War during Christmas makes for a depressing time. It’s hard to think about goodwill for all when you’re hungry, tired, and at risk for getting shot every time you see the enemy. So given the setting, it’s no surprise that A Midnight Clear goes the same way. Still, the film becomes more heartbreaking because there was hope. As the American squad try to decipher the strange, decidedly not violent, actions of a German squad, and they cobble enough Yiddish to make some sort of understanding, the film steadily builds up the possibility that maybe something good would come out of that Christmas. A Midnight Clear creates hope by trying to solve the mysterious other. It takes it away once the squad fails to do so.
In 1944 France, an American Intelligence Squad locates a German Platoon wishing to surrender rather than die in Germany's final war offensive. The two groups of men, isolated from the war at present, put aside their differences and spend Christmas together before the surrender plan turns bad and both sides are forced to fight the other.
France, December 1944. Deep in the Ardennes forest, an American scout unit finds a German platoon wishing to surrender for a Christmas truce.
The film is not based on a true story. However, it’s based on a novel, by the Christmas truces in the war before, in 1914, and by the original author’s experiences in Vietnam. So even if it’s fictional, there’s something about the writing that makes it feel quite real.
This won’t be as exciting as other war films, but I feel like that’s what makes this drama a must-watch.
Spirit Awards
1 nomination
