This is a movie. It is very different from the book. It is a love story. Does Walt’s silent departure bother you? It bothers many of us, and I think it’s worth exploring ---- • For a Lost Soldier S...
If only they showed more explicit scenes. It would be nice to see that boy's small hand to explore the soldier's matured masculinity even just in the outside of his military uniform.
It’s an open-ended Novel that was based on a true story. First love never dies but it hurts for both of them because there are no right goodbyes. Language barriers separate them, but I am wondering if they find each other after so many years cause sometimes Novel has a continuation. 35 years maybe Walt is no longer on earth or too old already. This movie is well written like call me by your name. Two great Authors of two novels...
How I wish there's a continuation where adult Jerome find Waltz, just to have a closure, I'm still in hang and waiting for answer. It's heart breaking, someone who just disappeared without even a word. 💔💔💔😔😔😔
What struck me forcibly after watching this film a couple of times (I loved it of course!) was Jeroen's relationship with Heit rather than Walt. It is Heit who helps Jeroen repeatedly and totally unselfishly. Yes, their relationship is so very different to the one that Jeroen develops with Walt, but when all the drama is over, it is Heit who is there to pick up the pieces. There is another scene when Heit goes to help Jeroen through his emotional turmoil soon after he has arrived in the country: a warm moment and I have often wondered how much of Jeroen's relationship with Walt is coloured by an underlying need for a more physical relationship with Heit - which is of course out of the question. Heit is nothing if not the most honourable of men. There is that constant ambivalence that we all feel about this relationship. I read the novel because I wanted to see how it compared and was so disappointed to find the relationship much more one-sided and closer to the abuse someone mentions in the messages below. I think the incident in the film where Jeroen cuts his hand on the barbed wire is suggestive of the hurt that the relationship has probably caused Jeroen. He is still living with this years and years later: perhaps never to be resolved.
george norris, thank you for sharing your interest in this wonderful movie. I will answer you at length when I get up tomorrow, but it is past my bedtime right now. I must ask one favor of you. Please watch my video For A Lost Soldier - Silent Walt in its entirety (;14), for it bears specifically on the subjects you address (esp. Heit), and should be part of our discussion. th-cam.com/video/HhaPp_DvG-E/w-d-xo.html See you tomorrow
Well, good bright and shiny morning. (I saw your comment to Wright Gregson’s comment and replied.) Now, about Heit. I love your line “Heit is nothing if not the most honourable of men,” and I agree. That was exactly how I saw him for the first two years after I encountered the movie. I had made a video called “For a Lost Soldier - Walt” in which I commiserated with others about Walt’s silent departure. In it, I had mentioned Heit, but only tangentially. But then someone posted a comment to my video suggesting that maybe I hadn’t considered all the facts. I watched the whole movie several more times, but now I challenged myself, asking Why did this (or that) happen...?, and I finally realized my commenter was right. And Oh, how they changed the story! Kerbosch had made some subtle hints, and I had missed them. I set about to make another video, “For a Lost Soldier - Silent Walt.” in order to set the record straight, as I now saw it. Did you see it? I still see Heit as an honourable man, with the best of intentions and Jeroen’s best interest at heart. But now I think Heit was the unwitting instrument of destroying the frail link between Walt and Jeroen. FWIW I don’t think the link would have survived when Jeroen returned to his family in Amsterdam, but you never know. Other possibilities might have opened up by then. They might have stayed in touch. At any rate, it’s a tale of extraordinary love and sad, sad loss. I treasure it.
Thank you so much for your insight into this movie. Also, thank you for your knowledge about the music that I had not picked up on. It is indeed a story of true love, perhaps even of utter love. It is left to the viewer's own imagination as to what did or did not happen or should I perhaps here even use the word disgression of one's mind or am I here perhaps even digressing? I shall leave that up to you, the viewer here, as it is so confusing as love can be. Ah, love is what it is in each and every one of us and can be so sweet, yet - so utterly destructing at times. Thank you once again.
I’ve been reading comments posted to For A Lost Soldier videos for a long time, and I think it’s a shame that many commenters really don’t make an effort to understand some pretty fundamental facts about Rudi Van Danzig’s book and Roeland Kerbosch’s movie. Van Danzig said his book was autobiographical. Having never heard anyone dispute his story, I assume it is factual. It covers slightly less than one year in his young life. It starts when he is 11, and ends when he is 12. Kerbosch’s movie was inspired by Van Danzig’s book, but it was never intended to be literally faithful to it. Far from it. Kerbosch bought the screen rights and wrote the screenplay himself, making some sweeping changes to Van Danzig’s story. He wanted to turn it into a love story, and he did. Here are the two main changes: First, Kerbosch chose a 14 year old boy to play the part of Jeroen (Maarten Smit). NEVER ONCE IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS JEROEN’S AGE MENTIONED. I think it is obvious Kerbosch thought an 11 year old playing the part would not be acceptable to moviegoers. Maarten Smit was clearly well into puberty. Second, in the book, Walt was a sexual predator. His advances sometimes revolted the young Jeroen and yet they exerted a bizarre fascination on him. KERBOSCH WOULD NOT HAVE IT. He re-wrote Walt’s personality, made him into a good young solder, disillusioned by the war, and like most soldiers, feeling lonely and deserted in a foreign land. So now you have the basis for the movie. A lonesome, unhappy pubescent, and a young, forlorn soldier, who meet by chance and unexpectedly learn that they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw. Yes, both are homosexual, but as Kerbosch says in a later interview, he could just as easily have written it as a heterosexual love story. It was the love that mattered, and he wanted it to be a testimonial to his dear friend, Rudi Van Danzig. Obviously many viewers interpret the movie as pedophilia. Others are swept away by what they see as an overwhelming love. I would not argue with anyone, for I think these attitudes are set in concrete. I don’t mind strong views, but I do wish they would stop mixing the movie and the book. They are two very different stories.
Thanks Timsit for your video and this explanation. I have just read the book and was slightly shocked as you are right, Walt was clearly a predator. But by writing the book van Dantzig gives us a fascinating document of those war years in Holland and a child's perspective of an abusive relationship. I haven't seen the film, but thanks to your video I must say the casting of Jeroen and Walt is perfect: they are beautiful young men with great screen chemistry.
Virgil, thanks for your kind words. If there had been a youtube version with English dialog dubbed in, or better subtitles, I would not have bothered with my “compressed movie”. But I thought the story was profound, I wanted others to understand what was going on. I agree the casting was inspired. Have you seen the French TV movie “Hidden Kisses?” Good story, great acting and superb casting. No youtube version has adequate subtitles (google translated French to Spanish, followed by google translation from Spanish to English -- it’s hilarious). I bought the DVD, which actually had decent English subtitles.
@@michaelrg3836, I was so taken with Hidden Kisses that I made 7 short videos exploring different aspects of the movie. I’d be honored if you would take a look at them and give me your reaction (good or bad!) This is the first, made before I hatched the idea of a series. I am a classical music lover, and without thinking twice I knew the Chopin mirrored the story line of the movie perfectly. All it needed was some decent mpgs, and my DVD provided them. Nathan, Louis and Youri th-cam.com/video/jOt0OMn0ZeE/w-d-xo.html When NL&Y ends, nothing follows automatically. But when I made the next six videos, I arranged them so that each one triggered the next in the series. So all you need is this link to the first one, and the others will follow automatically. Hidden Kisses 1 The Looks of Love th-cam.com/video/6nQlq5gRV-A/w-d-xo.html Well I realize this is asking a lot. Please don’t feel obligated. But maybe you’ll enjoy them....
Americans and Canadians were heroes "from outer space" for the general European population. They waged war relaxed and cool. They came from another world. That's why I can believe that there emerged love stories of different kinds despite the ban on building relationships.
I read the book before I ever saw the film. Loved watching it being brought off the pages. I think they could have done better with the casting. The actors were amazing. But Walt had enlisted early (lied about his age) and that was his first action. Jeroen was 12/13 when he left Amsterdam, not by the end of the war. Amazing film though. Great video too!
I am really glad I did saw the film first. Because I had heard the movie and book was written by true story or something. The book has made me feel all icky and Walt left him for the worse. For a Lost soldier is a wonderful romance tale despite their age difference between them.
To Timsit, So much thankful for your interpretations of "For the Lost Soldier" details by details. I wasn't a native english speaking from the Philippines. And watched this movie on its original language and so many parts and scenes that I didn't digest and absorb easily. But with your comments down here had helped me to understand the entire movie. I've been so moved and impressed by you for your great efforts for this movie. I wish we could be friends. Thanks! -Ungas
Critical comment agrees that Walt's failure to tell Jeroen about his departure is told in a way that simply does not ring true. There are many ways in which the plot could have been better resolved. I must repeat again what I have said elsewhere, that the film limits itself to acceptable intimate scenes; the book, however is very, very sexually lurid to a frightening degree, and presents Walt as an opportunist who takes complete sexual advantage of a boy who knows nothing at all about bodily love outside of some embraces and kisses. He exposes himself to Jeroen - a frightening business for a sexually unwise boy; there are other instances both in Walt's room and on the beach. You must also remember that Jeroen did not understand the words that Walt used. Explanations to help were impossible. The book is indictable pedophilia; the film limits itself to a mutual love story. We can thank the director for that, at least.
I would like to address your comments on my two videos, “For a Lost Soldier” and “For a Lost Soldier - Walt “. (I will post this reply in both videos.) Here’s what I get from your comments: In the book, Walt’s actions are disgusting In the movie, the director seems to have left out Walt’s disgusting actions It makes me wonder, if you had never heard of the book -- never read it -- would you have liked the movie? Many youtube viewers are not aware of the book, but they like the movie. While you are careful not to conflate the book and the movie, it doesn’t make much difference. Simply by rapidly talking about both in the same paragraph, it seems to me that you imply the movie is also tainted. Is that your intention? Is that fair? I think you are right about Walt in the book. That’s why I wrote in the Description “This is a movie. It is very different from the book.”
Van Dantzig uma vez disse que Walt nunca o forçou a nada , que nunca o machucou fisicamente ,no livro ele da a entender que Walt nuca o penetrou, talvez ouve o coito , talvez não ou talvez Van Dantzig mentiu que Walt não o penetrara para protegera esse . Pra mim o mal que Walt causou foi ter dado a esperança e telo abandonado a criança que Rudi foi , destruindo essa esperança . No fundo da parte Walt ele só estava ali pra aliviar seu libido .
@@timsit9666 You explain it well. The movie is not the book! I love the movie. I have not read the book but expect the Walt in the book to be very different. I expect it to be a different story entirely. Walt in the movie is kind and loving. He doesn't force himself on the young man. We have no reason to believe that he engaged the younger man in sexual activity which the younger man could not handle. This is where abuse occurs and we do not see it in the movie.
Hi Declan - thanks for posting. I’d like to ask a question -- did you see my sequel to this video, named “For a Lost Soldier -- Silent Walt”? It has everything to do with Walt’s bond with Jeroen, as I see it, at least. I’d love to discuss it with you. th-cam.com/video/HhaPp_DvG-E/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, Timsit. I have the DVD and will watch it later. Also, thank you for being so understanding about it all. I would have given my eye teeth to have had that relationship when I was Jeroen's age.
MsSoundguy, you are most welcome. Everything about this movie seems perfect to me, the story, the acting, the cinematography -- but especially the insight of Director Kerbosch into the beauty of the human heart. I think you will treasure your DVD as much as I treasure mine.
Me too as an asian kid from a 3rd world country especially getting that kind of relationship to a handsome white western soldier from a first world country.
5:14 I’ve always thought the “Dancing alone” scene was just Joreme’s fantasy/imagination at the moment of the party. Or maybe a dream Jerome had that night.
You could be right. I’ve heard that idea expressed several times. One of the things I really like about Screenwriter/Director Kerbosch is his use of ambiguity. In my “summary” version of the story.I tried to be careful not to inject my private reaction to such scenes and the dance scene is a typical case. The intimate bed scene is the epitome, in my opinion. You can find extensive discussion of it in the comments below, even thought they’re quite old.; Thanks for your comment.
@@timsit9666I’ve always remembered that scene since I first Watched this film in the early 2000’s. I could identify with Jeroen being attracted to older men. There is another scene that I would like to know what do you think. When the foster parent sees Joroen with Walt outside church. He asks Jeroen to come to him, and then on private he says to Joroen “We don’t do those things around here” (I don’t remember the exact dialog) but Jeroen starts to cry. (I think is because he’s sure the parent had figured out what’s going on) but then calms down Jeroen saying “you can’t have all the chocolates for yourself, you have to share them”. So my question is: Did he really know about what was going on at this point, and this was his way Of saying “l’m ok with it, just be careful or other people will notice.” Or did he really was talking just about the candy and this scene was just to scare the audience . I can’t decide if this man was An enemy or ally for Jeroen and Walt.
@@TheLordoftheStringsTH-cam So you agree that Kerbosch used ambiguity a lot....? You’ve given a perfect example. Yes, foster father Heit insisted that all his children share. He was an eel fishman in a community of farmers, and while they had enough nourishing food, they couldn’t afford candy. It was a precious treat, and Heit wanted his children to know that God was being very generous on those rare occasions when sweets came along. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion. Heit was a good man, and I think he truly loved Jeroen as much as one of his own children. But all of us have strengths and weaknesses, and that includes Heit. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said “I can’t decide if this man was An enemy or ally for Jeroen and Walt.” For three years I believed Heit was a paragon of virtue. Then a commenter told me there were deeper layers to the story which I had missed. I have a copy of the movie, so I watched it several more times, but now very closely. He was right. I decided to make a new version of my “summary” and include the bombshell I missed in the first one. For a Lost Soldier - Silent Walt th-cam.com/video/HhaPp_DvG-E/w-d-xo.html PIease watch it, all they way to the end. And then please give me your reaction. (You can post on either video, I check them both every day.)
Thank you for explaning everything in detail, this is like a summary. I especially like how you feel about everything about Walt in the following video. It's hard to find people talking about old movies like this. I was quite surprised that there was such an early film (as well as a novel) about homosexuality ( in 1992), even before Brokeback Mountain. Beautiful movie btw.
