A Midnight Clear
| A Midnight Clear | |
|---|---|
VHS cover
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| Directed by | Keith Gordon |
| Produced by | Bill Borden Dale Pollock Armyan Bernstein Tom Rosenberg Marc Abraham |
| Screenplay by | Keith Gordon |
| Based on |
A Midnight Clear by William Wharton |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Mark Isham |
| Cinematography | Tom Richmond |
| Edited by | Don Brochu |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
Columbia Tristar Home Video (VHS) MGM Home Entertainment (DVD) |
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Release date
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April 24, 1992 |
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Running time
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108 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $5 million |
| Box office | $1,526,697 |
A Midnight Clear is a 1992 American war drama film written and directed by Keith Gordon and starring an ensemble cast that features Ethan Hawke, Gary Sinise, Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon and Arye Gross. It is based on the homonymous novel by William Wharton. Set towards the end of World War II, the film tells the story of an American intelligence unit which finds a German platoon that wishes to surrender.
In the early phase of the Battle of the Bulge in December 1944, a small US Army intelligence and reconnaissance squad (selected for their high IQs), are sent to occupy a deserted chateau near the German lines to gather information on the enemy’s movements. Losses from an earlier patrol has reduced the squad to just six men- Sgt Knott, Miller, Avakian, Shutzer, Wilkins and Mundy. On their way to the chateau, they discover the frozen corpses of a German and an American in a standing embrace, seemingly arranged by the Germans as a grim joke.
Settling into their temporary home, they soon discover they are not alone. A group of German soldiers has occupied a position nearby. Knott, Mundy and Shutzer, while out on a patrol, suddenly see a trio of German soldiers aiming their weapons at them but the enemy then vanish without shooting. The Germans, clearly more skilled and experienced than the young GIs, soon leave calling cards, start a snowball fight one evening and offer a Christmas truce. At first, the Americans think the Germans are taunting them but it eventually becomes clear that the enemy want to parlay. Shutzer speaks enough German to communicate with the enemy who turn out to be a small group of youngsters still in their teens, commanded by an aging NCO. Having survived the Russian front, the Germans say they wish to surrender. But they ask that the Americans pretend that they were captured in combat so as to protect their families back home from possible retribution for their desertion. The Americans agree, but keep the plan from Wilkins, who has been mentally unstable since learning of the death of his child back home.
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Wikipedia