Soldiers of Paint

Somewhere in Oklahoma is a 700-acre spread with a big, dirty pond and a slight rise on an otherwise flat landscape. The property belongs to Dewayne Convirs, whose grandfather told him stories about participating in the Normandy invasion on D-Day, a pivotal if also bloody campaign that shifted the direction of World War II in favor of the Allied powers. Each year, Convirs hosts a major re-enactment of D-Day on his land, with up to 5,000 men and women from around the world participating in the event, which features paintball guns, mock tanks, exterior sets, and much more. Soldiers of Paint is a blow-by-blow documentary about six months of preparation undertaken by regular folks—architects, plumbers, instructors—for this messy and sometimes brutal game, followed by lengthy footage of the battle itself. A viewer might find his or her jaw dropping at all the planning and exertion that goes into this mock-up, which requires endless meetings, strategy sessions, construction (at one point, Convirs acquires a used bridge that stands in for a historically important crossing), and spying. Indeed, some of the players must be German soldiers, which involves a twist: while the game is based on history, the outcome doesn't require fidelity to historical facts. Different sides can be victorious, resulting in real tensions in command centers and out on the paint-splattered battlefield. The best part of this film is the long prelude to the actual fighting, during which we meet a lot of characters who are dead serious about an exercise that doesn't look terribly fun. Unfortunately, the fight sequences aren't all that interesting to watch, although they do offer a window through which to observe some kind of human war instinct that is savagely released on Convirs' land—thankfully with no fatalities. DVD extras include audio commentary and several featurettes. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)