I've just read all your comments below, and I must say you spend a lot of dedication and passion for this movie. Your language is also profound too, I guess you could be a teacher or sth like that.
My heartfelt thanks to you for your lovely comments. Indeed it is hard to find people talking about this movie openmindedly. I had heard others mention the movie, but had not heard any serious discussion. Two years ago I found the movie by chance, so I watched it. But I was not prepared for the profound tsunami of love that poured out of the story. I found the book and read it. Of course it only deepened my appreciation for the love in their hearts. I realized their separation was inevitable, but I never expected it to be so abrupt. To think that it really happened to Rudi Van Danzig! His book, and Roeland Kerbosch’s screenplay, capture the human condition so well....the love....the heartbreak.....I think both are masterpieces.
@@timsit9666 Because it's so tragic, I believe the story told in the Rudi's book is real. That's the thing really happened in the wartime. I wonder if Rudi ever found Walt in real life, or even any traces left. Since I believe Walt was something ever important, deep inside the author so that even a long time went by, he still wanted to write this book. p.s: I know that you got a e-book of this novel, but it may not the perfect one so I send you this link, you may feel it is more useful: b-ok.asia/book/5482694/81f8dc p.s 2: I hope I can have more conversation with u.
rtyrtuh I have never read that Jeroen found Walt, or even got a lead. Walt could have been killed in battle, of course, but the soldiers in his unit knew of his extreme closeness to Jeroen, and it seems likely to me that they would have felt obligated to send word back to Laaksum. That didn’t happen. Remember the last scene in Walt’s bedroom as Jeroen cleaned the rifle? I think Andrew Kelley did a superb job of showing with only his facial expression that the parting was immanent, even as Jeroen babbled on about “staying together forever”. Walt knew that Jeroen’s return to his family in Amsterdam would absolutely end their relationship. Walt also knew that he was the most important person in Jeroen’s life at that point. The specter of parting -- maybe even of Walt dying -- could unhinge young Jeroen. What’s one to do? Persuade? Try to reason? Make promises? Garbage! The boy would be hysterical. But if the Army ordered them to move out quickly, the path is open to more acceptable possibilities. Maybe he’ll come back later; maybe he’ll write; maybe a comrade will bring news. Time will begin to lessen the pain. New relationships might arise. Things would be indefinite. Maybe Walt felt that was the best he could hope for. * * * Thanks for the link to the book. Here’s a link to Roeland Kerbosch’s interview on SkyKid.com. theskykid.com/for-a-lost-soldier-an-interview-with-roeland-kerbosch/ PS I’d love to be your pen pal.
@@timsit9666 I just have read the interview and I must agree with the director's view: The dancing scene is one of the most iconic scene in the movie (another is the shower scene). At first, I thougth it just was Jereon's imagination, but luckily it is real. I feel good when the film was internationally successfully released in 1992 since it may get criticized when coming to nowadays because of its controversial subject matter of the film
You visited Friesland because of the film??? Incredible, and Bravo! In FALS time, rural Holland was a unique world, Frieslanders were simple, hard working, strict Protestants, generous and loving. I can only wonder how much eight decades of “progress” has changed them. Laaksum is the teensy (but real) community where Heit’s family lived in FALS. It’s on the southwest corner of Friesland, on the Ijsselmeer, about 60 km from Terschelling island. Did you visit it? If you care to talk about your Friesland experiences, I’d love to hear it.
@@adampowell5376 Do you have any knowledge of what became of Maarten Smit? I know he made two very short films after For a Lost Soldier, but they were throw-aways. I have searched for news of him for some time, but he seems to have become a state secret. There is a Dutch EU official with his name, but nothing in his resume connects him with FALS.
@@timsit9666 No I do not. I came across Maarten Smit's CV on-line about a year ago, so if he has become a state secret it is a recent development. Perhaps he was looking for a job at the time.
@@adampowell5376 I made my video in 2018, and that’s when I got interested in Maarten Smit and Andrew Kelley. Kelley was easy to find on the Internet, because he is internationally famous as a ballet dancer and teacher, but the only references I could find to Smit were the two trivial movies. For what it’s worth, linkedin currently hosts 32 Maarten Smits,, and none of them mention acting or FALS. The Dutch EU representative I mentioned looks to be about the right age, and I imagine his photo might be adult Jeroen, but maybe not. Another element in the story is downright mysterious. None of the many articles about Andrew Kelley currently on the Internet mention FALS. (Oops, there is one, a blog by a lady fan of his who makes reference to the movie.....but she doesn’t speak for Kelley.) And so I speculate......have the two principals in the movie both disassociated themselves from it? Did they suffer some social stigma because they enacted a sensitive, but taboo love? I hope not. I think their effort deserves respect and praise.
They should and they must showed more explicit scenes between them but make the boy the initiator while the soldier will just lay down or stand by and let the boy do all the explorations. Also showed their kissing scene in a more brighter setting in a much longer period of time. I bet that would be such a huge hit today.
Lili, the new youtube format (which just began two days ago) is making things difficult. The comment is still there, it's just hard to get to now. Some genius at youtube couldn't leave well enough alone, so now when the video first loads you must scroll down past all the video thumbnails before you come to the comments section. I counted 20 thumbnails, a real PITA. When you finally get down to the comments, click "SORT BY", then click "Newest first". As I write, my comment just happens to be the newest (one week old), but of course it will be bumped down a notch when the next person adds a comment. The display only shows the first line by default. You must also click the "Read more" under that line.
Such an unexpected request! I’m flattered, Sebastian, I hope you meant it that way. I watched this movie a long time ago, and honestly I didn’t remember it well enough to discuss it. So I watched it in its entirety again today. That made me remember some of my old reactions (insights?), but also gave me some fresh ones. One that persisted, old and new, was the Church’s inflexible hostility to same sex love. It seems like common experience to see that people love people, and many times they are the same sex. Yet somehow, that insight is regarded by the Church as the Devil’s work. It’s a monstrous irony that the Church has only recently (last 50 years) recognized its own pedophilia scandal, but seems blind to the many forms of honest human love. Will change come? Maybe in a millenium, I hope. I thought the actors did a good job of advancing the story. However, I thought the age difference of the two main boys was far too great. Wiki says the boys were 12 and 14 in the original book. I have not read the book, so I don’t know how much the screen writer altered it. But I was greatly impressed by how each of the priests seemed to know exactly how to persuade the boys of their transgressions. Father de Trennes is quite a contradiction, conservative enough to stamp out the boys’ relationships, but liberal enough to treat them to a cognac and cigarette in his room at night. The end of the movie -- with Georges vowing to live for Alexander for the rest of his life because they had drunk each other’s blood -- well frankly, that’s sophomoric in my opinion. I love that the boys loved each other, and I hate that Alexander died. But those are two of life’s realities, and I’m glad the movie honored them. If you care to watch another French gay movie (very much up to date), I recommend Hidden Kisses th-cam.com/video/-VYHCqtaeMY/w-d-xo.html
@@timsit9666 timsit, or if that really is your name, I'm very impressed with how you construct your sentences. Your words are very delightful. Uhm, it has so much flavor on it. I have read your replies on other's comment or concerns too and you answered them, including me, so wise and so, I should say, formal and professional. I can see, you might be a writer of some sort, or maybe someone who dreamt to be. By the way, thanks for watching the movie again, for me. I haven't really moved on to that one yet. The thought keeps revolving on my mind HAHAHAHA and so I made a sequel to it on Wattpad called A Friendship To Keep, still on-going. It's just to free my mind of my solitary anticipation about Georges grief afterwards his friend's demise. The age gap was, indeed, unusual but they did a very great job in filling up the chemistry. There's nothing sexual or anything, just love, alone. They also didn't really do too much aggressive grieving but they made it effective. The ending was a bit depressing HAHAHAHA that's why I hardly moved on. I have read the book, if you want a copy, just tell me. I haven't actually finished it fully but I spoiled my self in the last part, it's tragic and beautiful. Exquisitely done. In the book, they remain the non-sexual thingy that is a big thumbs up for me. I have just watched "Prayers For Bobby", talks about queer and advocacies. It's, likewise, depressing but it has a great ending. You might wanna watch it too. I might ask your insights about it too, you give a such a good analysis. Ow, I might just share it but I really am not into gay movies or alike, but as I watched This Special Friendship, and Prayers For Bobby, I was extremely affected emotionally. I know I was straight, but I actually became asexual then straight then identify crisis HAHAAHAH but yeah, Hidden Kisses is next on my watchlist. Thank you so much for you words and your opinions. I really like this kind of talk. Have a good day!
Sebastian, thanks for your kind words about my words. I’d like to mention that I find some of your words admirable, too --- ”....you might be a writer....or maybe someone who dreamt to be.” What a lovely thing to say! I do like to write, and I’ve always been aware of how easy it is to misspeak. Ten years ago I started making youtube videos, and it didn’t take long to find out that what seemed obvious to me was unfathomable to many others. I try not to repeat my mistakes. Wattpad is new to me, but it seems like a fun idea. By all means finish your sequel and send me a link. I’m sure there are a lot of others who would like to see a happier ending to the story. Prayers for Bobby has been around for some time. I don’t really have anything to say about it, because it says everything there is to say about the subject itself. Homophobia is horrible, but I don’t think you can convince a homophobe of that, except by killing Bobby. Please let me know after you have watched Hidden Kisses. I have something related that may interest you.
@@timsit9666 Ow, thank you so much. I'm gratified. I do love to write too. It's like a passion emerged from me that has just been discovered lately. Well, in school, writing is really my strongest spot but back then, I haven't saw myself writing a specific book, but now, that's what I'm dreaming for. Interesting. I know you do love to write, but how unfortunate. I'm not sure if you stopped writing or dreaming of becoming one but you should've continue. You still have a very long time. Well, I don't really rely on that because personally, time is just a concept of a universal movement; and your own created world revolves only for you, which is I think, you should see as a bigger aspect. I'm not sure how old are you but I badly wanna read a story from you. Also, I'm not sure about the "thing" unfathomable to others but if it's a masterpiece of an idea, then you shouldn't have stopped. I think what you did wasn't even bad or does step on other's feet. If it's about your writings, or edits or your own perspective, I would be glad to see now what you did before. I would like to tell you that what seems unfathomable to others, doesn't mean to be a hindrance to society, nor to you. You don't need to fit, to belong. You just need to keep going, please. I really really love your words, your compositions and yep, I'm looking forward to the stories and literatures you'll make. Ow yey, thank you. It's actually my first time writing something like this and it was a bit of a challenge for newcomers but I managed to write. I haven't finished it yet but it's already posted on Wattpad, I was too excited to post it HAHAHA. Also, if you could help me improve my skills and/or my lines, you can freely suggest a concern to me. I would deeply love that. I'm still 15 so there's still a lot of room for improvement and English isn't my first language but I think, I'm used to speaking the language, comfortably. Or we could brainstorm about the book, well, maybe if that happened, it'll be our book HAHAHA but yeah, here are some of the lines you'll see on my book. "Alexandre, meeting you wasn't an accident, Nor a tragedy It was a special scene, That led to an eternal promise, A forever-ought." "for they remain their love faithful, and true, as they go against the law of the boundary of life, and death." "He realized that the opportunity was near his hand, but fate keeps pulling it away from him. He already had the opportunity but was still refused of taking chances." www.wattpad.com/list/1154840309?wp_page=reading_list_details&wp_uname=Seb4st8n&wp_originator=kYPbO8BeCSz8bup46vhJ1vXPZZkK4Rmqs9ln5%2FWXXuSg5IWra65dsUJOTARAohuP8o%2FsG55Vjk27gEDpgRQ8Q%2B0rupDJ03LPnInNpR7IhffFOzrH6Pq9X%2FTFCcGgoBqI Yes, a happy ending✅ I would like my readers to get depressed at the climax but end with a relief. Thank you so much in advance. Well, I'm grateful that I got to talk to someone like you, so much grateful. Ow dang, that movie is a soul crasher. Prayers For Bobby screams representation. I think homophobia was just that horrible back then because of the church. Sadly, I stand on my religion but still, no way, the reverend father there has a very good point and indeed, homophobes wasn't really discussed in the Bible, well for the original language of it. Some interpreters and translators of the Bible probably wrote it with their own perspective, conveying their emotions and experiences. That's how language barriers work. But yep, it's sad that someone needs to die just for them to realize a mistake. Yes, I'm watching it right now. Thank you for the suggestion legend. I would really love to talk to you for long. If you have other social media accounts, might have say it, I'll follow you there and maybe we can talk. Thank you so much. Have a nice day again!
langlen, this is a bit of a reach for me, not because it was before my time (it wasn’t), but because there aren’t quite enough notes for me to be sure. I’ll bet you never heard of Vaughn Monroe. He was a very popular singing bandleader in the 1940s, and in 1945 he and his band recorded a song called ”:There, I’ve Said It Again.” It was a big hit. th-cam.com/video/B5tGk5OTk94/w-d-xo.html (Uh, Spring of 1945 just happens to be the setting of For A Lost Soldier.) The word “baby” is not in the lyrics, but it looks to me like Walt was only dimly paraphrasing the song. And his melody is also shaky, but he wasn’t trying to give a recital now, was he? The very first notes of his hum exactly match the notes in the song’s lyric “There I’ve said it again.” And I hear other similarities. At least I think I do. :-)
PARALLEL SITUATIONS ARE NOT UNCOMMON The boy-man relationship in the movie is based on a romantic, sexual relationship between an 11-year-old, virgin boy who is probably gay and an 18-year-old, probably virgin soldier with ambiguous sexual orientation, who is a legal adult. A parallel situation existed in a town where I lived. Gay boys aged about 12 to 20 would ride their bicycles or skateboards or drive their cars to a gay nightclub a few miles from their middle-class homes late at night without their parents' knowledge. The men who visited the gay club were aged about 25 to 40. There was no street lighting near the stand-alone club nestled among trees, and the club was intentionally dark on the outside. The boys would hang out in the parking lot of the gay club and furtively flirt with the men as they parked their cars and walked into the gay club and when the men later walked out of the gay club to their cars to go home. If a man talked to one of the boys who was seeking his attention, the boy would ask the man to take him home. No money was sought by the boys. A good night for a boy was when a man took him home and had consensual sex with him. One of the boys was a friend of mine, and he said that getting to go home with men for sex was his greatest joy and fondest memory.
