During World War II, the Polish town of Brzeg Dolny (in German: Dyhernfurth) was the site of a secret Nazi manufacturing plant. Under the code name Trilon-83, the Germans began mass-production of the nerve agent tabun, a toxic and volatile liquid. Fortunately for the Allies, the tabun manufactured there was never put to use, due to problems with the product’s disintegration. The plant was overrun by the Soviets in 1945, but not before retreating German forces dumped the remaining tabun into the nearby Oder River. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Set in 1942, God and Country is the story of three soldiers; Capt. William Young (Jackson Hue) a West Point graduate whose mind is at home with his wife and new baby, Reggie Arnold (Kedrick Brown) a miracle-worker with explosives who happens to be the only African-American in the bunch, and Eric Ruddell (Justin Arnold) a cocky hothead who resents the inclusion of a black soldier. These three are ordered behind enemy lines into Poland to halt the Nazi’s production of the toxic gas and, if need be, to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Content
There were some great elements to this movie. It is both an exciting and tragic story in the tradition of war epics like Saving Private Ryan or Blackhawk Down. There were even some great little touches that I noticed – like the use of a typewriter effect for the captions, or the way in which a traitor dispatches himself by means of a cyanide capsule in the tip of his glasses.
The filmmakers have expressed a desire to expand this 40 minute short into a feature-length film, and while I think this is an excellent goal, I must admit that this film did seem to be comprised of pieces of a whole. There are a few instances where scenes or extra shots seem to have been cut in the interest of shortening the piece – such as when a traitor is discovered in the war room in Washington D.C, who is initially dressed in a uniform. Then in the next sequence the traitor is sitting in a chair, minus his jacket, tie loosened, while the two individuals who discovered him seem to be standing in about the same location, and their clothing has not changed. It is clear more has happened in the course of cutting into this scene, but I found myself a little puzzled at this choice.
In addition, the film begins with a voice-over by Captain Young, in which he is shown making a cradle for his newborn son. In the voice-over, he mentions receiving a letter from the government, which I assumed to be a draft notice. Later on, we learn that he is, in fact, a West Point graduate and will be in charge of the three-man team to Poland. To avoid setting the audience off on the wrong foot, it might be a good idea to change Captain Young’s voice-over to indicate this fact in some way or perhaps to include a visual cue, such as an image of himself as a West Point cadet or to show him pulling his uniform out of a closet.
I noticed one other logic hole as well. While in Poland, the team is spotted by a German patrol, and one of them is shot and gravely wounded. After a brief pursuit, during which the injured soldier can barely walk, they take cover in a creek bed. There is a very tense moment where several German soldiers come within mere feet of where the men are hiding, but somehow do not see them. Given the setup of the scene, this seemed a bit unrealistic. One of the soldiers is lying against the bank of the gully, which might provide him with enough cover, but the other two, are further down in the creek bed, and would be quite visible to anyone who stepped close enough to the edge. In addition, there was very little in the way of trees and foliage to provide cover. While the tension in the scene did keep me on edge, it was broken every once in a while by the nagging thought, “Those Germans have got to be able to see them there!”
