Saints and Soldiers - The real heroes of the Battle of the Bulge

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Movie
German title Saints and Soldiers - The real heroes of the Battle of the Bulge
Original title Saints and Soldiers
also: The Saints of War
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2003
length 88 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Ryan Little
script Geoffrey Panos ,
Matt Whitaker
production Adam Abel ,
Ryan Little
music J. Bateman ,
Bart Hendrickson
camera Ryan Little
cut Wynn Hougaard
occupation

Saints and Soldiers - The real heroes of the Battle of the Ardennes is an American war film - Drama in 2003. As sequels were Saints and Soldiers II: Airborne Creed  (2012) and Battle of the tanks: Saints and Soldiers 3  published (2014).

content

Winter 1944: Allied troops severely defeated the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge . In Malmedy , Belgium , they discover 70 bodies of American soldiers who were captured and shot by German troops.

Flashback: Three weeks earlier, members of the 101st and 285th Divisions are captured by German soldiers. While the troop doctor Steven Gould tries to take care of a seriously injured soldier, one soldier tries to escape. He is shot and causes chaos among the prisoners. The German soldiers then open fire and shoot all the prisoners. This later became known as the " Malmedy Massacre ". Only Gould, initially believed to be dead, and Corporal Nathan Greer escape unharmed. Greer disarms a German soldier while fleeing, but does not shoot him, although Gould demands it.

Two other survivors join Gould and Greer: Shirl Kendrick, also in Gould's division, and Greer's best friend Sergeant Gunderson. Gunderson suggests hiding in an abandoned building until the Allies take over the area again. When German soldiers come by, the four of them hide in the cellar. Meanwhile, Greer is able to translate a fragment of an intercepted German message about a crashed enemy plane. After the soldiers leave, the Americans find the British pilot Oberon Winley. He reports that he has taken important espionage photos that must be made available to the Allied forces. The group decides to make their way to the front line, which is 30 kilometers away. All of a sudden, Greer hallucinates and collapses. Gould reports that Greer stormed a building on a previous mission and accidentally shot two women and six children in the process. Gould later begins to accuse him of failing to shoot the German soldier while trying to escape. He also complains about his religiosity. Greer then offers him his Book of Mormon , which Gould refuses. Greer wonders and says that Gould asks a lot of questions for someone who is not religious.

Shortly afterwards, Kendrick is injured when he falls through the roof of an old house. Looking for help, Gunderson breaks into a house and finds a woman with her daughter, Catherine and Sophie Theary. With a snowstorm approaching, Gunderson assumes that the German soldiers will not advance any further. He therefore suggests staying in the house for the night. However, Winley desperately wants to bring the photos to the Allies and leaves the house during the storm. Catherine provides food for the soldiers. Meanwhile, two German soldiers arrive and Catherine is talking to them. While one soldier is checking the house, the other tries to rape Catherine. When she starts screaming, Greer saves her and kills the soldier. The other soldier flees into a nearby forest. Winley returns, who took the escaped soldier prisoner. Greer recognizes Rudolph in the prisoner, a believer from his church whom he himself had converted when he was preaching in Berlin. Greer realizes why, despite being a very good shot, he couldn't meet Rudolph.

In the morning Greer releases Rudolph after telling him where the German lines are and how to cross them. The four set off with hidden weapons, but soon encounter a small group of German soldiers. Gunderson is shot dead by a sniper who Greer then shoots. A gun battle ensues in which Winley is hit in the leg and the group splits up. Kendrick carries Winley on his back, is hit in the stomach and dies. Winley then shoots the German rifleman and crawls to a river, where Greer and Gould find him and take care of him. They are then found by Rudolph, who tells them that there is a jeep nearby that they could use to drive through the enemy lines. Then Rudolph leaves them and goes to meet the searching German soldiers. The three remaining soldiers, now disguised as Germans, get into the jeep and drive towards the German front line. They are stopped by soldiers. Greer speaks fluent German so they are allowed to pass. However, when the guards see they are heading towards the American line, they open fire. The jeep is hit by a mortar shell and falls on its side. Greer gives Gould and Winley fire protection and is hit by a bullet himself. Before he dies, he has one final vision of the women and children he has killed. Gould and Winley make it through the enemy lines and can relay the important information to headquarters. Winley is then taken care of in the hospital.

As Gould sees. as Greer's body is removed, he pulls the Book of Mormon out of his clothes. He puts a picture of Greer's wife in his hands and keeps the book. Then he looks at the sky and sees a Mustang bomber, which makes it clear that the weather has improved and now the tide will turn in favor of the Allies. Gould meets the captured Rudolph, they give each other a friendly nod. Then he helps an injured German soldier. It is the soldier Greer spared after the massacre.

criticism

On the US film review website Rotten Tomatoes , 66% of the reviews are positive, out of a total of 35 reviews. The conclusion is: “Although the film makes strong use of the genre characteristics of war film, it offers convincing representations and a gripping plot.” The American film critic Roger Ebert judged that the film had the “strength and clear lines of a traditional war film, but without it the usual high tech special effects to increase the noise level ”and gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. The lexicon of international films mentioned the "rather reserved images" of a "battle-stressed story". The film celebrates “more general human values ​​and the victory of hope”.

Award

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Saints and Soldiers. Rotten Tomatoes , accessed September 9, 2014 (English): "While it draws heavily on war movie conventions, Saints and Soldiers has strong performances and a compelling central plot."
  2. ^ Roger Ebert : Saints and Soldiers. November 11, 2004, accessed on September 9, 2014 (English): "It has the strengths and the clean lines of a traditional war movie, without high-tech special effects to pump up the noise level."
  3. ↑ Saints and Soldiers - The real heroes of the Battle of the Bulge in the Lexicon of International FilmsTemplate: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used , accessed on October 20, 2010.