Very great for its time

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2019)

For a while, I was not liking it that much. The exuberance of the young men jumping up in the classroom, eager to go fight, came off as silly. Ditto the scene where the men get revenge on their training officer. After the first half hour, though, there is some tremendously affecting content. The battle scenes are terrific, and then you remind yourself you're watching a 90-year-old film and you're suddenly just awestruck by it. Then of course, the final tragic frames are very memorable.