Men Go to Battle

The story is about 2 brothers in Kentucky, Francis and Henry, hard pressed economically, in the winter at the start of the American Civil War, 1861. They live on a farm overrun by weeds. The brothers horse around at a camp fire one night with knives and Henry gets a bad cut. They seek medical help at the estate of the Smalls, a well to-do shopkeeper family in the area. While waiting for Henry to be treated, Francis socializes with the Smalls and their guests at a party being held there. Henry returns, see his brother socializing, feels left out and disappears into the darkness. Francis, now alone, take steps to work the land. Meanwhile, Henry joins the union army and enjoys a life of getting 3 square meals a day in exchange for his service. The two brothers correspond by letter, each forging their own destiny. The climax comes when Henry's unit is overrun and wiped out in a battle. Being the lone survivor, he reject military life, deserts, and makes his way back to the Kentucky farm. Upon arriving at the farm, Henry discovers Francis is now a successful tobacco farmer and married to a Small. The Smalls, on the other hand have lost their business and are out in the cold. This movie is a parable about how one pursues his vision of possibility for the future and another forgoes that and settles for a life of basic survival. This is a universal lesson in life. Each moment, the universe hold an infinite number of possibilities. We choose only one in this life. What we choose can lead to a life from rags to riches or a life of rags to one of being a wandering army deserter.

Obviously, there are viewers who love this movie and others who hate it. I love it. It's atmospheric, with clear ties to a particular place (rural Kentucky) and time (early in the Civil War). The relationship between the brothers is full contradictions and conflict as well as brotherly love and disappointment--if you like movies about relationships, it's fascinating. I was left wondering what happens to Henry, the more complex and conflicted brother, who disappears at dawn at the end of the movie.

I don't recommend this for people looking for a "war flick", but there are some viewers, myself included, who think this movie is a gem (and have no "financial interest" in it, as one reviewer seems to think). We just don't all like the same things, right?

A civil war story about 2 brothers. A visual window into the human heart, where feelings seek resolution.

It's necessary to get over the lack of a steady-cam: the first few minutes can feel a bit disorienting, jerky, and off-putting because the camera is hand-held. Stay with it!

Very quickly, I became mesmerized. I felt as if I were transported to the time and place. The raw, realistic clothing, housing, and surroundings of that era (so different from today and seldom presented realistically) drew me into the time and place. I felt as if I were being privileged to watch real people -- without makeup, in their everyday clothes, struggling through horrific circumstances. I mourned the end of the movie, I would have gladly stayed with these people for another hour.

Acting, costuming, sets at their absolute best.I was intrigued by the reviews, saying that the movie was made for $500,000 when the military re-enactment scenes alone should have cost 4x that amount.

Not only the best 'indie' I've ever seen -- by FAR -- but one of the best historical movies I've ever seen. For an hour and a half I really felt like I'd wandered around rural America during the Civil War.

As the previous reviewer commented, this is a movie about textures, not plot. The dialogue is spare, very spare; the accents feel authentic, so much so that there are moments when it's hard to make out what they're saying -- but it doesn't matter. Plot points, such as they are, don't come out in dialogue as much as through the flow of images. Nobody talks about relationships -- they don't talk much at all, which feels 'right' for the place and time -- rather, we sense the relationships through how people look at each other, how they react, wordlessly, to each other's behavior.

The casting is excellent, too. With one minor exception, all the people in the film feel like figures from that era. This is a very hard thing to achieve, you really have to work hard to find actors who don't have that contemporary energy -- but they pulled it off.

It's involving, it's seductive in how it reels you in, it's just all-around impressive as hell.

One bit of advice: if at all possible, do not wait for this to appear on DVD or streaming video. GO SEE IT in a theater, it will be a much better experience.

Honestly, I haven't been this impressed with something in ages.

If you want to know what average people looked like during the Civil War...and didn't want to bother following someone smart, or rich or witty, this movie is for you. You will give it 10 stars.

If you want to see action, you won't like this movie. If you want to see the usual beauties that Hollywood throws at us in every role, you won't like this movie. If you want to see plot, you will HATE this movie.

It felt like someone took Napoleon Dynamite and dropped him into the Civil War era, without any of the laughs.