A Time Out of War

"A Time Out of War" is based on the short story "The Pickets" and takes place during the Civil War. The emphasis of the story is on the personalities of the two Union pickets who are across a stream from two Confederate pickets. Realizing the futility of their situation, the soldiers decide to call a cease-fire for a few hours--a time out of war.

The film is tightly written and edited--every scene is necessary. I highly recommend this film.

Towards the end of the American Civil War (1861-1865), two Union soldiers and one Confederate trade shots at each other in order to maintain their positions on a riverbank. All bullets miss. As the hot sun is relentless, the three negotiate a one-hour truce. During this time, they develop a mutual respect for one another as they trade hardtack and tobacco. While fishing, a Union soldier discovers a dead comrade in the river. The following shots make a fitting ending. In 2007 the film was added to the National Film Registry.

There's something of the Christmas in no-man's-land about this short feature. One confederate and two Union soldiers are charged with guarding a not especially important river crossing during the American civil war. It's dull work and they becomes bored and even a bit hysterical before concluding that an hour of truce could do no harm. Initially suspicious, each emerge from their hideouts and do some fishing, trade a smoke or two for some bread and slowly realise that once they are on first name terms, there's not so much difference between them after all. Their unanimity is tested, though, when one catches something a bit more poignant than a trout and it's all back to square one as the sun sets. It's quite a gently engaging and thoughtful drama with some sparing dialogue and some riverside photography that pretty much mirrors not just the lack of activity the men face doing their duty, but also the inevitability that it symbolises day in, day out with little change. Rarely seen nowadays, but worth watch if you come across it.

While watching "A Time Out of War", I was reminded of the story about the Christmas Truce during World War I, where soldiers on opposite sides briefly stopped fighting, even seeing each other as human. Obviously Denis Sanders's Academy Award-winning short is set during the US Civil War, with a Union and a Confederate troop taking an hour off fighting.

The short probably would've been more effective had it addressed slavery, not that I would expect a movie from 1954 to do so. Even so, it was an interesting short. Over the past few years I've been trying to watch a lot of the Oscar-winning short films. This one's worth seeing.

Denis Sanders later directed the sci-fi flick "Invasion of the Bee Girls".