The Last Front (#587)

The last movie I saw was unusual.  It was about World War I, it took place in Belgium and the invading army wore uniforms unlike any I had seen in other places. And the insurgent troops were referred to as Germans only once which I thought was peculiar.  The events occur in a tiny farming community and open with a romance between two young people whose fathers, one a farmer the other the village doctor, oppose the relationship.  The community is invaded by enemy soldiers led by an elderly man with white hair.  His son, a lieutenant, is under his command but behaves in an uncontrollable fashion, randomly shooting and killing bystanders, including the young man involved in the romantic relationship and his younger sister.  The farmer/father who previously had refused to be involved in any kind of resistance now assumes a leadership role and leads a small group toward the French border, pursued by the lieutenant, intent on killing the farmer.  THE LAST FRONT has the look and feel of a foreign film, but dialogue is all in English, with no subtitles. It does not drag and is well acted and held my attention throughout.  My only complaint was the reluctance of the commanding officer to discipline his son's errant behavior of which he disapproved strongly.  He finally said the son was going to be court martialed but was allowed to continue his brutal actions.  70% of critics liked this film along with 50% of audiences.