Castle Keep (1969)

Surprisingly incoherent and boring

People are voting emotionally.

best movie i've ever seen.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There are some moments in this war drama that can be constituted as classic. A discussion with soldiers over changing sexual ethics; a conversation between an American soldier playing the flute and a hidden German soldiers who offers to make it sound better. The crossing of paths with locales near the Belgian castle nearing its 1,000th birthday. Pretty scenery, interesting individual characters and some entertaining and often ironic situations. Oh, and virtually plot less.Burt Lancaster headlines as the one- eyed commanding officer, getting a historical viewpoint of the history as he plans how to get his troop out of there. Peter Falk delivers the typical cynical, acidic performance, taking the issue of the German flutist into his own hands. "I'm a soldier. That's what we do.", he says, following the analogy of the frog and the scorpion. Rarely in films about American soldiers do you see one where a character is as amoral and cold hearted as this one. Well, not until Tom Berenger in "Platoon" that is. The film hits its height nearing the end with an air attack that is quite brutal.When the plot does finally kick in (essentially their story of survival and keeping the Germans from taking over the castle), you are engrossed with what's happening, so it's easy to be inclined to think that it's a better film than it is. Going into Boris Karloff territory by basically playing exactly the same character that Karloff did in "The Last Patrol", Bruce Dern goes way over the top. Jean Pierre Aumont plays the list idealistic of the men trapped in the castle, but the least defined. This movie is just one variation of the reminder of how far the second world war reached, and instills the theory that we can't afford another one as it could be our last.

If you love surrealistic and existential films, you may enjoy "Castle Keep". There is lots of strange dialog and bizarre plot elements--such that it will probably confuse the average viewer--but the artsy may enjoy it. As for me, I am a retired history teacher and it just made me irritated, as the terminally stupid might just think this film is a documentary and people really talked and acted like this! The film is nominally about a group of American soldiers who are making a stand at a Belgian castle--waiting for the inevitable attack from the Germans around the time of the Battle of the Bulge (December, 1944). However, as they are waiting for this throughout most of the film, you see LOTS of little scenarios that seem very random--and have little, if anything, to do with the WWII era. There's the wife of the castle who sleeps with various men because her husband is impotent and he wants a son, there's an art historian(!) who gives lectures to men who have zero interest--but who LOVE to hang out at a brothel filled with 1960s-style prostitutes, a guy who is in love with a VW and predicts it's the car of the future, a guy who wants to do nothing but bake--so he hangs out in town and bakes bread, a group of religious freaks who are pretty much guaranteed to offend and folks talking about the meaning of life. It's all a lot of stupid nonsense if you ask me--especially since folks often dress and act like folks from the hippie 1960s (especially the ladies) and the music is very appropriate for a counter-culture 1960s film--thought this is supposed to be 1945! Some folks might think this is all clever--I think it's just dumb--and rather boring. The film only heats up near the end when the fighting starts, but that isn't enough and the film seems like a waste of some talented actors. Well worth skipping.

1969's "Castle Keep" is no standard World War II drama, although it starts out with the usual formula. During what appears to be the Battle of the Bulge (late 1944), a group of weary GIs led by a one-eyed monotone colonel (Burt Lancaster), stagger into a medieval castle that seems to have been preserved and isolated for centuries. There's also a small hamlet nearby and the townsfolk seem similarly stuck in the distant past. The castle itself contains numerous art works and its grounds are covered with classical sculptures and magnificent statues of all kinds. It's literally a work of art in itself. Aided and abetted by Lancaster's second-in-command (a cynical and disillusioned Patrick O'Neal) the GIs are as out of place in this medieval landscape as a collection of city slickers west of the Pecos. That fact doesn't stop the colonel from immediately taking a fancy to the lady of the house (Astrid Heeren) all to the utter chagrin of her much older husband, the Count of Maldorais (played by Jean-Pierre Aumont). The rank-and-file soldiers, including Peter Falk, Bruce Dern, Tony Bill, Al Freeman Jr., Scott Wilson and Michael Conrad, eventually move into the town and take up occupations as if they're back in the good old USA. If all this sounds a bit strange and out-of-place for a "war" movie, it is. Not to be outdone, however, the German army is on the advance and the castle and its accompanying town are directly in its path. Total destruction is on the way, and here lies the moral of this tale. In the ensuing and climactic battle, the castle and everything that it stands for (mainly humanity and the arts) is obliterated with few survivors. The town is crushed along with it and all its inhabitants killed. But because of the way the story is presented (i.e. with enough surrealism to rival Ingmar Bergman on his best day), viewers are never quite sure if the GIs have themselves been nothing but ghosts all along and that the whole exercise is merely symbolic of the destructive nature of war. "Castle Keep," filmed during the height of the Vietnam War, can certainly be classified as an "anti-war" movie, although its immediate subject matter and execution just doesn't fit with any of the other films of the genre. Of course, movies that are presented as World War II dramas are usually loaded with heroes fighting evil enemies (whether Germans or Japanese). Consequently, audiences were not enamored with the film's depiction and it flopped at the box office. Predictably, most critics of the day found "Castle Keep" to be too pretentious and over-the-top. Burt Lancaster's deliberate "one-note" performance probably didn't help it either. That's too bad because in retrospect the film has plenty to say and it was also an early indication of a major talent on the rise: Sydney Pollack. As for the others in the cast, Peter Falk and Al Freeman Jr. are standouts and Patrick O'Neal adds some much-needed gravitas to the proceedings. In the end, "Castle Keep" is another near-great film that could stand a critical reevaluation.

