A 2004 Oscar winner for Best Short Film, Two Soldiers beautifully adapts a William Faulkner short story about devoted brothers torn apart during World War II. After hearing the news that Pearl Harbor has been bombed by the Japanese, 19-year-old Pete Grier (Ben Allison) leaves his rural Tennessee home to join the Army. His adoring nine-year-old brother Willie (Jonathan Furr), who can't bear the idea of being separated from his older sibling, runs away from home, headed for the recruiting office in Memphis, where he expects to enlist with Pete. Faulkner's Saturday Evening Post story is brought to the screen with elegant simplicity by writer-director Aaron Schneider, who lovingly captures every salient detail of the yarn while also coaxing heartfelt performances from his principal players. Barely 40 minutes long, Two Soldiers packs more honest emotion into its brief running time than most of today's bloated but vapid feature films. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (E. Hulse)
Two Soldiers
(2003) 40 min. DVD: $19.98. Westlake Entertainment Group (avail. from most distributors). Volume 22, Issue 5
Two Soldiers
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