A Midnight Clear

The intentions of the filmmaker are obvious. Pacifism, realism, surrealism all mix into the celluloid brew that is concocted by director Keith Gordon. For those who do not have a vast exposure to cinema this effort would seem like a breath of fresh air. If you consider pacifism and realism in World War II movies, "The Thin Red Line" of Terrence Mallick would make this film look juvenile in every department. If you consider surrealism in World War II movies, Sydney Pollack's "Castle Keep" and Mike Nichol's "Catch 22" are far superior in comparison to this effort. Keith Gordon's well-intentioned film has several flaws. Someone with basic sense of visuals can see that the film is not shot in Europe. You see a young deer walk out of an abandoned house past soldier crouching with rifles just as a pet dog walks by the master in the master's house. Intelligent young soldiers drop their weapons in a knee jerk reaction to the enemy pointing rifles at them. Gordon could have made the action a bit slower to make the incident more credible. The treatment of sound and music is like a breath of fresh air if you are not exposed to European cinema. The build up to consensual sex with a soldier's girlfriend reminds one of films made in France in the Sixties, including the shot of the girl walking between four soldiers on the road the next day. Most of the actors in the movie are credible most of the time. I saw this film, probably a censored version, on late-night TV in Dubai. After the film ended the "realistic" treatment of the story seemed too artificial. It was a laudable effort that lacked punch. Compared to Pollack's "Castle Keep", this is kid stuff. Noting the positive comments of other viewers, I think "Castle Keep" deserves a re-release for today's audiences to savor and appreciate.

A Great war movie that doesn't get envolved with the killing and blood. It deals with the souls of a small german (not NAZI) squad and US special forces squad. Gets you in the head of young kids going to war and how the people on the other side aren't all that different.

I liked this film on the whole, especially the story which was subtle enough to be believable. One masterful scene shows a German soldier watching the house the characters are in. This scene only lasts a couple of seconds but really give us a feeling of being watched. Where it failed for me though was in the location. It is set in the Ardennes forest, but as a Brit who has been to the Ardennes this is clearly not where it was filmed. I believe it was filmed in Utah. This is obvious by things such as the trees and the absence of any surfaced roads. this would have done well to make the effort to come to Belgium. Another fault is that the story is set on the verge of a massive German offensive. This I can only assume is 'Wacht am Rhein' otherwise known as the battle of the bulge. This thought started as early as December the 16th and thus would be too early for Christmas. Anyway all in all this is a good film which I enjoy to watch and would advise others interested in WW2 to see it as well as it avoids just showing blood and gore.

Recap: A band of five young American men, all that is left of a platoon hit hard during the Ardenne offensive during the WWII get the assignment as a forward outpost and to look for enemy activity. They're in really bad condition, both physically and mentally, and think they have struck gold when their outpost is in an abandoned but once plush mansion full with food. But after a while there is some enemy activity, and it is very odd. Not hostile, but odd. It seems like there is a German squad out there, in equally bad condition, that want nothing more than to surrender. Comments: Based on a novel and my guess that the novel is much better but the story doesn't seem to translate very well to the big screen. Indeed it is a different war movie, much more about the mental pressure during wartimes than fighting and battles. But I can almost feel that scenes that must have been full of suspense, full of uncertainties and unknown elements, just fall flat in the movie. It is not suspenseful, just different and in many ways absurd. Many times people just act insane, and the reasons are unclear or at best hinted at. So when this mental pressure fails to come through, the main building piece of the entire story, I thought the story fell through. It wasn't good, it wasn't interesting, it didn't keep me on the edge and it didn't really send a message. Actually it did nothing. The cast is interesting, many young actors that then turned into stars in beginning of their careers. The acting is good, but not stellar, and a few characters also fell through into the absurd zone. Much of that too I feel is due to that this story, these characters need the time, space and pace given in a novel, that they can't be given here. And going halfway definitely isn't good enough. 4/10

I saw the film when it was in theatres nearly 20 years ago. As for scary films set in a snow-bound mansion, I found this to be ten times as creepy as The Shining. This is not a horror film, but certain images in the first half of the film are as horrifying as anything I've seen in film since then. I don't mean gore or grue. I mean ghost-story horror. A war movie/horror film? Has anything ever been done like that? I think this film is in a genre all its own. I guess this is an anti-war film. If you wish to view it as such. It certainly does not make the viewer want to rush out and fight a war. In the cast are John McGinley and Kevin Dillon, both from the cast of "Platoon," but here in significantly different roles. I regret to say I've not been able to totally analyze and deconstruct this film. I can't tell you what it's all about, or what you should think or feel as you watch it. There is so much going on in this film. I saw it in the theatre nearly twenty years ago, and then again on cable when I taped it, about 16 years ago. I watched it again tonight. It was just as spooky and just as impressive as it was two decades ago. I totally loved this film. My father fought in the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest, very close in time and proximity to this story. His battalion, from Pennsylvania, trained at Camp Shelby (in Mississippi), just as the soldiers in this film. Some horrifying things he saw in the forties, he was only able to begin to describe a few years ago. This is such a terrific film. For so many different reasons.

