Un château en enfer

Jean-Pierre Aumont offers us the ultimate in hope over expectation in this wartime drama. He is the "Count" who offers shelter to "Maj. Falconer" (Burt Lancaster) and his battle-weary squad of soldiers in his beautiful 10th century castle. They set up some defensive positions knowing that these ancient battlements will be no match for the Nazi war machine that they are soon to be facing. Perhaps naively, the "Count" and the "Falconer" hope that they will decide against desecrating and/or decimating his ancestral home. Well, the writing is on the wall (or, more accurately, bits of it) but meantime the Major has an affair with the "Countess" and the assembled soldiers get up to all sorts of mischief before being called up to deal with their foe. Peter Falk stands out as the sergeant "Rossi" - who likes his bread, and Bruce Dern pops up too as "Lt. Bix" who seems to have found God - a bit late in the day, maybe? The whole thing is vaguely surreal as some of the platoon care about the artworks (like Paul Schofield in "The Train" - another Lancaster film from 1964) whilst others are very much living for the moment, but as the inevitability of it all sinks in it becomes rather a sad siege story that resembled the three little piggies and the wolf - in the straw version of their house. This is a curious film that I think would have worked better in black and white, somehow colour sanitises it just a bit too much - but it is worth watching.

Burt Lancaster leads the able cast assembled here for a WWII tale of an eyepatch wearing Major and his team of quirky characters, who take over the isolated Belgian castle of a Count played by Jean-Pierre Aumont. They are determined to defend it from the Germans, even as the war is starting to move towards a conclusion. The Captain on the team, a man named Beckman (Patrick O'Neal), knows that he would rather the Nazis not get their hands on the vast treasures taking up space inside this castle.

"Castle Keep" is based on a novel by William Eastlake, and is directed by Sydney Pollack, the latter making one of his more intriguing films. It does come off as a bit pretentious and self-consciously "arty" at times, but at the same time does make some interesting parallels between art and war. Beckman, in fact, tries to drive this idea home to a rather disinterested bunch of soldiers, as he gives them a lecture on art history.

This picture does become more conventional as it goes along, delivering some genuinely intense battle scenes that are pretty exciting. Overall, it's still more of a war drama "for the thinking person", albeit with some memorable absurdist humour. (Scott Wilson plays a Private named Clearboy who becomes enamoured of a Volkswagen, and saves it from receiving a death sentence.)

Lancaster is efficient as always, in a rather unsympathetic role, but concedes the major acting showcases to under-rated actors such as O'Neal and Al Freeman Jr. (as the Private with literary aspirations), and the typically amusing Peter Falk as a Sergeant who temporarily puts fighting on hold to pursue his more valued vocation of baker. The excellent ensemble also includes the gorgeous Astrid Heeren as the Countess, Tony Bill as the serious-minded Lieutenant, James Patterson as the "Indian" soldier Elk, Bruce Dern as a conscientious objector who's found religion, and Michael Conrad as Sergeant DeVaca.

This viewer would agree that "Castle Keep" is not for all tastes. However, it does provide a striking and surreal alternative to the traditional war film.

Seven out of 10.

Saw the movie yesterday. I liked the fact that there was noshow and glamour about the soldiers, they are dirty and tired, they actually look like a war is going on. The whole castle theme adds an interesting poetic dimension to the story. The characters are brilliantly developped, as there seems to be a personal quest to each and everyone of the squad, the yougster wants to go to the red queen, the local whorehouse etc... The count or baron and his wife are by far the trippiest characters, i didn t understand their story but they are some kind of magical couple in theire fairy tale castle. The wife Therese is mesmerizing as she is of outstanding beauty (Astrid Heelen). The combat sequences do not look fake, the tanks, and bazookas are cool. As I said it actually looks and sounds like war, with blood and explosions... It is a great movie for those of you who, like me, enjoy those artsy, semi fantastic retro movies with a beautifull female character.

I remember watching Castle Keep many times as a youngster. The film was a staple on local TV and showed up several times a year. I loved it then and recently saw it again, for the first time in 20 years, on TCM. The film has lost none of its lustre and in its widescreen format is even better than before. Cinematographer Henri Decae (The 400 Blows) creates a surreal fairytale atmosphere without sacrificing wartime realism in this tale of stranded GIs in the Ardennes at the end of World War II. The squad, led by an eye-patched Burt Lancaster, try to halt the German advance by hunkering down in a medieval castle that has been miraculously unaffected by the tribulations of the war. The film has echoes of Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast and it's stylistic contemporary, King of Hearts, but stands on it's own as a superb philosophical exploration of warfare and violence. If you enjoyed A Midnight Clear, you will enjoy Castle Keep.

Unusual (more realistic - and surrealistic - than in other films) point of view on horrors of war, good directing and a strong cast. I liked this film very much when I saw it about 25 years ago in the Cinématheque (long live Yugoslav and now Slovenian Kinoteka). Unfortunately, the copy wasn't as good as the film itself. There were some missing parts so I'd like to check out this one again.

What good movies Sydney Pollack made in his early days! I highly recommend his Slender Thread, The Scalphunters, They Shoot Horses..., Jeremiah Johnson and this one. Very unusual films for Hollywood standards, very brave, and as it seems timeless.

In an interview Mr. Pollack once said that he thinks Castle Keep was way ahead of its time. The audience wasn't ready to cope with such a look at war. I wonder if it is ready now? Castle Keep recommended to all non-formula film lovers around the world.

9/10