A Midnight Clear

11/25/2021

_**Christmas is near on the snowy Western Front in WW2**_ In the beginning stages of the Battle of the Bulge in 1944, a reconnaissance patrol is sent ahead in the Ardennes forest on the border of France and Germany where they encounter some German soldiers. Who will survive to celebrate Christmas? “A Midnight Clear” (1992) is an obscure artistic WW2 movie focusing on a patrol in the wintery sylvan landscapes of the Battle of the Bulge. It’s more realistic than the surreal “Castle Keep” (1969), but it reminds me a little of that arty flick. While a couple of scenes could’ve been more convincingly executed and some elements of the story are unlikely or weird, it’s almost an exact recounting of author William Wharton’s actual experiences (he wrote the 1982 novel the script was base