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.
Éjfélre kitisztul, Noites Calmas, Полуночная чистка, Ясная полночь, Hlídka v Ardenách, Spezialeinheit IQ, Tahdon voitto, En la línea de ataque, 战火赤子心, Půlnoční přepadení, Vicino alla fine, בהיר בחצות, Північний відбій, A Patrulha sem Nome, W księżycową jasną noc, 휴전, Section 44
USA
Brazil
Germany16
Czechia
Netherlands16
Brazil
Czechia
Germany
Netherlands
USA
Release date: April 24, 1992
In WW2, as a joke or an experiment, the formation of a squad of high-IQ soldiers is tasked with the remedial job of an observation post.
When in war, remember that it is the officers who are the enemy.
The musical score best describes the constant tension of being in this battle—the song ‘It Came Upon a Midnight Clear’ over and over and over again.
Brooding and sentimental war film, adapted from the novel by William Wharton. A mildly interesting movie with a simple message.
Ethan Hawk, Gary Sinise, Frank Whaley, Kevin Dillon, and many more constitute the cast in this film.
A pretty underrated war movie with a great group of characters played by an all star cast
The platonic ideal of a war film in a way, a contemplation of soul, brotherhood, and the fundamental humanity that war hatefully eschews. Unlike most in this genre, it's not about the action or the violence, or completing a quest, or reaching any end point, or even the suspense of who among the ensemble cast makes it out alive. The ending is neither a relief nor a tragedy. Scared soldiers following orders, hoping to survive; one brief, beautiful, dangerous moment where they dare to transcend their rigidly defined roles on the battlefield.
There's an atypical structure to the plot that keeps it from being predictable, some camera moves that make it feel more immersive, and a cast of then-young men…
Part of Graham J's There's Something About Midnight...A CHALLENGE
I picked A Midnight Clear randomly off of the Midnight Challenge list and I have to say I am pleasantly surprised. The film follows a intelligence squad who scout the frontlines during the waning days of WW2. These soldiers are not the gung ho type; they are smart, slightly gun shy, and see the pointlessness of sacrificing lives for a little patch of dirt. Things get interesting when they meet a group A Midnight Clear features many of the same tropes normally found in war films, but it's interesting story and contemplative tone give the film a voice of its own.
Ethan Hawke, a talented actor who is prone to phoning…
A Midnight Clear is based on the third novel of the same name by the American novelist William Wharton. Based on Wharton's own experiences, it was published in 1982 following Birdy (1978) and Dad (1981), also made into films. It's Christmas Eve 1944. Six young US soldiers are sent close to the German lines to establish an observation post in an abandoned chateau in the Ardennes Forest. There they come into contact with a few German soldiers, who claim that they do not want to be killed, now that the war is practically over for them.
A Midnight Clear is a highly symbolically charged war film that was made with an extremely low budget. The young actors generally do a…
a bad use of clever boys//
//a waste of emotional complexity
these men are boys, so much so that in their squad their self appointed leaders are "mother" and "father". Genuine virgins, fresh out of math books. unfucked in a war of men.
but its a weird war they fight, not all hellfire and grenade dives but one of complete isolation. Like they're trapped in a snowglobe, the real war miles away on another shelf. A war with an enemy as esoteric and experimental as themselves. Boys playing soldiers up the forest but with a long needle of emotional openness, constantly recontextualizing the idea of "enemy" and "war".
//everything is wrong when your talents have been migrated to a need…
Six young men sent on an intelligence mission at the tail-end of the Second World War learn one thing and one thing only: that war is even more absurd than they knew. The wisdom in Keith Gordon's approach lies in how this disentangles the classic narrative of war as righteous struggle from the values with which its typically associated. We see acts of heroism, sacrifice, and brotherhood, but they often transcend the conflict altogether, expanding to include some soldiers from the enemy side while, at the same time, excluding career officers who make pawns of those under their command. In the end, A Midnight Clear is less a condemnation of war than a glimpse into the fraught yet profoundly meaningful…
A holiday war drama that’s no Saving Private Ryan but it’s an amazing film that’s brilliantly acted and stars a young Ethan Hawke. Definitely worth a watch.
p.s Lieutenant Dan’s still got his legs in this
A different kind of war film. It is not about total carnage and death and attempts to show compassion between the differing sides. Although that is not the message throughout the entirety of the film, there are great moments such as the snowman and snowball fight. Hawke and the rest of the cast are great as young, scared soldiers. A fantastic film that is overlooked when it comes to war films.
A one of a kind war drama. Much more than men in uniforms firing rifles and the setting is much more than just a snow covered, scary forest. Keith Gordon makes a film about the young men who fought in WWII that had to make unordinary decisions, even amidst war. A deeply humanistic film with tension everywhere. At times it becomes feverish in its surrealism, but not long enough before something else happens that pulls us back into "the war movie." Much like our soldiers here, who are just reacting to bad situations after bad situations and don't have time to think about whats happening - until they do. A masterful, underseen film and I'm so happy Shout Factory is putting it on Blu.
Actor, writer turned director Keith Gordon hit a high trifecta for this viewer that was both unexpected and unforeseen with his second directorial effort “A Midnight Clear”.
Having co-written and starred in “Static”, an independent slice of Americana that quickly became one of my top five all time favorite cinema experiences, my assessment of his talent now heightened in anticipation of his follow up project and first time directing effort “The Chocolate War”. He did not disappoint. A certain style to his story telling becoming readily evident leaving me amazed that he could possibly follow “Static” with anything equally as good or original but there it was. Two cinematic home runs knocked out of the ball park. Both…
Considering I know a lot of the people in this from comedy I was amazed how natural they all seemed. Gary Sinise can’t really pass for someone on their 20s (I’m pretty sure he’s perpetually 40), but that’s really the worst thing I can say. A lot of this movie is spent waiting for the other shoe to drop, and it pretty much always works when. It does. Not short on violence, but at the same point it’s not a bang bang rah rah war movie. If I ever list my top 10 movies from the genre, I imagine this will be there.
