Watch For a Lost Soldier For Free

Why so much hype?

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Having lived and worked in the Netherlands and knowing its language, I have been interested in the Dutch cinema as well, particularly if Rutger Hauer or Jeroen Krabbé present. There have lots of films on the WWII been made, nicely versatile ones, as the period was one of the most painful and complex in the country's history. Thus, I was eager to learn how the war era was made compatible with such a sensitive topic like man-boy relationship.But the latter was not much visible in Voor een verloren soldaat (perhaps in the autobiographical novel of the same title - I have not read that); it was even not clearly visible if there was some mutual erotics at all. What we saw was a 20+ years foreign soldier acting as a caring mentor, showing a boy far from home and family new angles of life; besides, I do not believe that showing affection towards a boy would have been normally accepted by both the religious Dutchmen and militant Canadians in those days...Anyway, the mood in the film is pleasant, performances realistic, and viewers obtain a nice overview of Friesland under slackening Nazi occupation. But do not try to find any sensationalism, as mentioned, it is a good depiction of friendship - with some affection - during a war period when many things and deeds are perceived in another way.

FOR A LOST SOLDIER (Voor een verloren soldaat) is a 1992 Dutch film based on a novel by Rudi van Dantzig, adapted for the screen by Don Bloch, and directed by Roeland Kerbosch whose understanding of the concept of love is remarkably sensitive. Some viewers may mislabel this film as inappropriate celebration of 'abnormal life styles' and that would be a sad comment on the level of consciousness that hopefully we have overcome. Erase all old tapes and view this beautiful film as a pure exploration of the human being's ability to love and perhaps it will become the classic it deserves to be. The film is a reverie: a choreographer Jeroen Boman (Jeroen Krabbé) is distracted from his work by words and ideas and scenes that make him recall his childhood, and what follows is an explanation of his origins. The memory goes back to Holland in the 1940s as WW II is growing ever more a threat of Germany's determination to control the world. Because of the threat of invasion and because of the paucity of food and essentials to living the families begin to send their children in trucks to the countryside where the children will be fed and protected by farmers far enough away from the cities to possibly escape annihilation by the German forces. Maarten Smit appears as the young Jeroen Boman, transported to a farm where he feels out of place and quickly makes friends with another 'outsider'. Together they discover a crashed airplane in a field and Jeroen begins to get in touch with his feelings. Shortly the Canadians land in the little village to provide protection for the people, and while the soldiers all are attracted to the acutely available and willing girls, one soldier Walt Cook (Andrew Kelley) sites Jeroen and treats him well: the two are indeed separated by age but Walt is very young and very kind and gives Joeran the attention he longs for. Very gradually and very subtly Walt and Jeroen find a mutual love and the two, isolated and lonely, begin a love affair - an affair while very strong in feeling is handled so delicately that it seems completely natural. Eventually the Canadian troops are to leave and Walt departs on his own, leaving Jeroen to the returning attention of his family as they come to gather him home. As the flashbacks reveal it is this memory of first love that the adult Jeroen is trying to capture in his choreographic story. The film ends with memories of the past evaporating in the air, memories that remain indelible in the adult Jeroen's mind. The entire cast is excellent, but it is the very straightforward demonstration of love between Andrew Kelley and Maarten Smit, under the wise guidance of director Roeland Kerbosch that makes this film so memorable. it belongs in the personal library of all those who respect courage and delicacy in the art of filmmaking. Grady Harp

My deep and heartfelt gratitude to the makers of the film and the actors:superbly done! What makes this film really UNIQUE among others of the same genre ( friendship between an adult and a teenager) is the sense of MEASURE and TACTFULNESS.Not for a moment do the viewers believe that there might be something 'dirty' about the relationship of a grown-up soldier and a boy of thirteen.And not for a moment does the film descend to the level of cheap sentimentality.Bravo!It shows love,true love (which is proved by the later recollections of the older Jeroen)that never ends, and that the boy can be proud of. I am an American and am ashamed to admit that such a film is a 'mission impossible' for my compatriot film makers to accomplish,the feat they would never have guts to do: we still live in the Middle Ages of Political Correctness Holy Inquisition.How sad...

A haunting film, sympathetically tackled from the child's perspective. It seems that there are large (and probably important) sections of the book which are not covered in the film. It is difficult, therefore, to completely understand Jeroen's feelings for his 'buddy'.Whilst the boy's distance from his parents (mother only?) as an evacuee is clear early on there would appear to be a loneliness which is not truly explored. Jeroen gains some attachment to the (father) man of the house whilst appearing alienated from the children (especially the son) and the youngsters evacuated with him.One is left with the impression that this is a genuine love and true friendship (which both protagonists need - they are both a distance from their families after all) between a boy and a young man and there is no sense of the 'darker side' of how that relationship was initiated by the older of the two - albeit the one muted sex scene would not have been shown in a UK-made film I am sure.The man does not handle his departure well. If he truly cared for the boy then he certainly did not prepare him for the loss which impacted the rest of Jeroen's life.I would like to read the book - but there appear to be only two in the world for sale at extortionate prices. This film needs a sympathetic viewing from those whose own lives may mirror some of the events in some way.