Saints and Soldiers(Military Film)

For my movie I watched Saints and Soldiers. I had originally intended to watch Tora Tora Tora, a movie that I had long wanted to see, but wound up finding this on Netflix and I decided to watch it. The film opens with a black screen, with the Armed Forces Radio in the background announcing the Allied victory over the Germans in the Ardennes Forests, but then turns more somber as the screen shows an image of soldiers unearthing bodies in the snow, while the broadcaster reveals the details of the massacre of American POWs at Malmedy. The camera zooms in on one body riddled with bullets lying in the snow, then does a perfect dissolve to three weeks earlier, with the man lying in the same place screaming in pain, as his wounds are treated by a medic. This is followed shortly by the gruesome massacre, as the German soldiers open fire after an American tries to run away. In the chaos, a few soldiers run to the woods pursued by German soldiers. We are introduced to our main character, Deacon(played by Corbin Allred), as he runs out from hiding to save Gould, a medic who is about to be executed by a German. Deacon steals the gun from the soldier, but despite Gould's urging, cannot bring himself to shoot the soldier. They then find Deacon's sergeant, Gunderson, and another soldier, Kendrick, as the other survivors of the massacre. Trapped behind enemy lines, they find a downed British reconnaissance plane, whose pilot, Winley, has crucial intel on a pending massive German offensive that he needs to get back to the main army. The movie plays beautifully with various emotions, with many deep, serious arguments between Deacon and Gould, who act as perfect foils to one another, with the comic relief of Kendrick and Winley battling over cigarettes. Largely as a result of this, the film relies very heavily on POV, over the shoulder, and close up shots, which create a close, personal feel as the viewer very often will be looking through the perspective of one of the five men. The over the shoulder shots are particularly effective, as they create a powerful feeling in moments such as when we are looking over Deacon's shoulder, down the barrel of a gun, at the German soldier that he can't quite bring himself to shoot. Character development also takes on an interesting pattern, as we usually will see a character's actions without context, such as when Deacon sees images of women in children in the forest and has a breakdown. This creates a sense of confusion, which is ultimately clarified when an unaware character receives an explanation, such as Gunderson explaining how Deacon had accidentally killed women and children with a grenade, thinking them to be Germans lying in ambush, and that he snapped after that. There is also a very interesting role reversal that plays into the conflict between Gould and Deacon, as Deacon, the non-drinking, non-smoking, church going boy(hence the nickname Deacon) who was a missionary in Berlin before the war and sympathizes with the German soldiers turns out to be the expert shot and skilled killer, while Gould, who is a selfish draft dodger who gave up on God and wants to slaughter every German they encounter, being the medic who is trained to save lives. This conflict comes to a head after Deacon shoots a German soldier who was trying to rape the woman harboring them, and they capture the other German. Gould and Kendrick try to shoot him, but Deacon stops them, and talks with the soldier, ultimately letting him go. That soldier would rejoin his unit and encounter the Americans again the following day as they tried to flee back to the American lines, and instead of sounding the alarm, gives them a jeep and tells them how to reach the American troops. Ultimately in the final dash to the their own lines they are found out, and after a long, moving firefight, Gunderson, then Kendrick, and finally Deacon are all killed. These create very sad and moving scenes, as Gunderson is shot right next to his best friend Deacon, Kendrick is shot carrying the injured Winley to safety, and Winley, weeping, finally gives Kendrick a cigarette as he urges him to hold on. Finally Deacon dies just a few feet from safety, shot while providing cover fire so Winley and Gould could escape with the intelligence. In the end, Deacon is redeemed for his terrible mistake as he saves thousands of lives with his sacrifice, and the final shot of the film shows Gould taking Deacon's bible with him, and kneeling down to treat a wounded German POW, showing the powerful effect Deacon had on him. This is a powerful, inspiring, and well done, albeit a bit cliche. I would give it an 8 out of 10 and would watch it again.