I wanted to like the movie's version of the story; a warm nostalgic remembrance. One i could identify with. But the book is much darker and i think child sex abuse depicted therein is the unfortunate tale being told. The abusive aspect of the story is somewhat couched in the telling. It disturbed me greatly---i did not want that to be the story.
What you are describing is called conflating, that is, mixing the elements of the book with the elements of the movie. It’s a very instinctive thing to do, but it isn’t fair either to the book author or the movie maker. Eleven/twelve-year old Rudi van Dantzig worshipped his hero Walt. That is a familiar event in the lives of boys, perhaps all boys. Walt’s sexual appetite at times revolted Rudi, but did not override the hero worship. Rudi himself was gay, but so young and inexperienced that he simply didn’t understand why Walt did some of the things that he did. The trouble I have with the book at this point is believing that Rudi put up with it. Apparently Rudi felt Walt was supplying the most important, but missing element in his life, love. I just don’t know -- the war, starvation in Amsterdam, the separation from family -- there’s no telling how much turmoil an eleven year-old might endure before it overwhelms him. But Rudi makes it clear in his book -- he absolutely loved Walt. As I’m sure you know, Roeland Kerbosch was Rudi’s friend in real life, indeed was one of the children shipped out to Friesland to circumvent the winter starvation in Amsterdam. After Rudi published his book, Kerbosch (a professional screenwriter) decided that it would make a memorable movie. But Kerbosch had enough experience to know what might be acceptable and unacceptable to movie audiences. So Kerbosch wrote his own screenplay, based largely on the book, but with some significant changes. Rudi (Jeroen) would be played by an older, clearly pubescent boy. Walt would become a respectable soldier. Some intimacy would be suggested, but it would not be degenerate. The story Kerbosch wanted to tell was simply about love and loss. (I will address Kerbosch’s ambiguous sex scene in a later comment.) Wright, I agree that the book tarnishes the movie, but I know that they are two separate works of art, and each should be judged on its own merits. You might consider how you would feel about the movie if you had never read the book. I found it helped me appreciate the movie more.
@@timsit9666 thanks for the background information. I had done a tiny bit of research, but your input has more depth and gives me an appreciation for what the authors had to work with. I like the movie and could identify with Jeroen very much. I think I am angry with the Walt character for being so self-centered (!). I feel that if Walt had really cared for Jeroen beyond his own needs, he would have reached out and explored reconnecting with Jeroen after the war. But I did like and "feel" the movie.
@@timsit9666 I didn't know that the screenplay was written by a friend of Rudi's but one has to wonder why he wanted to make the relationship more balanced than Rudi depicts. If Rudi agreed to the film - which surely he must have done - then it must surely have been close to the truth as he saw it. Noone who was a victim of simple abuse would want the story sugarcoated surely?
@@georgenorris2657 You ask good questions, which I cannot answer :-) But if you haven’t already seen it, here is an online interview of Roeland Kerbosch, published after Rudi’s death ten years ago. My guess is that Kerbosch’s soft-pedaling of the gay sex was because he didn’t want to offend his movie patrons. Only my guess, however . FWIW, Rudi actually collaborated with Kerbosch during the filming, so he was aware of the changes. www.theskykid.com/for-a-lost-soldier-an-interview-with-roeland-kerbosch/
@@timsit9666 Thank you for this. It was interesting but not nearly long enough! Very interesting that Rudi was considering a sequel from the point of view of Walt.
Nusi, this is a bit of a reach for me, not because it was before my time (it wasn’t), but because there aren’t quite enough notes for me to be sure. I’ll bet you never heard of Vaughn Monroe. He was a very popular singing bandleader in the 1940s, and in 1945 he and his band recorded a song called ”:There, I’ve Said It Again.” It was a big hit. th-cam.com/video/5HsKrq1YVn8/w-d-xo.html (Uh, Spring of 1945 just happens to be the setting of For A Lost Soldier.) The word “baby” is not in the lyrics, but it looks to me like Walt was only dimly paraphrasing the song. And his melody is also shaky, but he wasn’t trying to give a recital now, was he? The very first notes of his hum exactly match the notes in the song’s lyric “There I’ve said it again.” And I hear other similarities. At least I think I do. :-)
Great review! Great film. All fans of CMBYN should see this one. One simple comment. The letter "J" in Dutch is pronounced like a "Y". Thanks and All the Best.
Thank you, Liam. I tried to keep my summary of the movie focused, but even as I wrote it I had a great urge to talk about the emotional impact. So I wrote a separate, personal reaction to it, and posted a link to it in the Description -- the “documentcloud” link. Did you perhaps read it? I would like to know what you think of it.
Please pardon my sly smirk, Kurt, but I have been trying for five years to do the same thing. It seems like both Maarten and Andrew have shed any public connection to the movie. All I can do is wonder Why? Andrew Kelley is today a famous ballet teacher, both in Boston and Budapest. He is featured on the Boston Ballet’s website, www.bostonballet.org/Home/Global/Profiles/Education-Faculty/Part-time-Faculty/Andrew-Kelley.aspx But his biography mentions not one word about For a Lost Soldier. Not one word. Maarten Smit is a native of Groningen, Netherlands (not far from Laaksum, site of FALS.) He has performed on stage in many roles, including as Lancelot in “King A” (Arthur) in NYC. Today he is a big player in the Dutch Art world, as stage director, producer and composer. He is frequently mentioned in local Dutch arts media, magazines and TV, but these are rarely turned up by Internet search engines. But even when Maarten is the subject of such media, FALS is never mentioned. At least I never found them.
@@timsit9666 Well, that explains quite a lot, I've been trying to see more of them, what they look like now but when I search for their names I get only the FALS pictures and maybe two of people that aren't them. Now thanks to you I know what happened to them, happy to know that they're doing well, still wish I could see more of Maarten Smit, I keep looking for him and nothing, am I the only weirdo who wants to see our little Jeroen as an adult? Perhaps I'm. I wanted to say that I loved your videos, they helped me understand some things that I missed while watching the movie for the first time. Amazing work!
@@kurtadanp.lopezquiroz8302 In 2015/6, Maarten promoted a stage play called “The House in Hoogeveen”; he wound up directing it. It’s about the assimilation of 22 Syrian refugees, into a tiny Netherlands town. It was a national hit in Holland and while he was already well-know, it cemented his reputation. Here is a video that tells about the making of the stage play. Maarten appears several times (first time about 2:00), and of course they all speak Dutch....but who cares, if all you want is to see him. www.wabisabitheater.nl/post/making-of-van-thuis-in-hoogeveen BTW, wabi sabi is a Japanese term referring to an philosophy about the nature of imperfections in life. Maarten has apparently taken it to heart, and opened his own theater company dedicated to promoting the idea. I think it’s food for thought. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
Kurt, here’s another glimpse of Maarten, taken several years back, I think. You can cut and paste the Dutch text into Google Translate and get a decent translation. www.stationnoord.nl/makers/#Maarten+Smit I don't recognize what is in his hand, but I see he kept the same hairstyle he wore in FALS :-)
@@timsit9666 Thank you so much! Yet again I'm surprised by you, I would have never found anything about those two if it wasn't for you, such a good investigator. I'm happy to know that those two found their ways and are living their best life, still wish they'd meet up and talk about this movie, what's with all the secrecy? Pretty wild imagination I've got, I mean, if they didn't promote this movie years ago, there's no way they'd do it now. Thank you again and happy to know there's still kind people on the internet.
@@Michael-nw9vh If the police were to find out about it and collect evidence his older friend would go to prison. He would also experience serious social ostracism for admitting that he enjoyed the experience.
@@adampowell5376 I can't.... I want believe that... Social ostracism for things of his past, when he was 12. Unbelievable. And how did YOU know that he enjoyed it??
@@Michael-nw9vh David Napier said that something similar happened to him when he was 12. Rudi van Danzig wrote this book to tell us how much he enjoyed this relationship.
I love this movie. Mainly due to the directing. It is a very haunting film. However, it is very much a love story but it is through the eyes of a child. .In actuality it involves a pedophile.
Here is a version with Portuguese subtitles th-cam.com/video/lYnKxmXGfFs/w-d-xo.html Here is the Russian youtube version, which has good English subtitles. I’m not sure, but you may have to join the site to watch their videos (there have been some changes in the past year.) ok.ru/video/3538002905670 There is no version with spoken English dialog.
I have not seen the movie aside from clips, but I have read the book. The book is darker and more nuanced that the movie, apparently. I am left with an ambivalence about the story that leaves me unsettled even though I am sympathetic to the love story over all.
Thanks for an honest reaction. The book casts a shadow over the movie, I know. I wish it were not so, but it does. In my case I saw the movie first. I had watched a video, which convinced me to buy the DVD from Amazon. Months later I discovered the book on the Internet Archive and read it. First impressions count; I was lucky. I had to wonder why Rudi Van Danzig didn’t become are raging homophobe after the war. Walt didn’t simply exploit him, he gave Rudi a lifetime of hurt. Maybe Walt was one of the last soldiers to die in the war, which ended just weeks after he left Laaksum. That could explain it, but no one knows. There was no dogtag in the book. Kerbosch was Rudi’s friend, and he was amazed that Rudi in fact loved Walt. That was the key: Kerbosch realized that this was a love for the ages. He wanted to show the love; he wanted to show the heartbreak. Forget the lust and prurience -- those were only footnotes to the rapture. So he changed the story, but kept the love and the heartbreak. And while Rudi was only 11 when the book began, Kerbosch felt obligated to make him older in his movie. After all, he wanted an audience, and he wasn’t stupid.
Please make more commentary. How much would I have to pay for you to audiobook read F.A.L.S.? As a copyright free edition to the public? You have a great voice for it. Start your Patreon/SubscribeStar. I’ll give what is necessary for it to be produced and published.
Sir, have you ever read the book For A Lost Soldier? Rudi van Dantzig said it was autobiographical, and I take him at his word. But the story it tells is an incredible amalgam of a child’s moments of innocent joy laced with outrageous lust from the child’s hero-figure. That the child comes to love his hero is amazing to me, but apparently that’s what happened. Roeland Kerbosh changed the book significantly in his screenplay, eliminating the disgusting parts. His movie is simply about love, and is celebrated and honored. So be it. You ask if I would participate in supplementing the book. To me that is unthinkable. No thank you.
@@timsit9666 - Thank you for your response. I haven’t read it. Saw the movie first, and I just got the book off of eBay for $140 to read it myself. Maybe we’re crossed signals here, or I did a piss-poor job at relaying my request. I just wanted to ask (more clearly:) if you could narrate the book for us. At my first statement, I meant to ask if you couldn’t give us more critical analysis of other coming-of-age films. NOT to add addendums to F.A.L.S. Your voice reminds me of an older version of this TH-camr m.th-cam.com/video/ndEWof-8xTY/w-d-xo.html I can’t wait for more content from you!
@@CommanderSix You might like www.yuyutv.com/video/014440v/hidden-kisses/ If you like it, I have some commentary beginning at th-cam.com/video/6nQlq5gRV-A/w-d-xo.html Thanks for your Lord of the Rings analysis, I really enjoyed it.
@@CommanderSix Did you ever get your $140 FALS book? The movie must be dear to you, and I was wondering how you feel about the two stories after you have read the book.
@@timsit9666 - I’m loving the book. The ghost-writer did a splendid job at putting us in Jeroen’s shoes at the point of eviction from his home to finally touching down and investigating the aeroplane. I’m feeling a bit trepidatious at the thought that the book is about to turn sour with the upcoming introduction of Walt... (if the movie/book timeline is synced correctly.) Please find a way to keep us up to date on new projects. I love your insight in to cinematic film. I need you to review some films for me! I’ll pay to see it. P.S. - TH-cam NEVER told me that you replied to my comment. I JUST saw it earlier today. That’s why I’m replying to you now, just after work! God bless. See ya’ soon!
@@relaxingasmr6597 The movie For A Lost Soldier has a gay love-and-loss theme. If you are looking for another gay love-and-loss themed movie, maybe Brokeback Mountain might do. Hidden Kisses is also about young gay love. I won’t tell you how it ends, but I do think it’s a pretty good movie.
It’s very poignant and it’s well done. But I think it’s important to remember that this is a grown man luring a boy into his bed with candy bars. Does it get any more disturbing than that?
Mr. Sprague, if that was all there was to it, I would agree completely. But there is more, much more, in this unique story. Director/screenwriter Kerbosch based his movie on Rudi Van Dantzig’s book. He felt that real love had developed between Rudi and Walt. He thought that was a story worth telling, and he set out to tell it. But there was a big problem: real-life Walt was a sexual predator, and he did things that revolted Rudi. Rudi’s book described many of the sordid details about Walt’s sexual practices. Kerbosch knew movie audiences would not pay to watch such things. So he took it upon himself to re-write the story, leaving out what amounted to pornography. Rudi was 11 when he arrived in Friesland (book, page 22). The book makes no other mention of his age or birthday. For his movie, Mr. Kerbosch chose Maarten Smit, clearly pubescent, to play Jeroen. Maarten said later that when the movie was released he was 14. The movie makes no mention of Jeroen’s age: absolutely none at all. Kerbosch was meticulous in the way he slowly built the growing bond between Jeroen and Walt. Of course Walt was Jeroen’s hero figure right from the first pack of gum, but then -- riding in the jeep, playing, watching it rain, exploring the downed airplane -- there was one small adventure after another, and always with excitement and respect. To me, there is a huge difference between such shared experiences and “luring a boy into his bed.” Both Walt and young Rudi/Jeroen were homosexual, and Kerbosch knew that. So he had to make a decision about how much of that to put in his movie. I think he made it clear enough just by using subtle suggestions. That said, I wrote in depth about “the sex episode” in another comment, four months ago, below. Quite honestly I don’t know why Kerbosch included it. I think it is ambiguous, and regardless of how one interprets it, I can’t see that it advances his story. However, the impassioned kiss, with Jeroen lying on top of Walt, is another matter. Here, context is everything. Please consider this: The name of the story is For a Lost Soldier. And that is exactly where Walt is, emotionally lost. He joined the Army, and later said “The Army made a man out of me. Not a very happy one, so far.” His binoculars showed him the faces of his enemy, only to reveal that they were the faces of young men just like himself. He thought the binoculars were “Not a very good idea.” Neither the book nor the movie addresses Walt’s combat experience, but the movie made it clear that he hated the Army. What’s more, he was in a foreign land whose people spoke a language he didn’t understand. And tellingly, there was no mention of a loved one waiting for him back home. His world was a very small bubble, and there was no love in it. In a special sense, Jeroen was also a lost soldier -- uprooted by the war, forced to flee starvation in Amsterdam, dependent on the charity of strangers, separated from his loving family, not knowing if he would ever see them alive again. From the time he got up every morning until he went to bed at night, his small bubble was empty of love also. In a few short weeks, each became the most important person in the world to the other. And when these two soldiers kissed, there in the midst of war, our world became a better place. I thank Roeland Kerbosch for understanding the human heart.
