Film: Saints and Soldiers

Director: Ryan Little
Genre: Drama/War
Source: USA (2003)
Rating: PG-13
Location/Format: Netflix Instant Streaming
Grade: B

In the very niche market of Mormon filmmaking, Saints and Soldiers stands above the rest for being more interested in character than religion, more focused on dramatic art than conversion stories. That's a good thing. Often LDS filmmakers are interested in making films about their own spiritual passions and feelings--as many filmmakers seem to be--but they don't have the technical skill or light touch required to make such stories seem authentic, and so they come off as heavy handed, preachy, and generally unrelatable, if not downright unwatchable.

Saints and Solders avoids these pitfalls by minimizing the specifics of the Mormon religious experience and trying to focus more on the common spiritual crisis that war can create. There are plenty of elements here that indicate the religion of the main character for those paying attention--talk of a mission, the little book he always carries with him, etc. But Little knows enough not to shove those elements to the forefront, opting instead to focus on the trials--spiritual and physical--that a number of different characters experience. The main character's dilemma is not a crisis of faith, for example, but a crisis of conscience, as he finds himself trapped by guilt for some of his wartime actions. There is a spiritual element to it more than a particularly religious element, and that distinction can be enough to go beyond the immediate framework that so many Mormon films get stuck in.  It works, and it allows the film (I would imagine) the opportunity to approach a wider audience. 

What Little does once he's got that wider audience is solid but far from perfect. With a reported budget of about three quarters of a million, Little gets surprising mileage, and the film's look is generally authentic, if at times a little too clean. Many of the characters are war archetypes--the haunted soldier, the friendly galoot, the strong captain, etc., and Little doesn't always give them opportunities to go beyond those narrow confines. But overall there is still a nice effort at focusing on the dynamics of characters who need but don't necessarily like each other.

Generally there's enough to like here--and enough I see Little trying to do--that I can't help but enjoy the film. There's a sincerity to it that doesn't feel artificial, even when it borders on the overly sentimental. That's nice to see from a religious filmmaker.

Alternate Film Title: "Every German Farmhouse Looks the Same"