Slow and low budget character piece. A SOLDIER'S TALE seems interested in the corruption moral norms in wartime. The indoor scenes are dark and grainy, the outdoor scenes are just grainy. No one in the film is likeable enough to care about. Even the war content is of limited interest to WWII aficionados.
A British sargeant named Saul (Gabriel Byrne) in recently liberated Normandy meets a French woman named Belle (Marianne Basler). Belle is in trouble, the French Resistance wants her for crimes against France. Saul wants her affections all she wants is his protection. But an American G.I. (Judge Reinhold) has similar plans for Belle. Through use of voice over and flashbacks we get Belle's backstory, which is again slow, ponderous and unimpressive.
Saul thinks nothing of taking sexual advantage of a lone and powerless woman. Rape vs. execution isnt much of a choice and yet its hard to muster up much sympathy for Belle. A disappointment.
