Customer Reviews

A Midnight Clear [VHS]

5 star:		(54)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

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....

The latest DVD release (Fall 2003) is *still* presented in fullscreen/pan'n'scan format, despite technical information to the contrary on Amazon. Twice released on DVD, twice modified from its original widescreen format. Shameful.

This is especially appalling, given that the packaging utilizes *widescreen* stills from the film alongside its synopsis -- scenes you will never see in such state should you view the enclosed disc.

This movie can be used as an example of what cinema is supposed to be. Yes, I have read some of the other reviews with their negative comments about the language and the depiction of American soldiers, but in this film's defense it WAS wartime and I'm certain that there were some soldiers who served bravely but nevertheless did not embrace the luster that the "last good war" was giving off on the homefront. What this film is trying to do is show the smaller, less significant aspects of World War II and the human side of the soldiers, a number of years before Saving Private Ryan.

The plot is a little slow and it takes a while to develop, but this is balanced nicely by some interesting character developments. Sometimes you have to accept what is happening at face value and wait for its meaning to be explained later, but that's a minor point. The cast are not huge names (except for, I guess, Ethan Hawke & Gary Sinise but this was years before either really took off) but the acting is pretty good. Not fantastic, but good enough.

One of the more appealing aspects of this film is that it isn't in-your-face movie-making, but is instead probably the quietest war movie you'll ever see. The word that springs to mind immediately is "competent", which doesn't sound like too much of a praise but it is exactly what makes this movie worth it. On a personal level, I found it fascinating to question actual World War II veterans about events similar to what was in the film. It wasn't until then that I could put my finger on what this movie's overall appeal was, but I think it is because most of us would probably behave similarly were we to be placed in the same circumstances the film depicts.

I'll admit--I loved the movie, the scenery in winter, the temporary "rapproachement" between U.S. GIs and German Wehrbacht soldiers (who insist they are not "NAZIs").

The story begins as the remaining 6 of a detatchment of "whiz kids" (scoring over 150 I.Q. on the Army exam) who constituted an "intelligence unit" are sent forward to an isolated house to do recon--that is, to inform their superiors (including a captain who was an undertaker and has the concomitant charm)....

After setting up quarters in the isolated villa, the recon boys discover they have pitched their quarters a stone's throw away from a small detachment of Wehrmacht soldiers--and older man with young boys. They swap antics--building a snowman with a Hitler mustache by the GIs, and a snowballfight started by the Germans.

I won't disclose what makes the film ultimately so touching and tragic...suffice it to say, there are good performances by future stars (e.g., Ethan Hawke). Anyone can identify with these youths stuck in the impossible situation--on the picket line of World War.

The screenplay is excellent, the cinematography is as well. My only criticism--the only man on the U.S. side who knows any German turns out to be the only Jew. And, as is typical of American films, he is portrayed as somewhat of a buffoon--lacking self-confidence, even though without him no negotiations with the Germans could take place, even with his broken Yiddish. He attributes most pitfalls to his being Jewish--therefore the Germans could not trust him, he is not manly enough. I was sad to see this portrayal, as well as the blonde, tall American being designated as the only one "Aryan-looking" enough to pose as an officer in negotiations with the Germans.

Nonetheless, Gary Sinese and Ethan Hawke in particular play their roles with heart, and we can imagine what it may have been like in December, 1944, just before the Battle of the Bulge, to have been stuck, as a young man, facing a dreaded enemy at the most poignant time of year. And for those reasons, I do recommend this 1992 film.

A Midnight Clear ranks as one of my all time favorite war films. The World War Two, Battle of the Bulge, drama unfolds on a scale far diminished from giant films like Saving Private Ryan. A Midnight Clear effectively works its scaled down production to full advantage. In place of intrusive special effects, the viewer is rewarded with spell binding performances from all members of its twenty odd cast. Ethan Hawke is utterly convincing with his youthful, detached, yet traumatized narration throughout the film. Hawke's performance should be a model to follow for any young actors preparing to do a World War Two period piece; for the simple fact that men and woman of that era did not speak in the tones, nuances, and slang common today.Hawke's narration is innocent and devestating to experience through-out this heart breaking, was is hell, film.

A MIDNIGHT CLEAR is nearly my favorite Christmas movie. I was born on Christmas Eve and have had a sentimental attachment to movies laid during Christmas time. Some reviewers have suggested that this movie is not sentimental, but I think automatically once you have two opposing armies laying down arms in the spirit of Christmas, it gets a little gooey. Ethan Hawke, so good in the recent remake of ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, again battles the snow in A MIDNIGHT CLEAR, as he and five other US grunts try to make sense out of the quandaries of a slow-moving war right before the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest. His commentary reveals that the movie was actually filmed in the rocky ridges of Utah.

The war's almost over, the invasion a success, admittedly a great, unexpected resistance from German armies means that there's a long winter ahead of them, but as in Wharton's novel when they occupy (and more importantly, to secure) an ancient chateau and start to feel comfortable, an eerie sound floats through the crystalline night air at night-the sound of German laughter. They are not alone. Hawke plays a sergeant really not far removed from boyhood, while the Germans, who soon become their prisoners in name, are a mixture of older man and really young boy, for the prime specimens of "Aryan manhood" were long ago drained off into the draft and likely as not killed in Stalingrad, and now (at any rate this battalion of the German army), you see the dregs and the far-fetched. A children's crusade.

Children all, and their "mother," Wilkins (Gary Sinise, doing some interesting work) strips down to nothing in the snow hoping to get a Section Eight (discharge for madness). As we find out, he has had some terrible news from the States and just wants to get home as quickly as possible. Arye Gross. a capable actor who used to be in every other movie back then, plays the Yiddish-speaking Stan, the only man among them able to communicate with the Germans. As his fellow soldiers start calling Will Knott "Won't" naturally the viewer starts thinking of him as Melville's Bartleby, the man who politely refused to co-operate and thereby threw a monkey wrench into capitalism. But this analogy is far-fetched as the concept of a "separate peace" at Christmas. Nevertheless, when the title song breaks through on the soundtrack my eyes start to mist over because I know that something awful will come to break the peace. After you see this movie you will never look at a snowman with the same happy gaze.

I watched this movie when it was first released on video. I knew nothing about it other than it was a story of WW 2 soldiers. What I walked away with was the sad tale of men at arms trying to find peace in utter chaos. As a former U.S. Marine, I could relate quite easily with the emotions and desire to want to live displayed by the characters. I could understand the plight of the German soldiers, young boys and old men impressed into service when Nazi Germany had nothing left, who wanted only to live in the dying days of the war. I was moved by the haunting musical score and the intense close-ups of the characters, torn by indecision and naivety, yet bouyed by the hope of salvation in an otherwise brutal and senseless campaign of destruction. This movie brings forth the anti-war message and sings such a message loud and clear. The heart-breaking prospect of a truce gone bad is the climax of a film that shows us the insane brutality of a war in which it's participants fought for each other, not a country or flag.

If you ever want to begin to understand what war "feels" like, then by all means buy this movie and watch it again and again. Most "war movies" are full of special effects and by their shear "mass" try to put forth their particular point of view. Usually their purpose is to merely enterain or to make a point, which is usually fairly apparent. They may try to convey how terrible combat is, or how courageous our soldiers are. Films such as "When Trumpets Fade" and "Band Of Brothers" come to mind, not to mention the many "war films" made during or just after W.W.II which were pretty transparent in their morale building efforts. All these movies in the end seem to somehow fall short in conveying just how a lone combatant "feels" as he is caught up in some gigantic madness over which he has absolutely no control. It is in conveying this elusive "feeling" that this small simple film is truly unique.

Everything that happens in this film was claimed to be completely true according to the author of the book on which the film is based. He was one of the soldiers involved in the story and only wrote the book as a "novel" because of the obvious problems of getting consent from all the individuals involved after such a long period of time. While I would normally be a little suspicious of such a claim, in this case I wholeheartedly believe it. The adage that truth is stranger then fiction certainly applies here as I really don't think anyone would set out to write such a "small" and strange tale. Also, it is obvious that it is the story itself, along with some excellent acting, that carries the film as I don't really think the director had any real idea what he had in this film. The "voice over" he does with one of the actors in the film clearly shows that while he truly liked the film, he honestly doesn't realize how "special" it really is.

Buy the DVD and watch it staight thru with as few interruptions as possible. It will wash over you and you will have some small insight into life, death and war.

This is not a review of the film, which is excellent, but the DVD is advertised as widescreen, the version I received was pan and scan..and I did order this new release expecting the widescreen presentation.

December 1944--A team of rookie American soldiers are put to the test as they go on a mission to the German Front. They don't really know whether they really believe in putting their lives at stake, and soon they happen upon a group of German soldiers in the forest. They discover, however, that the German soldiers don't want to fight any more than they do, and so a tentative truce is called between the soldiers as they spend Christmas together. One deadly mistake, however, soon leads to a terrible tragedy that will haunt young Private Will Knott for the rest of his life.

This is a deeply moving and highly underrated anti-war film that's not even available on DVD. It's a lot more complex and less grisly than "Saving Private Ryan". I was a little surprised at some of the similarities in this film to the classic anti-war novel __All Quiet on the Western Front__ by Erich Maria Remarque. But that's a good thing; all the characters are so well developed and do such a great job of displaying their emotions (my personal favorite was Gary Sinise as "Mother").

The dialogue is thoroughly thought-provoking, especially the lines spoken by "Mother" in the scene with the painting; how "somebody cared" and "somebody made something...probably not even for money, but for love" in a time when so many people "wonder if there is any love left." There are also a few humorous lines here and there (like when everyone started calling Private Will Knott by the name of "Won't"), and the scene with the bathtub is sure to tug at your heartstrings. Also, the ending isn't as predictable as you may think it might be.

If you're looking for an unusually non-violent and tender anti-war drama, and if you don't mind the unhurried pace, frequent dialogue, and relatiely little action, then I can't think of a better film for you to see this holiday season. "A Midnight Clear" is a masterpiece.

Rated R, mostly for language. There are a few brief images of war violence, but no prolonged gore. There is also a scene involving an encounter between the soldiers and a prostitute, but there's no nudity. I guarantee this film wil be unlike any other you've ever scene, and now is the perfect time to see it.

Merry Christmas to all.