It's wrong because it's a relationship between a minor and an adult. I think Walt could have been a pedophile or ephebophile, but I focus more on Jeroen, he had his first love in wartime, and he has good memories of Walt. I identify with Jeroen because when I was 16 my first love was a 28 year old man, I haven't heard from him for four years. Not all my memories with him are good, but I hope he is fine, and it's better that this type of relationship doesn't happen anymore
I have received email from youtube notifying me that (name withheld) posted a comment to my video. The email included the comment itself. But the comment never showed up in the comments section of the video. This may be some sort of a game, I don’t know. Trouble is, it’s the second time this individual has done this (1st time 3 months ago). Probably I should ignore it, and forget the whole thing. But the comment itself is significant, and so I’m going to reply to it. It has to do with the sex scene in For a Lost Soldier. My reply: I think the sex scene is ambiguous, and deliberately so. In the scene, Walt lies on top of Jeroen, who is face down on the bed. We only see their faces. Jeroen lifts his head as if to question Walt, and Walt tells him to put his head back down. Then Walt puts a knuckle between Jeroen’s teeth, as if to give him something to bite on to distract from the pain. Walt lowers his head to touch Jeroen’s head, and the scene fades to black. Did Walt bugger Jeroen? If so, it isn’t shown. But the knuckle to bite on is terribly suggestive. Now here’s the problem: the very next scene shows Jeroen in shorts, sitting on the edge of the bed, as Walt lies asleep. Jeroen rises, and walks about the room examining Walt’s belongings. He dons Walt’s dog tags and sunglasses, then steals a photo of Walt. Refuting buggery, he shows no trace of bleeding, pain or physical discomfort. The one thing that is clear is that he idolizes Walt. Kerbosch has managed to suggest buggery, only to contradict it with a clear lack of its inevitable consequences. What in the world is Kerbosch trying to say? Kerbosch treasured his friend Dantzig, and I think he felt obligated to acknowledge Rudi’s sexual trials. But he had enough experience to know that general movie audiences would only tolerate so much. It looks to me like he only chose to “imply” the action. Buggery: the knuckle implies what happened No Buggery: afterward, no physical evidence, no change of hero worship; the implication is that nothing distressing has happened In other words, I think the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder.....just the way Kerbosch wanted it.
I’ve try to write a question but for some reason it doesn’t show up in the comments. I hope this is the case for me too and wait to see your reply / thoughts. Thanks
@@TheLordoftheStringsTH-cam When you post a new comment, use the “Add a comment” option just below the Description. TH-cam always puts a newly posted COMMENT at the beginning of all the comments. But a newly posted REPLY is always placed below the comment it replies to, even if it is a very old comment. I found your two posts as Replies to an old comment I posted 8 months ago. Yes, it can be confusing, but don’t get discouraged. By the way, what is it you wanted to know? (Post a brand-new Comment.)
There was nothing ambiguous about it. Just because jeroen wasn't in agony & distress afterwards doesn't mean Walt didn't do what he did to him, it's blatant. Not everyone is in distress or pain after being assaulted, especially if they don't even know that what just happened was assault & they think it's "love". It seems like you just don't want to accept that that's what was going on because you're dead set on romanticizing the whole thing
@@ratdog6317 I appreciate your opposing view. One of the things I like about open forums (youtube) is hearing the view of others, pro or con. You state your views strongly, and as I read them I think the root of our disagreement is your phrase “what was going on”. I don’t know what was going on -- I can only interpret what Director Kerbosch placed on the screen for me to see. I did not see buggery, although I agree that it was implied. I did see what appeared to me as a complete lack of its inevitable consequences (pain), considering the physical size of the two. To me that suggests that Mr. Kerbosch wanted to leave the interpretation up to the individual viewer. I’m curious: Do you think it is absurd (or perhaps immoral) that these two could love each other?
It’s a bit mysterious, but I got an email from youtube telling me that a commentor named Flower Hero had asked for a link to the movie. But Flower Hero’s comment never showed up in this comment column. Oh well, here’s what I know about watching the whole movie on youtube. For the whole movie with Spanish subtitles filmesgays.net/movies/for-a-lost-soldier-para-um-soldado-perdido/ For the whole movie with Dutch subtitles th-cam.com/video/U6obOxGYN7g/w-d-xo.html As far as I know, the movie has never had English subtitles, but I posted a condensed version with English narration and subtitles th-cam.com/video/Y12_75JakXY/w-d-xo.html The condensed movie has a short sequel called *For a Lost Soldier - Walt.* It also has English narration and subtitles th-cam.com/video/kogEf939bRs/w-d-xo.html
@@rtyrtuh Bravo! I've never seen that before. I had to set the speed at 2.0 (click the little gear icon at the bottom of the picture). The aspect ratio is a bit off (everything is a little too tall), but that may be peculiar just to my computer. Thanks.
Timsit. I did have the VHS with English subtitles but it was broken or lost yrs ago. I see there is a link here now but how do I play at the correct speed please?
@@jont1025 It’s easy (when you know how). In the bottom right corner of the video screen, click the tiny gear icon. A small menu pops up. Click “Playback speed” When the numbers appear, double click “2”. That’’s all you have to do. To get back to regular speed, follow the same procedure, but when the numbers appear, doubleclick “Normal”. That’s all. When youtube plays a video it gives you some really handy shortcuts To invoke them, all you do is tap a single letter (the case doesn’t make any difference). F of f - toggles full screen on and off J or j - skips backward 10 seconds (great for re-reading subtitles) K or k - toggles Play and Stop L or l - skips forward 10 seconds
Role para baixo os comentários um pouco para o comentário de Joel Morgan. Eu respondi a mesma pergunta para ele um mês atrás. Por favor, não escreva em CAPS. Isso é o equivalente a gritar.
The boy was 11 he was molested, raped, sodomized, and then dumped. Now 75 years later and statutory rape is still illegal and today Walt would be arrested,charged, and jailed as the child molester he was. Love story my ass.
It was the war: at least he didn't go the Anne Frank route! Joking aside, I was abused when I was 14 (not to the point of rape or sodomy) and it ruined my life cos I didn't have the social skills to cope with the inevitable rejection. As young and abused as van Dantzig was, he felt love for Walt and he went on to a very successful, fulfilled life. Pedophilia is unfortunate to say the least, but no worse than the mass revenge raping that took place after the war by soldiers.
@@michaelrg3836 The second part of the book was about how Jerone couldn't cope after Walt left him high and dry. People should never make pedophilia sound like LOVE.
@@christophertucker8031 sure, I agree - what does an 11 year old know about love anyway? I've avoided the book and the film for years feeling it would be contentious - but with lockdown I gave it a read. It's about time I sort through my past - I turn 50 soon.
@@michaelrg3836 Homosexuality always began with some kind if sexual abuse by an older male. Now it's pumped out by mainstream media as the ideal, often over heterosexuality. I was a victim of sexual abuse when I was 11. I thought it was love too. But it was just a sicko getting his rocks off and making me think I was gay which ultimately cost me two marriages. This SO CALLED LOVE STORY PISSES ME OFF.
Virgil I am a therapist. I see the victims of sex abuse every day. You have been desensitized to Pedophilia. By trendy Hollywood movies. Made by paedophiles.
Probably can’t find nothing on the kid actor bc he realizes he was groomed into something he grew up to want to completely distance himself from. The narrator sounds creepy with his choice descriptive words.
This wasn’t an advocacy of homosexuality. But a story of hebephiliac romance. It is a touchingly insidious piece of cinematography that should never be forgotten. Look at the book, at the least. The descriptiveness by the narrator wasn’t completely awful, just adequately stated. But none of it was advocacy.
@@CommanderSix my thoughts had nothing to do with homosexuality. I’m speaking towards pedophilia because the subject is a child. The choice descriptive words the narrator is using is weird. “The shower scene is precious” No it’s pedophilia. We can appreciate the movie for telling a story or an experience that has surely happened in time… but if you’re in 2022 smitten by this relationship you need to evaluate what consent means to you and if your appreciating the movie for the telling of a story of pedophilia or if you’re enjoying the pedophila nature of the movie.
@@dyIanrs was he not a child during the filming of this movie or are you ransacked by thoughts of pedophilia that you couldn’t help yourself to interject with such a nonsensical response? The context clue your missed was in the context of this movie. you seem to not know how to use context clues which is the most simplistic and fundamental form of communication… so I ask you, blatantly given the context of this movie. What do you mean this child actor playing this role isn’t a child?
This not just a love story, it is a story about so called "padeophilia" the commentary completely ignores the fact that the boy in movie is under age. Just because there may be love involved does not make it right. Walt is the adult and used a child for his own sexual gratification. He had a responsiblility to the child to put his own sexual needs aside and put the child's welfare first. There are good reasons why there is a taboo in most cultures on child-adult sex.
@@CoreyChambersLA I quote from Timzit below: "I’ve been reading comments posted to For A Lost Soldier videos for a long time, and I think it’s a shame that many commenters really don’t make an effort to understand some pretty fundamental facts about Rudi Van Danzig’s book and Roeland Kerbosch’s movie. Van Danzig said his book was autobiographical. Having never heard anyone dispute his story, I assume it is factual. It covers slightly less than one year in his young life. It starts when he is 11, and ends when he is 12. Kerbosch’s movie was inspired by Van Danzig’s book, but it was never intended to be literally faithful to it. Far from it. Kerbosch bought the screen rights and wrote the screenplay himself, making some sweeping changes to Van Danzig’s story. He wanted to turn it into a love story, and he did. Here are the two main changes: First, Kerbosch chose a 14 year old boy to play the part of Jeroen (Maarten Smit). NEVER ONCE IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS JEROEN’S AGE MENTIONED. I think it is obvious Kerbosch thought an 11 year old playing the part would not be acceptable to moviegoers. Maarten Smit was clearly well into puberty. Second, in the book, Walt was a sexual predator. His advances sometimes revolted the young Jeroen and yet they exerted a bizarre fascination on him. KERBOSCH WOULD NOT HAVE IT. He re-wrote Walt’s personality, made him into a good young solder."
This movie is so magnificent in every single way! From direction, to script, to visuals and the tender feelings that are explored, it is truly a masterpiece. Thank you @timsit9666 for sharing your thoughts, words and wisdom with those who have an appreciation for such a cinematic treasure. I hope the conversations about this marvellous movie continue.
Proof that sometimes age is nothing but a number. The boy actor was very convincing with his love scenes.
If only they showed more explicit scenes. It would be nice to see that boy's small hand to explore the soldier's matured masculinity even just in the outside of his military uniform.
Any more explicit they would be CP. And unlikely the child actor/parents wou look d have agreed to more explicit. Prob cross into actual illegal sex.
yous all should be in jail and never let out!
It's a film about one mans experience. Wasnt advocating man/boy sex.
Jerone is sexy
It’s an open-ended Novel that was based on a true story. First love never dies but it hurts for both of them because there are no right goodbyes. Language barriers separate them, but I am wondering if they find each other after so many years cause sometimes Novel has a continuation. 35 years maybe Walt is no longer on earth or too old already. This movie is well written like call me by your name. Two great Authors of two novels...
It's a heartbreaker......i hate movies that leave open endings.
This movie is brilliantly done but the end kills it.
I wish I had never seen it.
Walt (on screen actor) is still alive. People say he's now a ballet teacher at Boston Ballet School. Just try to search that, his pic will appears.
I wish I was Jeroen and a handsome man loved me.
Until now, i can't move on to this movie. I feel sad to Jeroen 🥺
If only his father had never interfered I mean what would I come back and they would have own the ballet class together
A beautiful story of love and loss. Thank you for sharing this moving story.
I love U😘
I can't stop crying to see the sorrow because they don't even have bit of time to say goodbye each other 😢😢😢
How I wish there's a continuation where adult Jerome find Waltz, just to have a closure, I'm still in hang and waiting for answer. It's heart breaking, someone who just disappeared without even a word. 💔💔💔😔😔😔
How sad, a perv abandoned his victim
@@Gustav-lj1wb is jeroen was a victims of pedophile??
@@narayanlaxmi4990 Technically yes.
One of my favourite films. I enjoyed your review. Thank you. Best wishes from England 🇬🇧 👏
I love this movie. I hope they make this kind of movie again but make it end in a happy ending.
I think that would be impossible in the current climate of hysteria about minor attraction.
One of my favorite movies! Thank you for your video.
What struck me forcibly after watching this film a couple of times (I loved it of course!) was Jeroen's relationship with Heit rather than Walt. It is Heit who helps Jeroen repeatedly and totally unselfishly. Yes, their relationship is so very different to the one that Jeroen develops with Walt, but when all the drama is over, it is Heit who is there to pick up the pieces. There is another scene when Heit goes to help Jeroen through his emotional turmoil soon after he has arrived in the country: a warm moment and I have often wondered how much of Jeroen's relationship with Walt is coloured by an underlying need for a more physical relationship with Heit - which is of course out of the question. Heit is nothing if not the most honourable of men. There is that constant ambivalence that we all feel about this relationship. I read the novel because I wanted to see how it compared and was so disappointed to find the relationship much more one-sided and closer to the abuse someone mentions in the messages below. I think the incident in the film where Jeroen cuts his hand on the barbed wire is suggestive of the hurt that the relationship has probably caused Jeroen. He is still living with this years and years later: perhaps never to be resolved.
george norris, thank you for sharing your interest in this wonderful movie. I will answer you at length when I get up tomorrow, but it is past my bedtime right now. I must ask one favor of you. Please watch my video For A Lost Soldier - Silent Walt in its entirety (;14), for it bears specifically on the subjects you address (esp. Heit), and should be part of our discussion.
th-cam.com/video/HhaPp_DvG-E/w-d-xo.html
See you tomorrow
Well, good bright and shiny morning. (I saw your comment to Wright Gregson’s comment and replied.)
