Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed
War / Drama
Runtime 94 min.
Rated PG-13
Director: Ryan Little
Writers: Lincoln Hoppe, Lamont Gray
Grade: A-
On August 15, 1944 the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (PRCT) jumped over the south of France. Their mission was to support and protect the Allied Troops marching to Berlin. Landing in enemy territory, they fell under immediate attack. In their effort to complete the mission and rendez-vous with their unit, three isolated paratroopers come across a group of French resistants in desperate need. They decide to help liberate some of the captive Partisans. Doing so they risk their lives in an effort to live the Airborne Creed. -- (C) Official Site
Nine years ago "Saints and Soldiers" a creative, bold and thrilling World War II drama hit the film festival circuit and was well received, winning several awards. It was proof that a small band of Utah filmmakers could get a very big bang out of their limited bucks. With a production budget of only $780,000 the film nearly doubled its investment raking in $1,310,470 at the box office.
Director Ryan Little (a Utah-based filmmaker known for a number of short subjects focused on issues of faith in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, The RM, The Singles Ward, The Home Teachers, prior to Saints and Soldiers) has sojourned back to the World War II, and to Utah for filming locations, to create his non-sequel sequel (or is it the second installment of a franchise?) Saints and Soldiers: Airborne Creed, a thoughtful drama about not only the physical but the emotional and spiritual toll on men called to war.
Saints and Soldiers was tense and moving, Airborne Creed has all the emotions of the first film if not more. Most certainly, there is more action in Airborne Creed. I have seen the film twice and found it just as riveting the second time around.
This World War II film is based on the mission of a U.S. Army elite unit, the 517th, a parachute
regimental combat team that jumped into enemy territory over Southern
France on Aug. 15, 1944. The mission known as, Operation: Dragoon, was to
support and protect the Allied troops marching on Berlin. Jumping into heavy fog, those that
survived fell under immediate attack. The story is
based on actual events and characters, including Harland “Bud” Curtis, a
member of the 1st Battalion communications section.
Rossi (Corbin Allred), Curtis (Jasen Wade) and Jones (David Nibley)
are three Airborne soldiers who have just been dropped into occupied
France, not long after D-Day. They have all become separated from their
unit but the three soon find each other as they try to
make their way back to their rendezvous point. As they try to find their
way, they
encounter Emilie (Virginie Fourtina Anderson), a pretty French Resistance fighter, who pleads for their help to spring some other Resistance members being held and tortured by
the Germans.
As they slog their way through episodes of combat and tension, various encounters dredge up
flashbacks for the soldiers. Rossi is haunted by memories of when his best friend Pvt. Gates (Trenton James) was killed in action;
Curtis dreams of his girl Charlotte (Nichelle Aiden) back home; and Jones
remembers arguing with his preacher father (Paul Nibley)
about enlisting in the Airborne instead of joining the chaplain corps.
In one of the movie’s compelling moments, in a risky yet interesting move, the attention focuses on a German officer, Capt.
Neumann (Lincoln Hoppe, also one of the film’s screenwriters), and his poignant soul-searching over the horrors he has seen and committed in the name of the Fatherland.
As he did with the first "Saints and Soldiers," Little takes the tiny "Airborne Creed" budget and squeezes every available ounce of production values. Little (who is his own cinematographer) incorporates tight editing, strategically used computer effects and a group of World War II re-enactors to make his films look big and epic. His technical skills keeps the production values from betraying the story, which is engaging dramatic. It chronicles how war grinds down the men who fight it, no matter which side they are fighting for.
While researching for the film Ryan Little and producer Adam Abel interviewed a member of
the 517th, Hoyt Kelley. The
89-year-old veteran from Logan, Utah, was a staff sergeant over training
in military intelligence in the 1st Battalion of the 517th who led
night patrols. While some parts of the movie were fictionalized and
“cleaned up,” Kelley, who screened “Airborne Creed” twice, endorsed it
by saying it was very realistic.
“I’m not much on war movies, to be honest. They deviated from the story a little, but all in all, I thought they did a pretty good job. It’s certainly the best Utah movie I’ve seen,” Kelley said. “It’s a great family picture.”
In an interview with Deseret News, Little stated,
“The reality of war is pretty graphic and hard-core. As we did our research, we heard some pretty horrific war stories, and we’d say, ‘Yeah, that won’t go in our movie,’” Little said laughing. “At the same time, there are a lot of emotional stories that are touching, the moments of humanity in war. Those are the ones we gravitate toward, where someone in a really difficult situation makes the right choice.“War is more gory than we portray it, but we’re not trying to make a giant visual spectacle with lots of violence. We are going more for the humanity hidden in the depths of war, the human story, the relationships between the characters.”
“I’m fascinated with how does a person maintain who they are when in a difficult situation. How do you maintain a good attitude, a sense of humor, or a desire to help others, when your life is in danger and you could be killed at any moment? How do you hold yourself together?” Little said. “I think those are things that Adam and I find fascinating.”
“What sets ‘Saints and Soldiers’ apart from other war films is that we don't just blow things up. We bring heart to a very heroic piece of world history,”
Jasen Wade who plays Harland 'Bud' Curtis (who also played Levi Savage in 17 Miracles) doesn’t think the film is completely family-friendly.
“Not sure I would let my 8-year-old daughter watch this film yet. Maybe next year or the year after...
It still has a necessary level of violence that is crucial to the storyline, that may not be suitable for all family members. War is hell. If you don't show the hell then you have simply sanitized history and left out a dimension of storytelling, doing a disservice to the men and women who sacrificed so much. There has to be honesty in the filmmaking process, but you also have control what you focus on, and how much you focus on it. Some films focus mainly on the hell, and others focus on the heroics. My hope is that our film did the latter.”
Cast
Rossi ~ Jones ~ Curtis
Charlotte ~ Capt. Erich Neumann
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