Name: Retro Film Review: When Trumpets Fade (1998)
Item: When Trumpets Fade
Rating: 79
Author: @drax

(source:tmdb.org)

War doesn't bring only death, destruction and suffering. Due to military leaders' stupidity or some banal events beyond anyone's control, all that death, destruction and suffering can prove to be utterly pointless. Many great battles thus stay away from history books or popular memory. Second World War wasn't exception. One of those forgotten battles serves as background for When Trumpets Fade, 1998 cable television film directed by John Irvin.

The plot is set in Autumn of 1944. Few months ago Western Allied forces have landed in Normandy, broke out of the beachhead, mauled German armies and liberated almost all of France. Rapidity of Allied advance and huge columns of German prisoners led many to believe that the war could be over by Christmas. In autumn all those illusions were shattered in the place called Huertgen Forest, situated on the Belgian-German border. Nature of terrain prevented the use of heavy equipment or aerial supremacy and the only way for Americans to push their way into Germany was the old-fashioned slugging match between infantries. Among thousands of green American soldiers thrown into the meat grinder is Private Manning (played by Ron Eldard). He ends up as the only survivor from his unit and for Captain Pritchett (played by Martin Donovan), his superior, thinks this is reason enough for promotion. Manning becomes sergeant and has to lead group of totally inexperienced soldiers who don't have a clue what horrors await them on the battlefield. Manning is quite reluctant to take that assignment and more than aware that many, if not all, of his soldiers probably wouldn't survive their first major engagement.

When Trumpets Fade was shot for cable television and its relatively low budget means that it couldn't be as spectacular as Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan or Mallick's The Thin Red Line. But the lack of spectacle actually worked in this film's favour. The battle, one of rare WW2 engagements where air force, armour and other heavy weapons played little or no part, was mostly infantry affair and, as such, relatively easy to reconstruct. John Irvin, who gave similar treatment to Vietnam War in Hamburger Hill, concentrated less on pyrotechnics and more on drama. And the drama, unlike in Spielberg's or Mallick's film, is unburdened with cheap sentimentalism, patriotic sermons or snobbish philosophy. Scriptwriter William W. Wought doesn't want to deal the characters' pre-war past or the moral and political ustification for the war. The only important thing is whether the characters would come out of this experience alive. And chances for that are very small because in this film, just like in real life, banality of war shows itself in utter randomness and unpredictability of death. Irvin doesn't shy away from showing blood and gore, but even greater discomfort for the viewers come when reality of war starts to take its psychological toll and seemingly dependable characters turn into complete wrecks. The film's bleakness is underlined in the ending, unconventional compared with 1990s Hollywood standards. The bleakest moment comes in the ending credits, when all the events of the film are put into broader historical context.

This kind of film required good acting. One reason for that was the state of characters - most of them are unshaven and covered with dirt, so the audience would have some trouble setting them apart. But the actors did their work wonderfully, especially Ron Eldard in the role of the film's anti-hero, man torn between desperation, cowardice and common sense. Martin Donovan is also very good in the role of his opportunistic superior. Cinematography by Thomas Burstyn and Nyika Jansco also helps in creating bleak atmosphere, although film's music leaves something to be desired.

Perhaps the bleakness of When Trumpets Fade could deprive this film of its purpose. Saving Private Ryan tried and for the most part succeeded in reconciling naturalism of "anti-war" films with patriotic propaganda. This film only shows brutal reality of war, without any attempt to send an important message. Perhaps the only message is that battles can be lost not only in the context of military success or failure, but also in context of their own importance. However, the battle depicted in this film at least served one purpose by providing inspiration for this powerful film.

RATING: 8/10 (+++)

(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on June 1st 2004)