Now, about Heit. I love your line “Heit is nothing if not the most honourable of men,” and I agree. That was exactly how I saw him for the first two years after I encountered the movie.
I had made a video called “For a Lost Soldier - Walt” in which I commiserated with others about Walt’s silent departure. In it, I had mentioned Heit, but only tangentially.
But then someone posted a comment to my video suggesting that maybe I hadn’t considered all the facts. I watched the whole movie several more times, but now I challenged myself, asking Why did this (or that) happen...?, and I finally realized my commenter was right.
And Oh, how they changed the story!
Kerbosch had made some subtle hints, and I had missed them. I set about to make another video, “For a Lost Soldier - Silent Walt.” in order to set the record straight, as I now saw it.
Did you see it?
I still see Heit as an honourable man, with the best of intentions and Jeroen’s best interest at heart. But now I think Heit was the unwitting instrument of destroying the frail link between Walt and Jeroen.
FWIW I don’t think the link would have survived when Jeroen returned to his family in Amsterdam, but you never know. Other possibilities might have opened up by then. They might have stayed in touch.
At any rate, it’s a tale of extraordinary love and sad, sad loss. I treasure it.
Awww, how cute. It is indeed a love story of two human beings.
jesus, read the book
Thank you so much for your insight into this movie. Also, thank you for your knowledge about the music that I had not picked up on. It is indeed a story of true love, perhaps even of utter love. It is left to the viewer's own imagination as to what did or did not happen or should I perhaps here even use the word disgression of one's mind or am I here perhaps even digressing? I shall leave that up to you, the viewer here, as it is so confusing as love can be. Ah, love is what it is in each and every one of us and can be so sweet, yet - so utterly destructing at times. Thank you once again.
I’ve been reading comments posted to For A Lost Soldier videos for a long time, and I think it’s a shame that many commenters really don’t make an effort to understand some pretty fundamental facts about Rudi Van Danzig’s book and Roeland Kerbosch’s movie.
Van Danzig said his book was autobiographical. Having never heard anyone dispute his story, I assume it is factual. It covers slightly less than one year in his young life. It starts when he is 11, and ends when he is 12.
Kerbosch’s movie was inspired by Van Danzig’s book, but it was never intended to be literally faithful to it. Far from it. Kerbosch bought the screen rights and wrote the screenplay himself, making some sweeping changes to Van Danzig’s story. He wanted to turn it into a love story, and he did. Here are the two main changes:
First, Kerbosch chose a 14 year old boy to play the part of Jeroen (Maarten Smit). NEVER ONCE IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS JEROEN’S AGE MENTIONED. I think it is obvious Kerbosch thought an 11 year old playing the part would not be acceptable to moviegoers. Maarten Smit was clearly well into puberty.
Second, in the book, Walt was a sexual predator. His advances sometimes revolted the young Jeroen and yet they exerted a bizarre fascination on him. KERBOSCH WOULD NOT HAVE IT.
He re-wrote Walt’s personality, made him into a good young solder,
disillusioned by the war, and like most soldiers, feeling lonely and
deserted in a foreign land.
So now you have the basis for the movie. A lonesome, unhappy pubescent, and a young, forlorn soldier, who meet by chance and unexpectedly learn that they fit together like pieces of a jigsaw.
Yes, both are homosexual, but as Kerbosch says in a later interview, he could just as easily have written it as a heterosexual love story. It was the love that mattered, and he wanted it to be a testimonial to his dear friend, Rudi Van Danzig.
Obviously many viewers interpret the movie as pedophilia. Others are swept away by what they see as an overwhelming love. I would not argue with anyone, for I think these attitudes are set in concrete. I don’t mind strong views, but I do wish they would stop mixing the movie and the book. They are two very different stories.
Thanks Timsit for your video and this explanation. I have just read the book and was slightly shocked as you are right, Walt was clearly a predator. But by writing the book van Dantzig gives us a fascinating document of those war years in Holland and a child's perspective of an abusive relationship.
I haven't seen the film, but thanks to your video I must say the casting of Jeroen and Walt is perfect: they are beautiful young men with great screen chemistry.
Virgil, thanks for your kind words. If there had been a youtube version with English dialog dubbed in, or better subtitles, I would not have bothered with my “compressed movie”. But I thought the story was profound, I wanted others to understand what was going on. I agree the casting was inspired.
Have you seen the French TV movie “Hidden Kisses?” Good story, great acting and superb casting. No youtube version has adequate subtitles (google translated French to Spanish, followed by google translation from Spanish to English -- it’s hilarious). I bought the DVD, which actually had decent English subtitles.
@@timsit9666 I watched "Hidden Kisses" last week - is school homophobia still that bad? (and yes, the subtitles were truly terrible!)
@@michaelrg3836, I was so taken with Hidden Kisses that I made 7 short videos exploring different aspects of the movie. I’d be honored if you would take a look at them and give me your reaction (good or bad!)
This is the first, made before I hatched the idea of a series. I am a classical music lover, and without thinking twice I knew the Chopin mirrored the story line of the movie perfectly. All it needed was some decent mpgs, and my DVD provided them.
Nathan, Louis and Youri
th-cam.com/video/jOt0OMn0ZeE/w-d-xo.html
When NL&Y ends, nothing follows automatically. But when I made the next six videos, I arranged them so that each one triggered the next in the series. So all you need is this link to the first one, and the others will follow automatically.
Hidden Kisses 1 The Looks of Love
th-cam.com/video/6nQlq5gRV-A/w-d-xo.html
Well I realize this is asking a lot. Please don’t feel obligated. But maybe you’ll enjoy them....
@@timsit9666 I'd love to see them. Hope you're keeping happy and well during these strange times.
I felt sad to both Walt and Jeroen .
Don't be sad for Walt and Jeroen. They felt love. Many people never feel that.
Americans and Canadians were heroes "from outer space" for the general European population. They waged war relaxed and cool. They came from another world. That's why I can believe that there emerged love stories of different kinds despite the ban on building relationships.
I love the story, thx x for sharing
Glorious! Thank you.
* wry blush *
You're very welcome, Richard
@@timsit9666 You realise how disgusting this film is, right?
Thank you so much for this!
You are most welcome.
Wonderful movie thanks alot
I read the book before I ever saw the film. Loved watching it being brought off the pages. I think they could have done better with the casting. The actors were amazing. But Walt had enlisted early (lied about his age) and that was his first action. Jeroen was 12/13 when he left Amsterdam, not by the end of the war. Amazing film though. Great video too!
Very great movie. Do it again a movie like that it was the best.
Good description towards this video
Beautiful love story
I love this movie so much
I am really glad I did saw the film first. Because I had heard the movie and book was written by true story or something. The book has made me feel all icky and Walt left him for the worse. For a Lost soldier is a wonderful romance tale despite their age difference between them.
You can’t just say ‘despite their age difference’ you freak
To Timsit,
So much thankful for your interpretations of "For the Lost Soldier" details by details. I wasn't a native english speaking from the Philippines. And watched this movie on its original language and so many parts and scenes that I didn't digest and absorb easily. But with your comments down here had helped me to understand the entire movie. I've been so moved and impressed by you for your great efforts for this movie. I wish we could be friends. Thanks!
-Ungas
What a lovely story but inconclusive.
I loved this movie so much
The part 2 for this: The Lost & Found Soldier
Critical comment agrees that Walt's failure to tell Jeroen about his departure is told in a way that simply does not ring true. There are many ways in which the plot could have been better resolved. I must repeat again what I have said elsewhere, that the film limits itself to acceptable intimate scenes; the book, however is very, very sexually lurid to a frightening degree, and presents Walt as an opportunist who takes complete sexual advantage of a boy who knows nothing at all about bodily love outside of some embraces and kisses. He exposes himself to Jeroen - a frightening business for a sexually unwise boy; there are other instances both in Walt's room and on the beach. You must also remember that Jeroen did not understand the words that Walt used. Explanations to help were impossible. The book is indictable pedophilia; the film limits itself to a mutual love story. We can thank the director for that, at least.
I would like to address your comments on my two videos, “For a Lost Soldier” and “For a Lost Soldier - Walt “. (I will post this reply in both videos.)
Here’s what I get from your comments:
In the book, Walt’s actions are disgusting
In the movie, the director seems to have left out Walt’s disgusting actions
It makes me wonder, if you had never heard of the book -- never read it -- would you have liked the movie?
Many youtube viewers are not aware of the book, but they like the movie. While you are careful not to conflate the book and the movie, it doesn’t make much difference. Simply by rapidly talking about both in the same paragraph, it seems to me that you imply the movie is also tainted.
Is that your intention? Is that fair?
I think you are right about Walt in the book. That’s why I wrote in the Description “This is a movie. It is very different from the book.”
Van Dantzig uma vez disse que Walt nunca o forçou a nada , que nunca o machucou fisicamente ,no livro ele da a entender que Walt nuca o penetrou, talvez ouve o coito , talvez não ou talvez Van Dantzig mentiu que Walt não o penetrara para protegera esse . Pra mim o mal que Walt causou foi ter dado a esperança e telo abandonado a criança que Rudi foi , destruindo essa esperança . No fundo da parte Walt ele só estava ali pra aliviar seu libido .
@@timsit9666 You explain it well. The movie is not the book! I love the movie. I have not read the book but expect the Walt in the book to be very different. I expect it to be a different story entirely. Walt in the movie is kind and loving. He doesn't force himself on the young man. We have no reason to believe that he engaged the younger man in sexual activity which the younger man could not handle. This is where abuse occurs and we do not see it in the movie.
Hi Declan - thanks for posting. I’d like to ask a question -- did you see my sequel to this video, named “For a Lost Soldier -- Silent Walt”? It has everything to do with Walt’s bond with Jeroen, as I see it, at least. I’d love to discuss it with you.
th-cam.com/video/HhaPp_DvG-E/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, Timsit. I have the DVD and will watch it later. Also, thank you for being so understanding about it all. I would have given my eye teeth to have had that relationship when I was Jeroen's age.
MsSoundguy, you are most welcome. Everything about this movie seems perfect to me, the story, the acting, the cinematography -- but especially the insight of Director Kerbosch into the beauty of the human heart. I think you will treasure your DVD as much as I treasure mine.
Me too as an asian kid from a 3rd world country especially getting that kind of relationship to a handsome white western soldier from a first world country.
Actually, it's a beautiful movie 👍 💙 👍
i need my own walt
I'm your Huckleberry
@@realman282 where have u been?
Sunny Florida sugar boo
@@realman282 what old r u?
59. How old are you?
I love this movie
Very nice movie❤️😍
But so sad😔
5:14 I’ve always thought the “Dancing alone” scene was just Joreme’s fantasy/imagination at the moment of the party. Or maybe a dream Jerome had that night.
You could be right. I’ve heard that idea expressed several times.
One of the things I really like about Screenwriter/Director Kerbosch is his use of ambiguity. In my “summary” version of the story.I tried to be careful not to inject my private reaction to such scenes and the dance scene is a typical case. The intimate bed scene is the epitome, in my opinion. You can find extensive discussion of it in the comments below, even thought they’re quite old.;
Thanks for your comment.
@@timsit9666I’ve always remembered that scene since I first Watched this film in the early 2000’s. I could identify with Jeroen being attracted to older men.
There is another scene that I would like to know what do you think. When the foster parent sees Joroen with Walt outside church. He asks Jeroen to come to him, and then on private he says to Joroen “We don’t do those things around here” (I don’t remember the exact dialog) but Jeroen starts to cry. (I think is because he’s sure the parent had figured out what’s going on) but then calms down Jeroen saying “you can’t have all the chocolates for yourself, you have to share them”. So my question is: Did he really know about what was going on at this point, and this was his way Of saying “l’m ok with it, just be careful or other people will notice.” Or did he really was talking just about the candy and this scene was just to scare the audience . I can’t decide if this man was An enemy or ally for Jeroen and Walt.
@@TheLordoftheStringsTH-cam So you agree that Kerbosch used ambiguity a lot....? You’ve given a perfect example.
Yes, foster father Heit insisted that all his children share. He was an eel fishman in a community of farmers, and while they had enough nourishing food, they couldn’t afford candy. It was a precious treat, and Heit wanted his children to know that God was being very generous on those rare occasions when sweets came along. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.
Heit was a good man, and I think he truly loved Jeroen as much as one of his own children. But all of us have strengths and weaknesses, and that includes Heit. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said “I can’t decide if this man was An enemy or ally for Jeroen and Walt.”
For three years I believed Heit was a paragon of virtue. Then a commenter told me there were deeper layers to the story which I had missed. I have a copy of the movie, so I watched it several more times, but now very closely.
He was right.
I decided to make a new version of my “summary” and include the bombshell I missed in the first one.
For a Lost Soldier - Silent Walt
th-cam.com/video/HhaPp_DvG-E/w-d-xo.html
PIease watch it, all they way to the end. And then please give me your reaction. (You can post on either video, I check them both every day.)
Liberation is an expanse of the soul and the body - a joy of freedom and almost
limitless possibility where time no longer matters.
Time, gender and age won't matter. Only pleasure and happiness.
Thank you for explaning everything in detail, this is like a summary. I especially like how you feel about everything about Walt in the following video. It's hard to find people talking about old movies like this.
I was quite surprised that there was such an early film (as well as a novel) about homosexuality ( in 1992), even before Brokeback Mountain.
Beautiful movie btw.
I've just read all your comments below, and I must say you spend a lot of dedication and passion for this movie. Your language is also profound too, I guess you could be a teacher or sth like that.
My heartfelt thanks to you for your lovely comments. Indeed it is hard to find people talking about this movie openmindedly.
I had heard others mention the movie, but had not heard any serious discussion. Two years ago I found the movie by chance, so I watched it. But I was not prepared for the profound tsunami of love that poured out of the story.