Travelling through Ardennes forest, American Major Falconer leads his small rag-tag platoon to the medieval castle that belongs to the Count of Maldorais, so they can use it as a stronghold against the German soldiers. Waiting for this possible strike, they go about amusing themselves by relaxing or taking in the sights. The Major is bedding the Counts wife, Captain Beckman studying and admiring the count's artwork, Sergeant Rossi living his dream of having wife, child and baking. Private Benjamin storming up ideas of a possible novel, while Corporal Clearboy falls head over heels for a Volkswagen. But their lifestyles are shattered when finally the Germans advanced through the forest and upon the castle.You want a very offbeat and ambitious war drama; look no further then Sidney Pollacks' dreamlike majestic oddity "Castle Keep". However it tends to be one of those cult films you'll love or be totally put off by its artsy approach. I'm the former. I was totally spellbound by its quirky, bleak and theatrical sense of style interwoven within its lyrically verbose script and moody, self-conscious characters. Adapted from William Eastlake's novel, this is pretty much a calm conversational piece that likes to philosophically reflect on itself with a haunting and decisive charge, before it changes pace (and somewhat direction) to actually lead up to a loud, chaotic, brutal and taut action climax in the dying stages of the film.Pollacks' smooth n' breezy execution leads the way to a slow plodding pace, where it's a clash of personalities and a lot little trivia set in motion. War is pointless and simply made up of absurdity, and that's how Daniel Taradash and David Rayfiel's thoughtfully satiric screenplay lets the story unfold, because honestly it treads water and doesn't sway far from its base work. Seeping off it are random, unexpected sub-plots (like fairy-tale strokes) with Private Benjamin's crisp narration (which it's his story were watching) seem to have a metaphysical current. The rich humour within is uniquely pulled-off, by holding an uncanny, absurd and odd feel. Beautifully crafted and ultra-stylish with many bold and surreal flourishes. One of those few includes the sequence in the rose garden and the wonderfully amusing set-up of the Volkswagen. It was like looking at a painting, just admiring the art in front of you. Then move onto the next frame for another poetic image. But the life is sapped out of it, with more so a deadpan quality making its way into Pollacks' slick direction.Henri Decae's fluidly illustrative cinematography was picture-perfect with atmospheric lighting, and Michel Legrand's harmoniously spiralling and intrusively baroque music score only adds to its disorienting make-up and cooks up a tuneful awe. Streaming through it was a bold, psychedelic edge due to the times. The beautifully lush backdrop of the wilderness, and grand appearance of the extravagant castle are vibrantly captured to provide another hypnotic dimension to the well-looking production. The performances are astounding. Burt Lancaster's stoically dominating portrayal, with a smart slight tongue is excellently delivered and Peter Falk's no-nonsense, grounded to reality performance is superb as the baker at heart Sergeant Rossi. Don't you just love the smell of fresh bread. Patrick O'Neal is credibly solid as the toey, art-loving Captain Beckham, and Jean-Pierre Aumont as the sly Count of Maldorais. Astrid Heeren is seductively silky as the count's wife/niece Therese. The rest of the support Scott Wilson, Tony Bill, James Patterson, Al Freeman Jr. and Michael Conrad were exceptionally good. Also Bruce Dern is a delight to watch as the fruity, preaching American deserter who has taken up on god's side, as he tries to convince others to do so.Uneven, but still a one-of-a-kind experience. Almost just like a dream.