Officers have been ordered to shoot and kill their own men as traitors should they turn back. Viewers may find themselves holding their breath as war's insanity seems to know no boundaries, no end. The battle's end still finds the living hiding among corpses, a strange place for friends to meet. But that is where Law first impresses political officer Joseph Fiennes by taking his rifle and, using explosions to mask the sound, killing five nearby Germans and assuring his own survival for at least another day. Transferred to sniper duty, Law kills dozens of German officers, and pictures of the dead's dog tags are published in the military newspaper Fiennes edits.
Heroes provide hope.
Screenplay by Jean-Jacques Annaud and Alain Godard. Photographed by Robert Fraisse. Production design by Wolf Kroeger. Edited by Noelle Boisson and Humphrey Dixon. Costumes designed by Janty Yates.