WATCH NOW
The movie is based on true stories. It recounts the murder of American troops at Malmedy in Belgium, six months after the Normandy invasion. During this incident, the Nazis shot U.S. soldiers who were surrendering. Most were dead, but four managed to escape into a nearby forest. The film depicts their struggle to make it back to the American side through snow and numbing temperatures. As they make their trek, they are joined by a British paratrooper who possesses information regarding a Nazi attack and they agree to figure out how to relay the intelligence to the Allies in time for it to be useful.
These five soldiers are just men; well, the Americans are, but the Brit is quite peculiar to them. He is not very well received and his humor is not appreciated. They constantly feel fatigued and starving and value cigarettes far too highly. Unlike modern day war films, these characters do not cuss, and it turns out we don’t miss it. I have no idea if that is true. Definetly in the 1940s, that type of speech was much more uncommon than it is now, but Norman Mailer uses the F-word through his book The Naked and the Dead, censoring it as “fugg.”
The hero of the film is moody and introspective instead of rallying and energetic. This would be Cpl. Nathan Greeser, or Deacon as he is fondly known, played by Corbin Allred. He earned his nickname because of his love for the Bible due to his missionary work in Berlin which is also the place where he picked up the German that helps them. We believe he is a Mormon, but are never explicitly told. Presiding over his little band is Gordon Gunderson (Peter Holden), a sergeant who takes the blame for Deacon when, during a critical moment, he inexplicably freezes. But for all intents and purposes, he is a decent sharpshooter and we wonder, can he actually shoot someone? The medic, Steven Gould (Alexander Niver) comes from Brooklyn, so he naturally has to be included in any WWII film and Shirl Kendrick (Lawrenc Bagby) has to be the ever-present Southern farm boy. Oberon Winley (Kirby Heyborne) is the British pilot and, if it wasn’t obvious, he has completely overdone it with David Niven films.
The tale centers on their survival as they walk through the woods. While German soldiers are patrolling the region, they still have a few encounters with a charming Belgian housewife that will remind movie fans of the farm wife in “Grand Illusion”, and perhaps a little too much of a coincidence, a German soldier who knew Deacon during his missionary days in Berlin.
In Ryan Little’s film, the Belgian landscape was Utah’s mountains, and thoughtfully placed personnel to keep a firm handle on narrative and character where the budget did not allow for a great deal of prop or extra money – many of the Germans are played by military enthusiasts who do battle re-enactment, and they also loaned Little some of their gear. “Saints and Soldiers” isn’t a great film, but what it does, it does well.
To watch more movies like (Saints & Soldiers (2003) visit 123Movies.
Also Watch for more movies like: 123MOVIES
