Customer Reviews

Soldier's Heart

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have to tell you I was completely moved, although I very much identified in a different way. With my own struggles, today I have the same kind of experiences as Elliot. You don't have to fight in a war to experience post traumatic stress disorder. The fiery outbursts are common in my life. It was scary, really scary, to realize that I was truly looking at myself as I watched him. And just as with Elliot, through self-acceptance, I believe that I, too, will have the opportunity to come home. So you can imagine, at the end, I was completely broken up. Which was good. And necessary. Because it allowed me to identify where I'm coming from, and to see where I will be, as I continue to allow myself to heal, by accepting help from family and friends, just as Elliot did. Beautiful.

Soldiers Heart is a wonderful, moving story of a Vietnam Veteran who is living, painfully at times, with the invisible war injury of post-traumatic stress disorder. The war is over, but the hurtful long-term effects live on in our returning soldiers. There are tender, sweet moments in the film, as well as disturbing battle flash backs. The relationships this Vet has with family and friends are complex. While watching Soldiers Heart you cannot help but think about Veterans you know and wonder how much pain they are suffering through as a result of PTSD. This film makes me proud to be an American. Veterans are to be held in the highest esteem. This film stays with you for quite a long time. It is superbly written. I have recommended this film to friends and family, and they all gave it 5 stars. I sure you will, too.

Larry Winters Author of The Making and Un-making of a Marine
Soldiers Heart is a phrase that comes from the American Civil War, it means Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Example "That man is acting like that because he has soldiers heart."
Brian Delate goes inward bound in this movie using the heart and soul as guide posts to bring his audience to a deeper understanding of how we are all affected by war. Not only soldiers want to forget what happens in war, so many of us in this country allow a trance of denial to steel our memories. Brian kindly reminds us that war did happen and that we all are responsible for the after affects. Most movie makers believe that the theater seats need to shake with over amplified violence to penetrate the callused movie goers who like speed readers only slow down to pay attention when the action starts. Soldiers Heart seeps into you slowly it's a movie with half lives that comes again and again sometimes in the shower or before you go to sleep. After this movie you might even see when you look in the mirror that you have been affected by war just like the normal folks in this movie. You do not have to be a vet to want to see this movie in fact I think instead of the crashing blow that most war movies rely on to hook their audience Soldiers Heart is a gentle stroke on the civilian cheek to wake up.
The Making and Un-Making of a Marine

If you love movies whose plots gently unfold like a 40s classic film rather than starting off with a bang, i.e. copulating couples or detonated buildings or both in the first five minutes you will love Soldier's Heart, a minutely observed meltdown of a Vietnam vet following the death of his WWII vet father with whom he has never discussed the war. This film is also noteworthy thanks to the performances of Brian Delate (whose career I've followed for a long time - see IMDB.com) and Cady McClane (of All My Children fame).
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This movie is unlike any other movie about the psychological effects of war. Besides the wonderful acting, it is well written in a heartwarming manner which deals with the issue of PTSD in a most realistic and sensitive form. The stress of war on a soldier is something that affects everyone and everything around the soldier, and Brian Delate has done an exemplary job of showing the viewer how the effects of war eats at the sldier's soul. No matter what experiences a soldier has gone thru, healing akes time. This movie should be widely distributed as a tool to educate more people about the issue of PTSD.

This is a beautiful film, made with love and care. It is moving, insightful and tender. The performances are superb. I recommend it highly.

Laura L, Bronx, NY

This film surprised me because it unfolded so slowly and delicately. Although it certainly deals very much with the vet experience, and PTSD, it is at its heart a film about fathers and sons, and silence. I feel that anyone can find something to relate to in this film, and that is has a very human feel to it--not heavy-handed or alienating for the viewer at all. Good storytelling, good performances, and a film worth seeing.

I was stunned by this movie, the storytelling is smart, thoughtful and deeply moving. The directing is just simply beautiful. Great performance by Cady McClain. I highly recommend this movie, not only to soldiers or veterans, but to everyone who loves and appreciates great film-making. -Frank Kirstein, Creative Director, Citizen Pictures

The opening sound of a helicopter circling overhead echoes in the memory of a Viet Nam veteran as he drives down a peaceful hometown street. This film shows the price soldiers and their families pay for our freedom. The Civil War, WWI, WWII, Viet Nam eras call trauma by different names: Soldier's Heart, Shell Shock, Battle Fatigue, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Brian Delate's movie describes the veteran's universal experience whichever war he or she carries inside, which rages long after the battle field is left behind. The lead character's acting career gives the movie humorous moments. The insider's look at casting and call backs is a welcomed balance to the serious story.

A Soldier's Heart's strength comes from its ability to pull you along in its wake without dragging you. Where other post Vietnam War Hollywood offerings have often dealt with the subject matter of traumatic stress in a heavy handed way, this movie builds to its conclusion by showing a man's life slowly unraveling bit by bit. The ensemble cast is very convincing and the fact that there aren't any Hollywood heavyweights featured adds a real life quality that makes the movie stay with you long after the credits roll. If this movie doesn't make you want to call up your Congressman to demand that more be done to help vets adjust to post war life, nothing will.