Main Cast: Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise
Release Year: 1992
Country: US
Run Time: 107 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Based on a novel by William Wharton, A Midnight Clear is set in the Adriennes Forest in December of 1944. A group of American GIs, all of whom have been together a bit too long, cling to the vestiges of their peacetime interests to remain sane. None are brilliant soldiers, though Will Knot Ethan Hawke is the one who exhibits the strongest leadership qualities. Billeted at a chateau, the soldiers begin hearing strange noises emanating from a graveyard, the handiwork of a group of mischievous German soldiers. The two enemy camps draw closer to one another as Christmas approaches, due in great part to the influence of GI Vince "Mother" Wilkins Gary Sinise. A sudden, impulsive hostile act results in the wholesale -- and unnecessary -- slaughter of the German soldiers. Though the exteriors are convincingly mid-European, the film was actually lensed in Utah. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
An interesting, offbeat war movie, A Midnight Clear is often so successful at capturing the loneliness and futility of war and its profound impact upon the men thrust together to fight it that you have to wonder whether Steven Spielberg and Terrence Malick were in some small way influenced by it with, respectively, Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line. Director Keith Gordon is admirably restrained and very detailed in his depiction of a group of six soldiers (Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross, Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, and Frank Whaley) manning a chateau in the icy Ardennes Forest on the eve of the Battle of the Bulge. Like Spielberg later did with Ryan, Gordon wisely keeps the movie's focus on the six men and what they endure. The film has enough character study and intelligence to turn inside out war film staples and get at something deeper: the soldiers' quiet yet harrowing struggle to keep some semblance of decency, sanity, and faith in their lives. A good example: Out on the town together for the first time, the recruits try to pick up a prostitute. It's a cliché. Then they learn that the woman (Rachel Griffin) is actually a nice girl who just lost her husband to the war and is so grief-stricken that getting together with them is for her an act of self-destruction. Their sensitive consolation of her, and her eventual, gentle seduction of all of them, is a touching reminder of how people can find solace in strangers at the worst times of their lives, even war. ~ Nick Sambides, Jr., All Movie Guide
Frank Whaley - "Father" Mundy; Larry Joshua - Lieutenant Ware; Dave Jensen - Sergeant Hunt; Curt Lowens - German Soldier; Rachel Griffin - Janice; Kelly Gately - Young Hero German; Andre Lamal - German; John C. McGinley - Major Griffin; Bill Osborn - American Sentry; Timothy S. Shoemaker - Eddie
Credit
Barbara Tfank - Costume Designer, Keith Gordon - Director, Don Brochu - Editor, Mark Isham - Composer (Music Score), David Lubin - Production Designer, David Nichols - Production Designer, Tom Richmond - Cinematographer, Marc Abraham - Producer, Armyan Bernstein - Producer, Bill Borden - Producer, Dale Pollock - Producer, Tom Rosenberg - Producer, Janis Lubin - Set Designer, Keith Gordon - Screenwriter, William Wharton - Book Author
This is the reissue of a Gordon Giltrap album released in a very limited pressing in 1987. The guitarist delicately arranged a handful of Christmas carols for his own pleasure, "a small ambition fulfilled," as he writes in the liner notes. His acoustic guitar is the main component here, with Bimbo Acock providing flute and some saxophone, and Ric Sanders of Fairport Convention playing violin on a few tracks. Giltrap programmed some very simple keyboard accompaniment for the songs. At times they feel unnecessary and tend to give the album a new age feel. Giltrap's playing is spirited and sensitive, as always. His artistic level gives a refreshing look to these old tunes too often dragged around by incompetent music-makers. The lack of pretension and simplicity found on A Midnight Clear will appeal to anyone who would like to get back to the spiritual meaning of Christmas. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide
Gordon Giltrap (Guitar (Acoustic)), Gordon Giltrap (Guitar), Gordon Giltrap (Arranger), Gordon Giltrap (Producer), Gordon Giltrap (Main Performer), Gordon Giltrap (Liner Notes), Gordon Giltrap (Guitar Synth), Bimbo Acock (Flute), Bimbo Acock (Keyboards), Bimbo Acock (Sax (Soprano)), Bimbo Acock (Penny Whistle), Ric Sanders (Violin), Robin Ayling (Coordination), Colin Blaynee (Programming), Colin Blaynee (Engineer), Sue Martin (Artwork)
Set in 1944France, an American Intelligence squad locates a German Platoon in the Ardennes, 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.
