More Winners: Boy Soldiers; More Winners: His Master's Ghost

Produced for Australian television these two dramas aimed at young adults are worlds apart in quality and interest. Boy Soldiers is a powerful period piece inspired by Australia's 1910 law requiring boys aged 14-17 to register for compulsory military training. When 14-year-old Will Barnes, a conscientious objector, refuses to sign up, he is tried in court and sentenced to three months training at a military fort. Coming up against a sadistic sergeant, the young boy stands his ground, and wins the admiration of a fellow "boy soldier" Ned Crockett. Like another excellent Australian film about war, Peter Weir's Gallipoli, Boy Soldiers never stoops to simple dogma (war is bad, non-violence is good, and so on). Will is not a martyr, he's a flesh-and-blood boy who believes that killing is wrong but won't necessarily hop up on the cross and smile grimly as the flames lick his feet. In fact, it's Will's weakness as much as his strength that appeals to us: as he struggles to reconcile his beliefs with his own sense of self-survival, we identify with this boy. Call it conscience, call it soul; whichever, it is the oldest battleground in man's history. Boy Soldiers does what a good young adult film should--it doesn't preach, it encourages thought. That the costumes, set decorations, acting, and film style are all top-notch is quite a bonus.His Master's Ghost, on the other hand, is a dull and plodding horror tale about a group of music students at a summer retreat. The story centers around Flea, a young percussionist who is more interested in scaring his chums than drumming. When the kids are faced with playing a particularly discordant student composition they are aided by the spooky caretaker who may or may not be the human wrapper for the soul of Beethoven. Silly, slow, and not nearly spooky enough for today's jaded young adults.Boy Soldiers is highly recommended. His Master's Ghost is not recommended. (R. Pitman)