaches the same problem from a very different angle; he “helps” desperate soldiers by intentionally making their injuries worse so that they can be reunited with their families. Does he act out of compassion for the soldiers (who have virtually no chance of surviving another stint with the army in their already-weakened condition)? Or is there something sinister (at least foolishly arrogant) in his interventions?

The first half of Battlefield is largely confined to the claustrophobic rooms and crowded wards of a hospital, but the human drama at the core of the film remains expansive and gripping because Amelio operates in an ethical grey area. Both Stefano and Giulio have valid reasons for their actions; they are fully committed to even the most questionable choices they make. Neither man is depicted as a villain even though they both exert undue power over the lives of others, eventually causing tragic consequences for many people. There is a virtuous side to both Stefano and Giulio despite the extreme circumstances that lead them to monstrous acts. While the film is clearly critical of Stefano’s blind devotion to defending Italy’s national interests, it is not easy to decide who is right or wrong in this gloomy tale.

On the one hand Battlefield questions a familiar militaristic discourse that emphasizes sacrifice and heroism at all costs, and depicts its incompatibility with the plight of the people who are merely trying to survive a drawn-out war. On the other hand, the story progresses towards a greater, far more uncontrollable threat as a mysterious virus (eventually identified as the Spanish Flu) starts to kill hundreds of soldiers. As Giulio tries to use his expertise on similar diseases to find a cure (reminiscent of the recent race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine) and doctors start wearing masks to avoid getting infected (an all-too-familiar sight for contemporary audiences, for sure), Battlefield taps into the bitter irony of the epidemic – the virus does not discriminate between heroes and their enemies, or privates and their commanders. Once the Spanish Flu gets out of control, petty arguments between the doctors, their attempts to determine who survives and who dies, attacks from the German side or Italian soldiers’ efforts to confront them all seem futile, even pointless. In the face of the new catastrophe, everyone is forced to accept their limits and put the terrors of the First World War behind them.

Amelio ambitiously packs all these themes and ideas into a compact narrative, with Battlefield clocking in at just about 100 minutes. The concision of the storytelling is commendable; however, this approach also has some side effects as several important elements remain underdeveloped. Most notably, a subplot revolving around a nurse named Anna briefly hints at gender-based discrimination (it is said that Anna had the highest scores in medical school, but was denied the opportunity to become a doctor simply because she is a woman), but fails to explore this essential topic in a satisfactory manner. Anna is a sadly underutilized character in general – a fateful encounter between a wounded soldier and Anna leads to a harrowing execution, yet this deeply troubling sequence is quickly wrapped up as the film moves on in another direction. Equally notable are some passing remarks about discrimination in the army. It is vaguely mentioned that soldiers from Sicily are mistreated and unable to use their leave, but there is no further exploration of such wrongdoing in the film. Likewise, in one of the most devastating scenes in Battlefield, we learn that villagers and ordinary citizens are denied access to the hospital after the arrival of the soldiers (with avoidable loss of civilian lives adding to the tragedy); however, there isn’t much screen time devoted to this cruel practice.

In the aforementioned shaving scene, Giulio is disturbed by the sight of his own blood. It’s a curious moment in a film full of graphic injury detail, disfigured bodies and immense psychological trauma. Giulio cannot afford to be so sensitive; he is surrounded by unpleasant crises and unsettling ethical questions. In Battlefield, Amelio invites audiences to grapple with similarly challenging and thought-provoking issues while simultaneously providing a novel take on an old-fashioned genre.