A Soldier's Tale
1989
Drama / Romance / War

A Soldier's Tale
1989
Drama / Romance / War
Plot summary
In the days following the D-Day invasion in Normandy, France, a British platoon leader named Saul (Gabriel Byrne) and his corporal (Paul Wyett) reach an isolated farmhouse and encounter a beautiful French girl named Belle (Marianne Basler). Love blooms between Saul and Belle, but the grim realities of war catch up with them when a French Resistance trio claims that Belle is a Nazi collaborator. Judge Reinhold appears briefly as the token Yank.
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
480p.DVDMovie Reviews
Gabriel Byrne in a bad movie....NOT!
War is disturbing enough. Did this need to go there?
The ending of this film makes absolutely no sense unless you accept the fact that the main character played by Gabriel Byrne suddenly goes off the rails with several of his actions, one reprehensible enough and the other unforgivable. He's a British soldier who with a few of his troop encounters a beautiful French girl (Marianne Basler) who is due to go on trial for treason and Byrne is assigned to watch her. They begin an affair as she explains her side of the story.
This is slow moving, but not really dull, understanding that it is more character driven than action packed. The one amusement that comes out of it are the two scenes of Judge Reinhold as an American soldier who encounters Byrne, first being aggressive as he makes a pass at Basler, then shows up again to apologize with gifts including a Frank Sinatra record. The film just ends abruptly and it is somewhat infuriating to realize you spent an hour and a half just for it to turn out this way.