I found the book and read it. Of course it only deepened my appreciation for the love in their hearts. I realized their separation was inevitable, but I never expected it to be so abrupt.
To think that it really happened to Rudi Van Danzig! His book, and Roeland Kerbosch’s screenplay, capture the human condition so well....the love....the heartbreak.....I think both are masterpieces.
@@timsit9666 Because it's so tragic, I believe the story told in the Rudi's book is real. That's the thing really happened in the wartime. I wonder if Rudi ever found Walt in real life, or even any traces left. Since I believe Walt was something ever important, deep inside the author so that even a long time went by, he still wanted to write this book.
p.s: I know that you got a e-book of this novel, but it may not the perfect one so I send you this link, you may feel it is more useful:
b-ok.asia/book/5482694/81f8dc
p.s 2: I hope I can have more conversation with u.
rtyrtuh
I have never read that Jeroen found Walt, or even got a lead.
Walt could have been killed in battle, of course, but the soldiers in his unit knew of his extreme closeness to Jeroen, and it seems likely to me that they would have felt obligated to send word back to Laaksum. That didn’t happen.
Remember the last scene in Walt’s bedroom as Jeroen cleaned the rifle? I think Andrew Kelley did a superb job of showing with only his facial expression that the parting was immanent, even as Jeroen babbled on about “staying together forever”. Walt knew that Jeroen’s return to his family in Amsterdam would absolutely end their relationship.
Walt also knew that he was the most important person in Jeroen’s life at that point. The specter of parting -- maybe even of Walt dying -- could unhinge young Jeroen. What’s one to do? Persuade? Try to reason? Make promises? Garbage! The boy would be hysterical.
But if the Army ordered them to move out quickly, the path is open to more acceptable possibilities. Maybe he’ll come back later; maybe he’ll write; maybe a comrade will bring news. Time will begin to lessen the pain. New relationships might arise. Things would be indefinite.
Maybe Walt felt that was the best he could hope for.
* * *
Thanks for the link to the book. Here’s a link to Roeland Kerbosch’s interview on SkyKid.com.
theskykid.com/for-a-lost-soldier-an-interview-with-roeland-kerbosch/
PS I’d love to be your pen pal.
@@timsit9666 I just have read the interview and I must agree with the director's view: The dancing scene is one of the most iconic scene in the movie (another is the shower scene). At first, I thougth it just was Jereon's imagination, but luckily it is real.
I feel good when the film was internationally successfully released in 1992 since it may get criticized when coming to nowadays because of its controversial subject matter of the film
This film inspired me to visit Terschelling in Friesland in the Netherlands. I can recommend it as a holiday destination.
You visited Friesland because of the film??? Incredible, and Bravo!
In FALS time, rural Holland was a unique world, Frieslanders were simple, hard working, strict Protestants, generous and loving. I can only wonder how much eight decades of “progress” has changed them.
Laaksum is the teensy (but real) community where Heit’s family lived in FALS. It’s on the southwest corner of Friesland, on the Ijsselmeer, about 60 km from Terschelling island. Did you visit it? If you care to talk about your Friesland experiences, I’d love to hear it.
@@timsit9666 No. I only went to Terschelling but I am hoping to visit Friesland again in due course.
@@adampowell5376 Do you have any knowledge of what became of Maarten Smit? I know he made two very short films after For a Lost Soldier, but they were throw-aways. I have searched for news of him for some time, but he seems to have become a state secret. There is a Dutch EU official with his name, but nothing in his resume connects him with FALS.
@@timsit9666 No I do not. I came across Maarten Smit's CV on-line about a year ago, so if he has become a state secret it is a recent development. Perhaps he was looking for a job at the time.
@@adampowell5376 I made my video in 2018, and that’s when I got interested in Maarten Smit and Andrew Kelley. Kelley was easy to find on the Internet, because he is internationally famous as a ballet dancer and teacher, but the only references I could find to Smit were the two trivial movies.
For what it’s worth, linkedin currently hosts 32 Maarten Smits,, and none of them mention acting or FALS. The Dutch EU representative I mentioned looks to be about the right age, and I imagine his photo might be adult Jeroen, but maybe not.
Another element in the story is downright mysterious. None of the many articles about Andrew Kelley currently on the Internet mention FALS. (Oops, there is one, a blog by a lady fan of his who makes reference to the movie.....but she doesn’t speak for Kelley.)
And so I speculate......have the two principals in the movie both disassociated themselves from it? Did they suffer some social stigma because they enacted a sensitive, but taboo love? I hope not. I think their effort deserves respect and praise.
It would have been nice if we could know if Joroun reunited with Walt.
Me lo imagino reuniéndose y quedan juntos para siempre
The book explains a lot... but i still love it
SHOULD THEY RE-CREATE this movie and make unique eclectics & changes... i have a feeling - this will be a hit!
Trueee
Don’t think it’s ever possible to refilm the story again.
@@aeroplextv8203 oh, really?
They should and they must showed more explicit scenes between them but make the boy the initiator while the soldier will just lay down or stand by and let the boy do all the explorations. Also showed their kissing scene in a more brighter setting in a much longer period of time. I bet that would be such a huge hit today.
What a beautiful story
are you gay
Nice movie
you watch it ???
Wow. Do you have a full version of the Lindy Hop song? Great video BTW.
Yes, Lili. Please see my "Music in For a Lost Soldier" comment in
th-cam.com/video/KAv1s_2TmV4/w-d-xo.html
Glad you liked the video
@@timsit9666 Hmm, I don't see your comment there.
Lili, the new youtube format (which just began two days ago) is making things difficult. The comment is still there, it's just hard to get to now.
Some genius at youtube couldn't leave well enough alone, so now when the video first loads you must scroll down past all the video thumbnails before you come to the comments section. I counted 20 thumbnails, a real PITA.
When you finally get down to the comments, click "SORT BY", then click "Newest first". As I write, my comment just happens to be the newest (one week old), but of course it will be bumped down a notch when the next person adds a comment.
The display only shows the first line by default. You must also click the "Read more" under that line.
@@timsit9666 I see it now. Thank you!
so sad
Does this boy meet the soldier again or not?
Beautiful film.who knows if there is a condition of this film,the boy has to meet the soldier once more ?
Não ele nunca o encontrou ! Virou um fantasma assombrando sua mente ate o dia de sua morte em 2012
@@pedrodaniel8897 so sad
where can i find the full stories
I wanna know your insights about Les Amitiés Particulières (This Special Friendship)
Such an unexpected request! I’m flattered, Sebastian, I hope you meant it that way.
I watched this movie a long time ago, and honestly I didn’t remember it well enough to discuss it. So I watched it in its entirety again today. That made me remember some of my old reactions (insights?), but also gave me some fresh ones.
One that persisted, old and new, was the Church’s inflexible hostility to same sex love. It seems like common experience to see that people love people, and many times they are the same sex. Yet somehow, that insight is regarded by the Church as the Devil’s work.
It’s a monstrous irony that the Church has only recently (last 50 years) recognized its own pedophilia scandal, but seems blind to the many forms of honest human love. Will change come? Maybe in a millenium, I hope.
I thought the actors did a good job of advancing the story. However, I thought the age difference of the two main boys was far too great. Wiki says the boys were 12 and 14 in the original book.
I have not read the book, so I don’t know how much the screen writer altered it. But I was greatly impressed by how each of the priests seemed to know exactly how to persuade the boys of their transgressions. Father de Trennes is quite a contradiction, conservative enough to stamp out the boys’ relationships, but liberal enough to treat them to a cognac and cigarette in his room at night.
The end of the movie -- with Georges vowing to live for Alexander for the rest of his life because they had drunk each other’s blood -- well frankly, that’s sophomoric in my opinion.
I love that the boys loved each other, and I hate that Alexander died. But those are two of life’s realities, and I’m glad the movie honored them.
If you care to watch another French gay movie (very much up to date), I recommend
Hidden Kisses
th-cam.com/video/-VYHCqtaeMY/w-d-xo.html
@@timsit9666 timsit, or if that really is your name, I'm very impressed with how you construct your sentences. Your words are very delightful. Uhm, it has so much flavor on it. I have read your replies on other's comment or concerns too and you answered them, including me, so wise and so, I should say, formal and professional. I can see, you might be a writer of some sort, or maybe someone who dreamt to be. By the way, thanks for watching the movie again, for me. I haven't really moved on to that one yet. The thought keeps revolving on my mind HAHAHAHA and so I made a sequel to it on Wattpad called A Friendship To Keep, still on-going. It's just to free my mind of my solitary anticipation about Georges grief afterwards his friend's demise.
The age gap was, indeed, unusual but they did a very great job in filling up the chemistry. There's nothing sexual or anything, just love, alone. They also didn't really do too much aggressive grieving but they made it effective. The ending was a bit depressing HAHAHAHA that's why I hardly moved on. I have read the book, if you want a copy, just tell me. I haven't actually finished it fully but I spoiled my self in the last part, it's tragic and beautiful. Exquisitely done. In the book, they remain the non-sexual thingy that is a big thumbs up for me.
I have just watched "Prayers For Bobby", talks about queer and advocacies. It's, likewise, depressing but it has a great ending. You might wanna watch it too. I might ask your insights about it too, you give a such a good analysis. Ow, I might just share it but I really am not into gay movies or alike, but as I watched This Special Friendship, and Prayers For Bobby, I was extremely affected emotionally. I know I was straight, but I actually became asexual then straight then identify crisis HAHAAHAH but yeah, Hidden Kisses is next on my watchlist. Thank you so much for you words and your opinions. I really like this kind of talk. Have a good day!
Sebastian, thanks for your kind words about my words. I’d like to mention that I find some of your words admirable, too --- ”....you might be a writer....or maybe someone who dreamt to be.” What a lovely thing to say!
I do like to write, and I’ve always been aware of how easy it is to misspeak. Ten years ago I started making youtube videos, and it didn’t take long to find out that what seemed obvious to me was unfathomable to many others. I try not to repeat my mistakes.
Wattpad is new to me, but it seems like a fun idea. By all means finish your sequel and send me a link. I’m sure there are a lot of others who would like to see a happier ending to the story.
Prayers for Bobby has been around for some time. I don’t really have anything to say about it, because it says everything there is to say about the subject itself. Homophobia is horrible, but I don’t think you can convince a homophobe of that, except by killing Bobby.
Please let me know after you have watched Hidden Kisses. I have something related that may interest you.
@@timsit9666 Ow, thank you so much. I'm gratified. I do love to write too. It's like a passion emerged from me that has just been discovered lately. Well, in school, writing is really my strongest spot but back then, I haven't saw myself writing a specific book, but now, that's what I'm dreaming for.
Interesting. I know you do love to write, but how unfortunate. I'm not sure if you stopped writing or dreaming of becoming one but you should've continue. You still have a very long time. Well, I don't really rely on that because personally, time is just a concept of a universal movement; and your own created world revolves only for you, which is I think, you should see as a bigger aspect. I'm not sure how old are you but I badly wanna read a story from you. Also, I'm not sure about the "thing" unfathomable to others but if it's a masterpiece of an idea, then you shouldn't have stopped. I think what you did wasn't even bad or does step on other's feet. If it's about your writings, or edits or your own perspective, I would be glad to see now what you did before. I would like to tell you that what seems unfathomable to others, doesn't mean to be a hindrance to society, nor to you. You don't need to fit, to belong. You just need to keep going, please. I really really love your words, your compositions and yep, I'm looking forward to the stories and literatures you'll make.
Ow yey, thank you. It's actually my first time writing something like this and it was a bit of a challenge for newcomers but I managed to write. I haven't finished it yet but it's already posted on Wattpad, I was too excited to post it HAHAHA. Also, if you could help me improve my skills and/or my lines, you can freely suggest a concern to me. I would deeply love that. I'm still 15 so there's still a lot of room for improvement and English isn't my first language but I think, I'm used to speaking the language, comfortably. Or we could brainstorm about the book, well, maybe if that happened, it'll be our book HAHAHA but yeah, here are some of the lines you'll see on my book.
"Alexandre, meeting you wasn't an accident,
Nor a tragedy
It was a special scene,
That led to an eternal promise,
A forever-ought."
"for they remain their love faithful, and true, as they go against the law of the boundary of life, and death."
"He realized that the opportunity was near his hand, but fate keeps pulling it away from him. He already had the opportunity but was still refused of taking chances."
www.wattpad.com/list/1154840309?wp_page=reading_list_details&wp_uname=Seb4st8n&wp_originator=kYPbO8BeCSz8bup46vhJ1vXPZZkK4Rmqs9ln5%2FWXXuSg5IWra65dsUJOTARAohuP8o%2FsG55Vjk27gEDpgRQ8Q%2B0rupDJ03LPnInNpR7IhffFOzrH6Pq9X%2FTFCcGgoBqI
Yes, a happy ending✅ I would like my readers to get depressed at the climax but end with a relief.
Thank you so much in advance. Well, I'm grateful that I got to talk to someone like you, so much grateful.
Ow dang, that movie is a soul crasher. Prayers For Bobby screams representation. I think homophobia was just that horrible back then because of the church. Sadly, I stand on my religion but still, no way, the reverend father there has a very good point and indeed, homophobes wasn't really discussed in the Bible, well for the original language of it. Some interpreters and translators of the Bible probably wrote it with their own perspective, conveying their emotions and experiences. That's how language barriers work. But yep, it's sad that someone needs to die just for them to realize a mistake.
Yes, I'm watching it right now. Thank you for the suggestion legend. I would really love to talk to you for long. If you have other social media accounts, might have say it, I'll follow you there and maybe we can talk. Thank you so much. Have a nice day again!
that song Walt hummed "my baby", do anybody know what song it is?
langlen, this is a bit of a reach for me, not because it was before my time (it wasn’t), but because there aren’t quite enough notes for me to be sure.
I’ll bet you never heard of Vaughn Monroe. He was a very popular singing bandleader in the 1940s, and in 1945 he and his band recorded a song called ”:There, I’ve Said It Again.” It was a big hit.
th-cam.com/video/B5tGk5OTk94/w-d-xo.html
(Uh, Spring of 1945 just happens to be the setting of For A Lost Soldier.)
