A Midnight Clear (1992)
A Midnight Clear is based on the William Wharton novel of the same name, and while I've not read the book, I will always keep this picture near the top of my all-time favorite war movies.The story follows one Sgt. Will Knott (as in "will not"? played by Ethan Hawke) and his squad, well, half-squad of men who are ordered to an abandoned house near the lines to keep tabs on enemy activity. In this squad are the old-man of the bunch "Mother" (Gary Sinise), the failed priest-student "Father" (Frank Whaley), and the other typical soldier types played by Kevin Dillon, Peter Berg, and Arye Gross, whos character Shutzer just happens to be Jewish.
Did I fail to mention that this little excursion takes place during the battle of the bulge, in late December just before the German counter offensive? Yeah, that's where things get really interesting. One night, they encounter a German squad outside their position, but quickly begin to realize that this is not your typical wartime encounter.
It seems their enemy is a squad of old men and young kids, fresh off the Russian front, who are fed up with fighting for the Reich and wish to surrender. But its never that simple, they want to make it look like they were captured, and the two bands create an elaborate plot to make it look like a firefight took place.
I won't spoil the ending. At all. (Although you might get a hint or two.) That is part of why I love this movie so much. It is a roller coaster ride of emotion, from the opening scene of "mother" running naked through the snowy forest in madness, to his, well, intervention later on. The film builds up your feelings and sense of security and moral "high ground", and quickly smashes all that to pieces at the end, and stomps on them like so much broken glass. If any of these events actually took place (from Wharton's book) I can only imagine what a toll that would have taken on the men.
There's also a wonderful flashback event in the middle of the film which marks these mens' transition from boys to men, at least off the battlefield. You'd think it wouldn't fit into the overall picture but for some strange reason it fits perfectly. It cements these guys' relationship and their overall "good intentions" and moral "high ground" that they want to take, but seem to wind up on the wrong side of.....
Aw hell, just find a reason and an occasion to watch this, especially around Christmas, as the entire "Christmas Tree" scene is one for the record books. If nothing else it evokes some rather un-warrior like emotions and makes you think that things maybe aren't so bad....
... at least for those few moments. And thats the point I think. A Midnight Clear is one of those pictures that doesn't get a lot of respect, and it would seem that the DVD is unavailable, so thanks NetFlix yet again!
Technorati Tags: war movie review, a midnight clear, 1992, battle of the bulge, christmas, ethan hawke, gary sinise, kevin dillon, John mcginley, arye gross, peter berg, frank whaley, world war ii 2
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