Quand les clairons se taisent

In 1944, in Hurtgen Forest in the border of Belgium, Pvt. David Manning (Ron Eldard) is the only man of his company to survive a battle in the woods. He joins a new company trying to get a medical waive, and although having difficulties to respect his superiors, he is promoted to sergeant due to his leadership and instinct of survival. After a new battle, when he destroys the German cannons, he is promoted to lieutenant.

"When Trumpets Fade" is a great surprise: totally unknown in Brazil, without any publicity, it is indeed an excellent war movie. Based on a true story, the Hurtgen Forest Battle, where 24,000 soldiers died, this film shows, without any clemency or romance, how stupid a war is. The soldiers are moved by the instinct of survival, and not by patriotism like other movies usually present. The battle scenes are amazingly real, showing shattered bodies or man losing parts of their bodies. A must-see movie, recommended for audiences who look for raw and naked true story, with magnificent interpretations and direction. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Quando os Bravos se Calam" ("When the Braves Silence")

Due to the fact that the two films came out close together, it is tempting to compare When Trumpets Fade to Saving Private Ryan. This would be a mistake. Unlike Private Ryan, Trumpets is not an epic set to a background of a crucial point in history, like D-Day, nor are the central characters members of an elite unit who are given a "heroic" assignment. Instead, the main character, Manning (Eldard), starts off as a private reluctant to risk his life, but who finds himself promoted and burdened with increasing responsibilities he does not want as his unit suffers horrendous attrition attempting to fight its way into Germany in late 1944. Manning's dilemma both contrasts and parallels that of his company commander, Captain Pritchett (Donovan), who has to balance achieving the objectives he has been assigned and keeping as many of his men alive as he can, and succeeding at neither. The greatest contrast with Private Ryan, however, comes in the form of the replacement troops, all green recruits with no combat experience - a far cry from Captain Miller's seasoned Rangers. Rounding it off is Dwight Yoakam as the nameless battalion commander who is unapologetic about driving his men to the slaughter, but whose face betrays the fact that, as with Captain Pritchett, their deaths weigh heavily upon him. When Trumpets Fade successfully showcases combat at its most gruesome and frustrating as Captain Pritchett's company batters itself to pieces against its target with nothing to show for the effort and bravery of the men except an ever-increasing pile of American corpses. But we get two good looks at the face of a German squad leader, portrayed by Frank-Michael Köbe, and in it we can see the despondency of a man who knows that he is fighting only to postpone the inevitable defeat of his country. A gritty, realistic, and depressing, but nonetheless excellent film.

Two years ago a WWII veteran asked me if I saw WHEN TRUMPETS FADE, the story of the battle for Heurtgen Forest. He said that he was wounded in the battle, which history has almost forgotten because it was so overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge starting several days later.

He informed me that it was chilling in it's dead-on accuracy, not only of the events within the battle itself but of the ferocity of carnage that permeated the senses 24/7 of everyone who was there.

After watching it, I realized this was not a "Let's travel to Middle Earth, and slay the dragon fantasy" but a testimony to the barvery, or lack of it, in battle, that men must endure to justify their existance, which is continually threatened by the enemy. There isn't room for sub-plots when all that is on your mind is staying alive; and at what cost?

All the performances are exemplary in this regard, Eldard creating a character that is not only believable but admirable in it's honesty.

It should be ranked among the new age of war classics of recent years. But please don't look for any love stories or soul searching introspectives, there wasn't any time for that when you are cursing the very ground to get lower than the bullets flying over your head.

When Trumpets Fade is a great movie, with excellent action sequences, fine acting and a sound storyline. It's better than Platoon, and I'd put it up there with 84 Charlie Mopic, except that it deals with infantry warfare during WWII. It came out after a series of real to life WWII movies, Saving Private Ryan, The Thin Red Line, but is made on a smaller budget and apart from Ryan's opening scene, it is a better movie. The cast consists of thoroughly unknown but very skilled actors, and the movie gives you a feel of what it must have been like to be on the front line in the Huertgen Forrest in Germany, late 1944. The Hungarian location adds realism as well.

The story basically revolves around the single minded efforts of private (then sergeant, then lieutenant) Manning (Ron Eldard) to stay alive and out of the meatgrinder that is conventional warfare, no matter what, even though ironically, the fact that he survives means that he has to put up for ever more dangerous tasks because he's the only one near who has any close-up experience.

I'll add that the videostore I go to allows you to rent 5 movies for the price of 3, and keep them for a full week. Every day after watching another movie, I couldn't help but re-watch "When Trumpets Fade", and every time I found something new and something more made sense to me.

This is one outstanding movie, very well produced and if you like war movies from the grunt's point of view, don't miss it.

This is the most stressful war movie I have seen since first seeing "All Quiet On the Western Front" which was made in 1930. It is sad to realize that wars can still be supported by sane people. Hitler realized how dangerous the 1930 movie was to his agenda and the Nazis harassed movie goers and put stink bombs in the theaters to deter viewers. I don't think those in the U.S. who never seem to see a war they do not wish to get into would want anyone to see this one. Therefore I heartily recommend it to all. I would have liked to know the fate of the lieutenant at the end though.