The word “baby” is not in the lyrics, but it looks to me like Walt was only dimly paraphrasing the song. And his melody is also shaky, but he wasn’t trying to give a recital now, was he?
The very first notes of his hum exactly match the notes in the song’s lyric “There I’ve said it again.” And I hear other similarities. At least I think I do. :-)
PARALLEL SITUATIONS ARE NOT UNCOMMON
The boy-man relationship in the movie is based on a romantic, sexual relationship between an 11-year-old, virgin boy who is probably gay and an 18-year-old, probably virgin soldier with ambiguous sexual orientation, who is a legal adult.
A parallel situation existed in a town where I lived.
Gay boys aged about 12 to 20 would ride their bicycles or skateboards or drive their cars to a gay nightclub a few miles from their middle-class homes late at night without their parents' knowledge. The men who visited the gay club were aged about 25 to 40. There was no street lighting near the stand-alone club nestled among trees, and the club was intentionally dark on the outside.
The boys would hang out in the parking lot of the gay club and furtively flirt with the men as they parked their cars and walked into the gay club and when the men later walked out of the gay club to their cars to go home.
If a man talked to one of the boys who was seeking his attention, the boy would ask the man to take him home. No money was sought by the boys. A good night for a boy was when a man took him home and had consensual sex with him. One of the boys was a friend of mine, and he said that getting to go home with men for sex was his greatest joy and fondest memory.
Beautiful!
No part 2?
I wanted to like the movie's version of the story; a warm nostalgic remembrance. One i could identify with. But the book is much darker and i think child sex abuse depicted therein is the unfortunate tale being told. The abusive aspect of the story is somewhat couched in the telling. It disturbed me greatly---i did not want that to be the story.
What you are describing is called conflating, that is, mixing the elements of the book with the elements of the movie. It’s a very instinctive thing to do, but it isn’t fair either to the book author or the movie maker.
Eleven/twelve-year old Rudi van Dantzig worshipped his hero Walt. That is a familiar event in the lives of boys, perhaps all boys. Walt’s sexual appetite at times revolted Rudi, but did not override the hero worship. Rudi himself was gay, but so young and inexperienced that he simply didn’t understand why Walt did some of the things that he did.
The trouble I have with the book at this point is believing that Rudi put up with it. Apparently Rudi felt Walt was supplying the most important, but missing element in his life, love. I just don’t know -- the war, starvation in Amsterdam, the separation from family -- there’s no telling how much turmoil an eleven year-old might endure before it overwhelms him. But Rudi makes it clear in his book -- he absolutely loved Walt.
As I’m sure you know, Roeland Kerbosch was Rudi’s friend in real life, indeed was one of the children shipped out to Friesland to circumvent the winter starvation in Amsterdam. After Rudi published his book, Kerbosch (a professional screenwriter) decided that it would make a memorable movie. But Kerbosch had enough experience to know what might be acceptable and unacceptable to movie audiences.
So Kerbosch wrote his own screenplay, based largely on the book, but with some significant changes. Rudi (Jeroen) would be played by an older, clearly pubescent boy. Walt would become a respectable soldier. Some intimacy would be suggested, but it would not be degenerate. The story Kerbosch wanted to tell was simply about love and loss. (I will address Kerbosch’s ambiguous sex scene in a later comment.)
Wright, I agree that the book tarnishes the movie, but I know that they are two separate works of art, and each should be judged on its own merits. You might consider how you would feel about the movie if you had never read the book. I found it helped me appreciate the movie more.
@@timsit9666 thanks for the background information. I had done a tiny bit of research, but your input has more depth and gives me an appreciation for what the authors had to work with. I like the movie and could identify with Jeroen very much. I think I am angry with the Walt character for being so self-centered (!). I feel that if Walt had really cared for Jeroen beyond his own needs, he would have reached out and explored reconnecting with Jeroen after the war. But I did like and "feel" the movie.
@@timsit9666 I didn't know that the screenplay was written by a friend of Rudi's but one has to wonder why he wanted to make the relationship more balanced than Rudi depicts. If Rudi agreed to the film - which surely he must have done - then it must surely have been close to the truth as he saw it. Noone who was a victim of simple abuse would want the story sugarcoated surely?
@@georgenorris2657 You ask good questions, which I cannot answer :-)
But if you haven’t already seen it, here is an online interview of Roeland Kerbosch, published after Rudi’s death ten years ago. My guess is that Kerbosch’s soft-pedaling of the gay sex was because he didn’t want to offend his movie patrons. Only my guess, however
.
FWIW, Rudi actually collaborated with Kerbosch during the filming, so he was aware of the changes.
www.theskykid.com/for-a-lost-soldier-an-interview-with-roeland-kerbosch/
@@timsit9666 Thank you for this. It was interesting but not nearly long enough! Very interesting that Rudi was considering a sequel from the point of view of Walt.
9:48 I wanna see the behind the scenes of this scene
... an amazing scene!
@Robert Yeah, me too
Does anyone know what is the song that Walt is humming when they are lying on the bed?
Nusi, this is a bit of a reach for me, not because it was before my time (it wasn’t), but because there aren’t quite enough notes for me to be sure.
I’ll bet you never heard of Vaughn Monroe. He was a very popular singing bandleader in the 1940s, and in 1945 he and his band recorded a song called ”:There, I’ve Said It Again.” It was a big hit.
th-cam.com/video/5HsKrq1YVn8/w-d-xo.html
(Uh, Spring of 1945 just happens to be the setting of For A Lost Soldier.)
The word “baby” is not in the lyrics, but it looks to me like Walt was only dimly paraphrasing the song. And his melody is also shaky, but he wasn’t trying to give a recital now, was he?
The very first notes of his hum exactly match the notes in the song’s lyric “There I’ve said it again.” And I hear other similarities. At least I think I do. :-)
@@timsit9666 You know everything! Thank you a lot!
Great review! Great film. All fans of CMBYN should see this one. One simple comment. The letter "J" in Dutch is pronounced like a "Y". Thanks and All the Best.
Thank you, Liam. I tried to keep my summary of the movie focused, but even as I wrote it I had a great urge to talk about the emotional impact. So I wrote a separate, personal reaction to it, and posted a link to it in the Description -- the “documentcloud” link. Did you perhaps read it? I would like to know what you think of it.
8v7@@timsit9666
Am I the only one who can't find any information on those actors nowadays? Not even in wikipedia, did I miss something?
Please pardon my sly smirk, Kurt, but I have been trying for five years to do the same thing. It seems like both Maarten and Andrew have shed any public connection to the movie. All I can do is wonder Why?
Andrew Kelley is today a famous ballet teacher, both in Boston and Budapest. He is featured on the Boston Ballet’s website,
www.bostonballet.org/Home/Global/Profiles/Education-Faculty/Part-time-Faculty/Andrew-Kelley.aspx
But his biography mentions not one word about For a Lost Soldier. Not one word.
Maarten Smit is a native of Groningen, Netherlands (not far from Laaksum, site of FALS.) He has performed on stage in many roles, including as Lancelot in “King A” (Arthur) in NYC. Today he is a big player in the Dutch Art world, as stage director, producer and composer. He is frequently mentioned in local Dutch arts media, magazines and TV, but these are rarely turned up by Internet search engines.
But even when Maarten is the subject of such media, FALS is never mentioned. At least I never found them.
@@timsit9666 Well, that explains quite a lot, I've been trying to see more of them, what they look like now but when I search for their names I get only the FALS pictures and maybe two of people that aren't them. Now thanks to you I know what happened to them, happy to know that they're doing well, still wish I could see more of Maarten Smit, I keep looking for him and nothing, am I the only weirdo who wants to see our little Jeroen as an adult? Perhaps I'm. I wanted to say that I loved your videos, they helped me understand some things that I missed while watching the movie for the first time. Amazing work!
@@kurtadanp.lopezquiroz8302 In 2015/6, Maarten promoted a stage play called “The House in Hoogeveen”; he wound up directing it. It’s about the assimilation of 22 Syrian refugees, into a tiny Netherlands town. It was a national hit in Holland and while he was already well-know, it cemented his reputation.
Here is a video that tells about the making of the stage play. Maarten appears several times (first time about 2:00), and of course they all speak Dutch....but who cares, if all you want is to see him.
www.wabisabitheater.nl/post/making-of-van-thuis-in-hoogeveen
BTW, wabi sabi is a Japanese term referring to an philosophy about the nature of imperfections in life. Maarten has apparently taken it to heart, and opened his own theater company dedicated to promoting the idea. I think it’s food for thought.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wabi-sabi
Kurt, here’s another glimpse of Maarten, taken several years back, I think. You can cut and paste the Dutch text into Google Translate and get a decent translation.
www.stationnoord.nl/makers/#Maarten+Smit
I don't recognize what is in his hand, but I see he kept the same hairstyle he wore in FALS :-)
@@timsit9666 Thank you so much! Yet again I'm surprised by you, I would have never found anything about those two if it wasn't for you, such a good investigator. I'm happy to know that those two found their ways and are living their best life, still wish they'd meet up and talk about this movie, what's with all the secrecy? Pretty wild imagination I've got, I mean, if they didn't promote this movie years ago, there's no way they'd do it now. Thank you again and happy to know there's still kind people on the internet.
I'm still waiting to read this book. Is it still like $900?
Chris, you can read it online --
archive.org/details/ForALostSoldier
@@timsit9666 , thanks! I am halfway through it. It's wonderful.
@@timsit9666 thankzs
@@timsit9666 omg
Just finished reading the book. It took me 10 hours but it was worth my time 😊
Im getting the full movie when i was a boy of 12 similar thing happened to me ,,,,i wanted it nobody can say it was wrong i never told a sole
You had better continue to keep it quiet if you do not want a lot of trouble.
@@adampowell5376 what kind of trouble?? He was 12 years old....🤔
@@Michael-nw9vh If the police were to find out about it and collect evidence his older friend would go to prison. He would also experience serious social ostracism for admitting that he enjoyed the experience.
@@adampowell5376 I can't.... I want believe that...
Social ostracism for things of his past, when he was 12. Unbelievable. And how did YOU know that he enjoyed it??
@@Michael-nw9vh David Napier said that something similar happened to him when he was 12. Rudi van Danzig wrote this book to tell us how much he enjoyed this relationship.
I love this movie. Mainly due to the directing. It is a very haunting film. However, it is very much a love story but it is through the eyes of a child. .In actuality it involves a pedophile.
I might think hows old walt right now?
He was born in 1966.
@@timsit9666 The actor Andrew Kelley was born on 1966?
Where do i watch the full movie?
Here is a version with Portuguese subtitles
th-cam.com/video/lYnKxmXGfFs/w-d-xo.html
Here is the Russian youtube version, which has good English subtitles. I’m not sure, but you may have to join the site to watch their videos (there have been some changes in the past year.)
ok.ru/video/3538002905670
There is no version with spoken English dialog.
I have not seen the movie aside from clips, but I have read the book. The book is darker and more nuanced that the movie, apparently. I am left with an ambivalence about the story that leaves me unsettled even though I am sympathetic to the love story over all.
Thanks for an honest reaction. The book casts a shadow over the movie, I know. I wish it were not so, but it does.
In my case I saw the movie first. I had watched a video, which convinced me to buy the DVD from Amazon. Months later I discovered the book on the Internet Archive and read it. First impressions count; I was lucky.
I had to wonder why Rudi Van Danzig didn’t become are raging homophobe after the war. Walt didn’t simply exploit him, he gave Rudi a lifetime of hurt. Maybe Walt was one of the last soldiers to die in the war, which ended just weeks after he left Laaksum. That could explain it, but no one knows. There was no dogtag in the book.
Kerbosch was Rudi’s friend, and he was amazed that Rudi in fact loved Walt. That was the key: Kerbosch realized that this was a love for the ages. He wanted to show the love; he wanted to show the heartbreak. Forget the lust and prurience -- those were only footnotes to the rapture.
So he changed the story, but kept the love and the heartbreak. And while Rudi was only 11 when the book began, Kerbosch felt obligated to make him older in his movie. After all, he wanted an audience, and he wasn’t stupid.
Please make more commentary.
How much would I have to pay for you to audiobook read F.A.L.S.? As a copyright free edition to the public? You have a great voice for it.
Start your Patreon/SubscribeStar. I’ll give what is necessary for it to be produced and published.
Sir, have you ever read the book For A Lost Soldier?
Rudi van Dantzig said it was autobiographical, and I take him at his word. But the story it tells is an incredible amalgam of a child’s moments of innocent joy laced with outrageous lust from the child’s hero-figure. That the child comes to love his hero is amazing to me, but apparently that’s what happened.
Roeland Kerbosh changed the book significantly in his screenplay, eliminating the disgusting parts. His movie is simply about love, and is celebrated and honored. So be it.
You ask if I would participate in supplementing the book. To me that is unthinkable.
No thank you.
@@timsit9666 - Thank you for your response. I haven’t read it. Saw the movie first, and I just got the book off of eBay for $140 to read it myself.
Maybe we’re crossed signals here, or I did a piss-poor job at relaying my request.
I just wanted to ask (more clearly:) if you could narrate the book for us.
At my first statement, I meant to ask if you couldn’t give us more critical analysis of other coming-of-age films. NOT to add addendums to F.A.L.S.
Your voice reminds me of an older version of this TH-camr m.th-cam.com/video/ndEWof-8xTY/w-d-xo.html
I can’t wait for more content from you!
@@CommanderSix You might like
www.yuyutv.com/video/014440v/hidden-kisses/
If you like it, I have some commentary beginning at
th-cam.com/video/6nQlq5gRV-A/w-d-xo.html
Thanks for your Lord of the Rings analysis, I really enjoyed it.
@@CommanderSix Did you ever get your $140 FALS book? The movie must be dear to you, and I was wondering how you feel about the two stories after you have read the book.
@@timsit9666 - I’m loving the book. The ghost-writer did a splendid job at putting us in Jeroen’s shoes at the point of eviction from his home to finally touching down and investigating the aeroplane.
I’m feeling a bit trepidatious at the thought that the book is about to turn sour with the upcoming introduction of Walt... (if the movie/book timeline is synced correctly.)
