For a Lost Soldier
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Movie Reviews of For a Lost Soldier
Movie Review: Clearly, deserving of a Full FIVE STAR rating!
Summary: 5 Stars
For A Lost Soldier is my Gold Standard for Coming-of-Age films. The enduring theme here is one of love, and there is a lot of it.Wartime Amsterdam is no place for children and Jeroen's mother cries as she puts her beautiful 12 year-old son on the lorry taking children to the farmlands of northern Holland, where there is food and safety.
On arrival, a farmer comes to the church and take Jeroen to his new home and family. Quickly, there is a wonderful loving relationship between Jeroen and his stepfather. There are times Jeroen needs guidance and his stepfather is always there for him. Later in the film, the day Jeroen's mother comes to pick him up, the farmer cannot keep from sobbing as he tells Jeroen's mother of the love he has for the boy and how Jeroen had been cared for as if he had been his own son.
Jeroen is coming of age during this time in the country. As his friends become interested in girls, Jeroen finds himself drawn to males. And, sadly, Jeroen is without anyone to explain his sexual feelings.
Soon, the Germans flee and the Canadian forces liberate all of Holland.
A... Canadian soldier, Walt, spots Jeroen as "special" and befrends the boy. Jeroen blooms like a flower in the sun!
The two develope a comfortable friendship... . A few things start falling into place for Jeroen as he gets the whole package---friendship, companionship, acceptance, a little time at the wheel of Walt's jeep, resting in Walt's strong arms waiting for clothes to dry, the electricity of a man's touch, sensual kissing as an expression of love, and ultimately Jeroen's first sexual expierience. Jeroen is the happiest boy in the world, and rightly so.
None of this escapes the watchful eye of Jeroen's stepfather.The Canadian soldier, although10 years older than Jeroen, is recognized as a positive influence. Jeroen's coming of age is happening and his stepfather is wise enough to let the boy learn.
Then Walt's army unit is ordered to pull out. Late at night, Walt goes to Jeroen's stepfather with the news and asks that Jeroen be told the next day. The men shake hands good-bye and the farmer yells out, "God Bless" as Walt walks away.
We see Jeroen as an adult, still as madly in love with Walt as decades before and still missing him.
Special Hints: The real hero of this film is the stepfather.
Avoid the Tiwanese DVD.
Movie Review: A Beautiful Tale of First Love and Heartbreak
Summary: 5 Stars
For A Lost Soldier is a tale of first love in WWII and post-WWII Holland. Jeroen (Maarten Smit) is a 12-year-old Dutch boy who is moved from his native hometown of Amsterdam to the countryside away from his mother. Smit's acting is really wonderful; he conveys such natural and sad expressions that a boy his age would show if separated from his family. After Holland is liberated from the Nazis, soldiers begin flocking into the countryside to receive a huge amount of praise from the locals. This is where Walt (Andrew Kelley), a 19-year-old Canadian soldier, comes into the picture. He immediately catches Jeroen's eye and vice versa. What unexpectedly results is a friendship and ultimately a romance that transcends age.
Jeroen and Walt's relationship is a rather interesting yet beautiful one. It begins with mostly body language and intuition since Walt cannot speak or understand Dutch and Jeroen cannot understand or speak much English. As time passes however, Jeroen starts to become more proficient in English and thus their relationship begins to blossom. While the idea of such a young boy having a sexual relationship with an older young man seems repulsive to most (especially Americans in my experience), I think that the director handled this aspect appropriately and wonderfully. The closeness of the young and older boy is that of anyone who has seriously been in love: passionate and full of amicability. While Jeroen and Walt's sexual encounters may be questionable with Jeroen's age in mind, both boys' obvious feelings for one another is undeniable. I found Walt calling him his "prince" particularly endearing and expressive of his feelings for the young Dutchman.
