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(More customer reviews)As I saw this film and Castle Keep again recently, I thought about Stanley Weintraub's book Silent Night in which he discusses a brief period prior to Christmas in 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders, when German and British soldiers spontaneously agreed to declare a truce and suspend fighting, thereby defying their commanding officers. Centuries ago, knights and their attendants would work with their enemies to clear a field for combat the next day. Such cooperation had an obvious practical value. That's not what interests Weintraub as he examines a temporary truce during one of the bloodiest wars ever fought. It had little (if any) practical or tactical value but it did (and does) suggest a human need which transcends military obligations. However, war is war. After a brief respite, the carnage inevitably resumes.
A Midnight Clear was directed by Keith Gordon and is based on William Wharton's autobiographical novel. Rather than featuring a star such as Burt Lancaster (as in Castle Keep), the lead roles in this film are played by those normally seen in supporting roles. For example, Kevin Dillon, Ethan Hawke, and Gary Sinise. They and all others in the cast are first-rate. Basically, here's the situation. An elite U.S. Army intelligence unit is given a reconnaissance mission in the Ardennes Forest in December of 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge. The men in the platoon may be far from home as Christmas approaches, lonely and miserably cold, but they retain a certain playful spirit comparable with what Robert Altman celebrates in M.A.S.H. They encounter a German unit and then....
While seeing this film the first time and then again recently, I felt as if I were dreaming that I had returned to the 1940s in a time machine, to Belgium near the end of World War Two. Credit Tom Richmond's cinematography with creating an uncommonly beautiful setting for the savage combat which occurs there, as does John Mathieson during the "Hell Unleashed" sequence early in Gladiator. The dreamlike atmosphere continues throughout as the men suspend and then resume their own involvement in the war. This is a haunting film, at times an exquisitely lovely film, but also one which raises some serious questions. Why not throw snow balls instead of grenades, then treat each other to a round of drinks? Why not celebrate Christmas together, exchanging gifts and singing carols, as their ancestors once did on Christmas Eve in 1914, on the battlefields of Flanders? Doesn't all that make much more sense than killing each other? Of course. It's just that....
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William Wharton's autobiographical novel of World War II becomes amoving portrait of war's madness in the microcosm of a small intelligence patrol on the German front in 1944. The unit, composed of high IQ soldiers, is sent to scout ahead. They discover a small platoon of Germans hiding in the forest, but these soldiers would rather fight with snowballs than guns and exchange Christmas presents instead of mortar fire. The young, rather unsoldierly Americans are offered the opportunity to "capture" the Germans without a fight--until a fatal misunderstanding plunges their efforts into tragedy. Director Keith Gordon, who also penned the screenplay, creates an unusually eloquent, offbeat platoon drama shot amidst the tranquil beauty of a snow-covered forest. His excellent cast includes future stars Ethan Hawke and Gary Sinise, with Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, and Peter Berg rounding out the platoon. Though little seen upon its 1992 release, this moving drama received high praise for its vivid characters and delicately wrought imagery and remains one of the most powerful pacifist dramas of the post-war era. "--Sean Axmaker"
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