Maybe the Mormons should make war movies more often.

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2005)

I love war movies. Heck, I paid nearly a hundred bucks for the Band of Brothers box set. I'm also an atheist, and heavy handed religion really bugs me.
This movie was beautiful.
For the first half of the movie, it's largely character driven. There was more character development in this 90 minute movie then there was in Saving Private Ryan which is almost twice a long. There were only five major characters, and the film is sparse and intimate for the most part. There is no fighting until the final half hour of it, and even the fighting is, for the most part, small and quiet, with characters missing their targets and running out of ammunition and getting hit. There is little blood, little cursing, and no sex. In a lesser filmmaker's hands, this movie would present a very sanitized view of war. Somehow, Ryan Little still makes it gritty and painful.
The movie has a strong religious bent to it. One of the main characters, nicknamed Deacon ('cause he doesn't smoke or drink or do anything fun.) brings the religion into the movie; he had been a missionary in Germany before the war, hence the title of the film. It's a theme that continues, and impacts the ending. The religion in it didn't bother me, as it wasn't preaching or noisy praying or 'my way is better then your way'. It was just there, an integral part of the character. It's why he speaks German and why he's a great shot. It's why he fights.
People die and people are hurt and people are redeemed. There are good Germans and there are bad Germans. The special effects are amazing for such a small budget, and I couldn't believe that the movie had been shot with a hand-held. The cinematography is stunning, the acting's good for the most part. This movie's worth the 17 bucks you'll pay for it. Just watch it.