In the end, For A Lost Soldier is a story of love between two human beings. Joy and sadness make up the content of the film, and it moved me beyond words. Yes, it is controversial due to the fact that Jeroen is only 12 years old. However, this story is based on the real life events of Dutch writer and ballet dancer Rudi van Dantzig and deserves to be told. The film is a touching representation of how he felt all those years ago. If you can keep an open mind and heart, I can almost definitely guarantee that For A Lost Soldier will move you beyond words and thought as it has for me.
Movie Review: Shattered Realities
Summary: 5 Stars
'For A Lost Soldier' is a film which I have watched several times! It deals with a volatile topic, the story of a very young boy who fills a gap in his life in the arms of a young Canadian soldier in World War II. Since the story is based on the autobiographical book by Rudi Van Dantzig, it is not whimsy or fiction, but rather a glimpse into one man's pleasant childhood memories. Rudi Van Dantzig defends the book and the film in the context that he was NOT abused by the soldier! The director took some liberties with the film, both in the introduction and again at the end, but otherwise stayed fairly true to the story. The movie challenges one's ideas regarding consensual sexual relationships which involve an adult and a minor in a specific situation. If anyone was seduced in the film, it was the soldier, according to Van Dantzig. The boy is in control and very aware of what it is that he wants from the soldier at all times. The event happened during the liberation of Holland and the liberation theme is tied closely to Van Dantzig's description of his personal liberation.
The film also gives a vastly different view of life in Holland under German occupation. While the movie and book, 'The Hiding Place' portrays the horrors of Nazi power in a large city, this film shows what life was like in a remote village. The boy's ration card, so carefully guarded in the city, is not even recognized by his 'adoptive' family. They appear to eat well and their village is only guarded by two German soldiers. The soldiers are so bored, they attend the local church service on Sundays, even though the minister is raining down hellfire and brimstone on the German forces in his sermons. One movie with two new concepts to explore, makes the film a basic to any good collection.
Movie Review: One of my very favorites!
Summary: 5 Stars
War-torn Netherlands during WWII is the setting for this story of a canadian soldier named Walt, on a mission to liberate Holland and in search of unconditional love that is missing from his life. He finds Jeroen, a young boy coming into puberty and discovering desires he never knew of before. Jeroen is sent to the country to live with strangers due to lack of food in Amsterdam. He is lonely, confused about life and homesick. The two find each other and quickly build a relationship that provides both what they are craving in their quest for happiness. THe result is a very heart warming adventure and tastefully done.
The acting in this film by these main characters is INCREDIBLE! SO realistic and fun. They obviously both enjoyed making this film very much. Sad that neither one in real life went on to make acting a career. I'd love to see more from both. This movie is not only entertaining, the quality is very good. Photography, casting, plot, everything, adds up to make "For a lost Soldier" a film that is definately worth seeing. I'll keep my copy of this DVD. Every time I watch it, I pick up something else I missed the previous times. I can't say enough good about this one. I highly recommend it, if you are not offended by the story line. I will admit though, I could have written a better ending, but isn't that the case in MOST movies?
Movie Review: Enjoyable and most unusual movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I once invited a married lady-friend to pick a movie from my collection to take home and watch. Out of twenty titles, she picked this one, probably because there are no movies like it. The scarcity alone bumps the rating up by a star. Incidentally, she said she liked it.
"For a Lost Soldier" is the simple story of a brief Spring/Summer fling, expressed from the boy's point of view. The originality--dare I say uniqueness?--of the plot overwhelm this reviewer, and it may be difficult to judge the film critically, in the appalling absence of any peers.
While watching this film, I became increasingly aware of a certain intelligence operative behind the scenes, an understanding of human nature, which makes the film more enjoyable than it would have been had the obvious mistakes been made. There were innumerable ways the film could have disappointed or gone entirely wrong, but it rang true throughout, and the result is a worthy candidate for your video library.
The chief negative is the strange last five minutes with the ballet rehearsal which is supposed to be an "interpretation" of the experience. Bah. I had the impression the writer might have wrapped things up with more aplomb than he did. But this is minor and can be overlooked. Even Stephen King botched an ending in one of his books ("Thinner," I think).