This was nothing but a slick propaganda movie for the Give Peace a Chance empty-heads. 54 years after World War II we are to suddenly forget the millions of dead and the destruction of most of Europe brought on by Nazi Germany. After all, the men who wore the Nazi uniforms were just a bunch of boys who loved their mothers and longed for home at Christmas. So put away your weapons and your silly ideas like moral values and patriotism. Just sing along with Silent Night (a German song, after all) and forget the evil, the dead; and why not Christmas-kiss old Adolf, Himmler, the whole crowd. This is one of a very small number of historical re-writes created to trash real history and cast the seed of confusion in place of moral clarity. Fortunately, very few people bought into this one.

I had to order this movie in from the US because you can't get it in Britain. But it was worth all the hassle of tracking it down because it is an amazing movie. Ethan Hawke is great as the young Sergent who must lead a group of frightened young soldiers to the German front. Gary Sinise is amazing as the emotionally damaged "Mother" Wilkins, and the supporting cast is great too! When the group discovers a Nazi camp of soldiers who have lost the will to fight, an uneasy truce is formed, which will ultimately and in tragedy as the American Platoon try to protect "Mother." The movie is brilliantly acted and with a emotionally powerful ending. (I was very nearly crying at the end!!!!) Defiantely worth hunting down!!!!

In over 40 years of war movie viewing I have to say that this is one of the worst I have ever seen. I was tempted to turn it off after the first 10 minutes, but suffered through another fifty or so until the Americans threw a grenade at the Germans and the Germans threw a snow ball back. Off the VCR went. The screen play, the script and the characters were awful. While they made a commendable 1992 effort at making the Americans look authentic, they fell flat on their faces with the Germans. The 1960's T.V. series "COMBAT" had better looking German uniforms. I won't even go into commenting on the poor girl who lost her love in the war-turned hooker scenes. The whole movie (what I could stand watching of it) showed a complete lack of understanding of the period and combat conditions it portrayed. While I may not agree with the politics of "PLATOON's" director, he did an outstanding job in conveying a feeling of authenticity to the viewer. By the time I turned "A MIDNIGHT CLEAR" off I found myself daydreaming more than watching the movie. How this movie can receive so many great reviews is beyond me, but I guess to each his own.Be forewarned

It's a war film, but an atypical and sober one at that. Probably war drama fits better. As there's a whole lot more to it than just action. On that count it has its moments, but really it's about the characters (if something of a coming of age) and the realisation that their enemy is just as reluctant and afraid as them. The script is meditatively thoughtful and the performances by a capable cast (Ethan Hawke, Kevin Dillon, Peter Berg, Gary Sinise, Frank Whaley, Arye Gross and John C. McGinley's pig-headed Major Griffin) are genuinely layered. This helps draw you in, feeling the joy but also the tragic nature that waits. It absorbingly paints the foolishness of war, where in a serenely ironic manner it all pans out. It follows a small young American reconnaissance platoon nearing the end of WW2 in Eastern Europe, which was put together due to them having the highest I.Q. in the army. Thinking that they would get better results, however on their mission they come across a patrol of German soldiers hiding from their inevitable fate and a special, if strange bond is formed between the two parties. Written and directed by Keith Gordon (who I'll always remember him as Arnie Cunningham from John Carpenter's 80s horror flick "Christine"), he does an effective job tailoring the welcoming humanity and the painstaking horrors of war through the visuals, dialogues, atmospheric surroundings and performances. The narrative moves back and forth early on dealing with past events that brought these American soldiers together, before settling on the straight-and-narrow. The material is rather offbeat and mellow, especially when it came to the interactions between the two groups. What seems unfathomable, becomes reality and then even playful (snowball fights?!). There's something simply haunting and forlorn about this presentation and you could probably attributed it to the beautifully moody, if glassy music score. It just stays with you. Like the final shot of the film, where the camera pans onto Hawke's face of despair and this is one powerfully heartfelt moment. "A Midnight Clear" is quite low-key and unpredictable in all, but hard to forget. "I'm through playing soldier."