Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Saints and Soldiers

We saw a good war movie last night. Saints and Soldiers is about four American soldiers who escape the Malmedy Massacre during the Battle of the Bulge and are trapped behind enemy lines.

I was amazed to find out afterwards that it was shot for under a million dollars in less than a month. They used WWII re-enactors (who knew?) who came from all over the country at their own expense for the chance to run around in their uniforms and shoot at things. Lucky for film makers that people have such odd hobbies.

The main character is (presumably) a Mormon. Some Amazon commenters found this horrifying, as if a religious character means a "Bible Movie". But the character never really preaches to his commrades, except to insist that most Germans were just like them only in different uniforms. He keeps two of his buddies from executing a German soldier they capture, but shoots plenty of other Germans when he has to. I thought it added a bit of moral complexity to the movie.

No comments: