Two Soldiers

Two Soldiers is an excellent example of fine film-making. The director and producer took a heart-warming story and brought it to life with a very skilled and dedicated cast, excellent cinematography, and very creative artistry.

The relaxed back-woods lifestyle of the brothers was depicted with great details, and contrasted sharply with the militaristic lifestyle that they were thrust into. The interaction between the brothers brought laughter and tears, as they struggled with a hard but peaceful life in the back-woods of North Carolina and an even harder life of war.

The acting was great, particularly from the younger brother who is new to the big screen (played by Jonathan Furr), to the older brother (played by Ben Allison) and the powerful perfomrance by the Colonel (played by Ron Perlman). The performance was extremely well cast.

It was a pleasure to enjoy the magic of Two Soldiers, and I heartily recommend it to audiences of all ages.

William Faulkner was one of the American writers to win the Nobel Prize in literature. Faulkner mostly wrote about life in the South particularly during the depression years. Many of his stories have been adapted to screen. Short stories like Two Soldiers is an endearing tale of two brothers in December 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The older brother, Pete Greer, goes to Memphis, Tennessee to enlist like hundreds of thousands of young men, some who would never come home. His younger brother doesn't take his departure well. He manages to get a bus ticket to Memphis without any money to find his brother. He surprisingly becomes a soldier of another kind since he wants to enlist also at 10 years old. Ron Perlman does a surprising performance as the military leader who manages to take care and bond with the boy. This short film won an Oscar for Best Short-Live Action film which is well-deserved. If it was longer, it could compete with the longer films. Everything else like costumes, art direction, and recreating the era of America in 1941 is perfect. The film also shows the heartbreaking war at home as most Americans were surviving the great depression. The actors and actresses are not known but they do a first rate performances. If Hollywood would make more quality films, I would probably go to the cinema more. If Broadway had more quality shows, I would go to the theater more.

This is not the sort of movie you can describe as enjoyable. I'm not sure it should be moniker-ed as entertaining either.

I've tried watching it a couple of times since but couldn't do it. I do listen to the soundtrack (donated to the director by Alan Silvestri) often.

The beautiful yet seemingly unavoidable tragic relationship between the brothers left me breathless with sadness and stirred emotion for weeks.

What a gift to watch a movie that felt real. I admired Ron Perlman and David Andrews all the more for taking the back seats while the lesser know main actors drove the story.

Bravo William Faulkner for writing the story and standing ovation to Aaron Schneider for making the movie a reality.

A beautifully photographed and paced short film. It evocatively captures the feeling of this family and much of the country during the period just prior to and after Pearl Harbor.

I appreciated the visual look of the film -- naturalistic and simultaneously poetic. Great work by a great D.P., David Boyd.

Though a family film, the story never becomes maudlin or saccharin. We understand and believe the motivation that propels the young boy on his odyssey. I understand the love of the younger brother for his older brother and do not question why he sets out to do what he does. I understand that he is driven by a deep desire to be with his brother in this time of crisis. The kid is tough, and the performance by Jonathan Furr is superb as is the veteran performance by Ron Perlman.

Based on a William Faulkner short story, Two Soldiers is a top notch short film, a movie that has enough story, emotion and great cinematography for a feature film and definitely leaves you wanting more in the end. The story involves two dirt poor Mississippi brothers, one only a kid, the other old enough to volunteer for the war effort shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The younger brother, played brilliantly by newcomer Jonathan Furr, doesn't want to let his older brother go, and he sets out on a quest to enlist in the Army himself. Ron Perlman gives a gruff but touching peformance as the Army Colonel who decides to help the kid.

Because it is only 39 minutes long, this gem will be hard to find (it will most likely be confined to the festival circuit for now), but remember the name Aaron Schneider--this picture marks him as a director to watch.