Please find a way to keep us up to date on new projects. I love your insight in to cinematic film. I need you to review some films for me!
I’ll pay to see it.
P.S. - TH-cam NEVER told me that you replied to my comment. I JUST saw it earlier today. That’s why I’m replying to you now, just after work!
God bless. See ya’ soon!
If there is a movie similar to this movie, please write to me.
www.cinehousetv.com/video/010767v/hidden-kisses
The movie you sent does not look like the movie for lost soldier
i meant a themed movie like for lost soldiers
@@relaxingasmr6597 The movie For A Lost Soldier has a gay love-and-loss theme. If you are looking for another gay love-and-loss themed movie, maybe Brokeback Mountain might do.
Hidden Kisses is also about young gay love. I won’t tell you how it ends, but I do think it’s a pretty good movie.
A Love To Hide. Un amour a taire.
9:54 Mmmm, Wow 🥰🥰🥰🥰😘
are you gay
I wish that kissing scene was more longer
@@robertbench5187 wow old film so sad 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 and u ?
@@eslammohamed-sq7cq what about you are you bisexual or gay
Where now andrew kelly is
Try Googling him
@@timsit9666 you don't know?
Hi baby love you😘💘💖
Muy bonita la historia
Pero un adulto con un menor llevándolo a la cama x barras de chocolate😮
Foi baseada em fatos reais. Rudi Van, o autor, é Jerome na história.
Aunque dice que fue basada en hechos reales no le quita lo escándaloso del asunto 😮
It’s very poignant and it’s well done. But I think it’s important to remember that this is a grown man luring a boy into his bed with candy bars. Does it get any more disturbing than that?
Mr. Sprague, if that was all there was to it, I would agree completely. But there is more, much more, in this unique story.
Director/screenwriter Kerbosch based his movie on Rudi Van Dantzig’s book. He felt that real love had developed between Rudi and Walt. He thought that was a story worth telling, and he set out to tell it.
But there was a big problem: real-life Walt was a sexual predator, and he did things that revolted Rudi. Rudi’s book described many of the sordid details about Walt’s sexual practices. Kerbosch knew movie audiences would not pay to watch such things. So he took it upon himself to re-write the story, leaving out what amounted to pornography.
Rudi was 11 when he arrived in Friesland (book, page 22). The book makes no other mention of his age or birthday. For his movie, Mr. Kerbosch chose Maarten Smit, clearly pubescent, to play Jeroen. Maarten said later that when the movie was released he was 14. The movie makes no mention of Jeroen’s age: absolutely none at all.
Kerbosch was meticulous in the way he slowly built the growing bond between Jeroen and Walt. Of course Walt was Jeroen’s hero figure right from the first pack of gum, but then -- riding in the jeep, playing, watching it rain, exploring the downed airplane -- there was one small adventure after another, and always with excitement and respect.
To me, there is a huge difference between such shared experiences and “luring a boy into his bed.” Both Walt and young Rudi/Jeroen were homosexual, and Kerbosch knew that. So he had to make a decision about how much of that to put in his movie. I think he made it clear enough just by using subtle suggestions.
That said, I wrote in depth about “the sex episode” in another comment, four months ago, below. Quite honestly I don’t know why Kerbosch included it. I think it is ambiguous, and regardless of how one interprets it, I can’t see that it advances his story.
However, the impassioned kiss, with Jeroen lying on top of Walt, is another matter. Here, context is everything.
Please consider this:
The name of the story is For a Lost Soldier. And that is exactly where Walt is, emotionally lost. He joined the Army, and later said “The Army made a man out of me. Not a very happy one, so far.” His binoculars showed him the faces of his enemy, only to reveal that they were the faces of young men just like himself. He thought the binoculars were “Not a very good idea.”
Neither the book nor the movie addresses Walt’s combat experience, but the movie made it clear that he hated the Army. What’s more, he was in a foreign land whose people spoke a language he didn’t understand. And tellingly, there was no mention of a loved one waiting for him back home. His world was a very small bubble, and there was no love in it.
In a special sense, Jeroen was also a lost soldier -- uprooted by the war, forced to flee starvation in Amsterdam, dependent on the charity of strangers, separated from his loving family, not knowing if he would ever see them alive again. From the time he got up every morning until he went to bed at night, his small bubble was empty of love also.
In a few short weeks, each became the most important person in the world to the other. And when these two soldiers kissed, there in the midst of war, our world became a better place.
I thank Roeland Kerbosch for understanding the human heart.
It's wrong because it's a relationship between a minor and an adult. I think Walt could have been a pedophile or ephebophile, but I focus more on Jeroen, he had his first love in wartime, and he has good memories of Walt. I identify with Jeroen because when I was 16 my first love was a 28 year old man, I haven't heard from him for four years. Not all my memories with him are good, but I hope he is fine, and it's better that this type of relationship doesn't happen anymore
I have received email from youtube notifying me that (name withheld) posted a comment to my video. The email included the comment itself. But the comment never showed up in the comments section of the video.
This may be some sort of a game, I don’t know. Trouble is, it’s the second time this individual has done this (1st time 3 months ago). Probably I should ignore it, and forget the whole thing. But the comment itself is significant, and so I’m going to reply to it. It has to do with the sex scene in For a Lost Soldier.
My reply:
I think the sex scene is ambiguous, and deliberately so.
In the scene, Walt lies on top of Jeroen, who is face down on the bed. We only see their faces. Jeroen lifts his head as if to question Walt, and Walt tells him to put his head back down. Then Walt puts a knuckle between Jeroen’s teeth, as if to give him something to bite on to distract from the pain. Walt lowers his head to touch Jeroen’s head, and the scene fades to black.
Did Walt bugger Jeroen? If so, it isn’t shown. But the knuckle to bite on is terribly suggestive.
Now here’s the problem: the very next scene shows Jeroen in shorts, sitting on the edge of the bed, as Walt lies asleep. Jeroen rises, and walks about the room examining Walt’s belongings. He dons Walt’s dog tags and sunglasses, then steals a photo of Walt. Refuting buggery, he shows no trace of bleeding, pain or physical discomfort. The one thing that is clear is that he idolizes Walt.
Kerbosch has managed to suggest buggery, only to contradict it with a clear lack of its inevitable consequences. What in the world is Kerbosch trying to say?
Kerbosch treasured his friend Dantzig, and I think he felt obligated to acknowledge Rudi’s sexual trials. But he had enough experience to know that general movie audiences would only tolerate so much. It looks to me like he only chose to “imply” the action.
Buggery: the knuckle implies what happened
No Buggery: afterward, no physical evidence, no change of hero worship; the implication is that nothing distressing has happened
In other words, I think the interpretation is in the eye of the beholder.....just the way Kerbosch wanted it.
I’ve try to write a question but for some reason it doesn’t show up in the comments. I hope this is the case for me too and wait to see your reply / thoughts. Thanks
I also tried to reply another user comment asking about the actors nowadays, I linked Andrew’s Facebook page, but that too didn’t show up.
@@TheLordoftheStringsTH-cam When you post a new comment, use the “Add a comment” option just below the Description.
TH-cam always puts a newly posted COMMENT at the beginning of all the comments. But a newly posted REPLY is always placed below the comment it replies to, even if it is a very old comment.
I found your two posts as Replies to an old comment I posted 8 months ago. Yes, it can be confusing, but don’t get discouraged.
By the way, what is it you wanted to know? (Post a brand-new Comment.)
There was nothing ambiguous about it. Just because jeroen wasn't in agony & distress afterwards doesn't mean Walt didn't do what he did to him, it's blatant. Not everyone is in distress or pain after being assaulted, especially if they don't even know that what just happened was assault & they think it's "love". It seems like you just don't want to accept that that's what was going on because you're dead set on romanticizing the whole thing
@@ratdog6317 I appreciate your opposing view. One of the things I like about open forums (youtube) is hearing the view of others, pro or con.
You state your views strongly, and as I read them I think the root of our disagreement is your phrase “what was going on”. I don’t know what was going on -- I can only interpret what Director Kerbosch placed on the screen for me to see.
I did not see buggery, although I agree that it was implied. I did see what appeared to me as a complete lack of its inevitable consequences (pain), considering the physical size of the two. To me that suggests that Mr. Kerbosch wanted to leave the interpretation up to the individual viewer.
I’m curious: Do you think it is absurd (or perhaps immoral) that these two could love each other?
It’s a bit mysterious, but I got an email from youtube telling me that a commentor named Flower Hero had asked for a link to the movie. But Flower Hero’s comment never showed up in this comment column.
Oh well, here’s what I know about watching the whole movie on youtube.
For the whole movie with Spanish subtitles
filmesgays.net/movies/for-a-lost-soldier-para-um-soldado-perdido/
For the whole movie with Dutch subtitles
th-cam.com/video/U6obOxGYN7g/w-d-xo.html
As far as I know, the movie has never had English subtitles, but
I posted a condensed version with English narration and subtitles
th-cam.com/video/Y12_75JakXY/w-d-xo.html
The condensed movie has a short sequel called *For a Lost Soldier - Walt.* It also has English narration and subtitles
th-cam.com/video/kogEf939bRs/w-d-xo.html
Here is the English subtitles ok.ru/video/11711284712, but you must increase the speed
@@rtyrtuh Bravo! I've never seen that before. I had to set the speed at 2.0 (click the little gear icon at the bottom of the picture). The aspect ratio is a bit off (everything is a little too tall), but that may be peculiar just to my computer.
Thanks.
Do u know when was maarten smit born?
Timsit.
I did have the VHS with English subtitles but it was broken or lost yrs ago.
I see there is a link here now but how do I play at the correct speed please?
@@jont1025 It’s easy (when you know how).
In the bottom right corner of the video screen, click the tiny gear icon. A small menu pops up. Click “Playback speed” When the numbers appear, double click “2”. That’’s all you have to do.
To get back to regular speed, follow the same procedure, but when the numbers appear, doubleclick “Normal”. That’s all.
When youtube plays a video it gives you some really handy shortcuts To invoke them, all you do is tap a single letter (the case doesn’t make any difference).
F of f - toggles full screen on and off
J or j - skips backward 10 seconds (great for re-reading subtitles)
K or k - toggles Play and Stop
L or l - skips forward 10 seconds
I already have sent my email. Do you get it?
Yes, you've probably got my reply by now. I'm going to delete my email address in the earlier comment.
rtyrtuh você é lindo, parabéns...
😢😢😢 I am the Nigerian Jeroen
Have you met your Walt yet?
@@timsit9666 for all I know he passed me by when I was deep in the closet
GOSTARIA MUITO DE ACHA ESSE FILME PRA ASSISTIR. ALGUEM SABE COMO CONSIGO
Role para baixo os comentários um pouco para o comentário de Joel Morgan. Eu respondi a mesma pergunta para ele um mês atrás.
Por favor, não escreva em CAPS. Isso é o equivalente a gritar.
I TH-cam full movie
MASSA
больные люди.
педофилию завернули в романтическую вуаль и воспели.
That's just your sick opinion.
Truth! Disgusting
The boy was 11 he was molested, raped, sodomized, and then dumped.
Now 75 years later and statutory rape is still illegal and today Walt would be arrested,charged, and jailed as the child molester he was.
Love story my ass.
It was the war: at least he didn't go the Anne Frank route!
Joking aside, I was abused when I was 14 (not to the point of rape or sodomy) and it ruined my life cos I didn't have the social skills to cope with the inevitable rejection.
As young and abused as van Dantzig was, he felt love for Walt and he went on to a very successful, fulfilled life.
Pedophilia is unfortunate to say the least, but no worse than the mass revenge raping that took place after the war by soldiers.
@@michaelrg3836 The second part of the book was about how Jerone couldn't cope after Walt left him high and dry.
People should never make pedophilia sound like LOVE.
@@christophertucker8031 sure, I agree - what does an 11 year old know about love anyway? I've avoided the book and the film for years feeling it would be contentious - but with lockdown I gave it a read. It's about time I sort through my past - I turn 50 soon.
@@michaelrg3836 Homosexuality always began with some kind if sexual abuse by an older male. Now it's pumped out by mainstream media as the ideal, often over heterosexuality.
I was a victim of sexual abuse when I was 11.
I thought it was love too.
But it was just a sicko getting his rocks off and making me think I was gay which ultimately cost me two marriages.
This SO CALLED LOVE STORY PISSES ME OFF.
Virgil I am a therapist. I see the victims of sex abuse every day.
You have been desensitized to Pedophilia.
By trendy Hollywood movies. Made by paedophiles.
this is a horror story...thank you Velga and Christopher...looks good but isn't...this kid will experience ptsd as an adult...James
curious why you say it is a horror story
Probably can’t find nothing on the kid actor bc he realizes he was groomed into something he grew up to want to completely distance himself from. The narrator sounds creepy with his choice descriptive words.
Actually. No. He still acts. But mostly theater and Dutch Films.
This wasn’t an advocacy of homosexuality. But a story of hebephiliac romance. It is a touchingly insidious piece of cinematography that should never be forgotten. Look at the book, at the least.
The descriptiveness by the narrator wasn’t completely awful, just adequately stated. But none of it was advocacy.
@@CommanderSix my thoughts had nothing to do with homosexuality. I’m speaking towards pedophilia because the subject is a child. The choice descriptive words the narrator is using is weird. “The shower scene is precious” No it’s pedophilia. We can appreciate the movie for telling a story or an experience that has surely happened in time… but if you’re in 2022 smitten by this relationship you need to evaluate what consent means to you and if your appreciating the movie for the telling of a story of pedophilia or if you’re enjoying the pedophila nature of the movie.
@@Goldun-nahHe's not a child. At least do you know what a child is?
@@dyIanrs was he not a child during the filming of this movie or are you ransacked by thoughts of pedophilia that you couldn’t help yourself to interject with such a nonsensical response? The context clue your missed was in the context of this movie. you seem to not know how to use context clues which is the most simplistic and fundamental form of communication… so I ask you, blatantly given the context of this movie. What do you mean this child actor playing this role isn’t a child?
Iam a gay or u may say transgender because i feel like a girl from inside......I also wish to get a boyfriend
I admire your honesty.
Write to me:
Juancarloscubano2015@gmail.com
This not just a love story, it is a story about so called "padeophilia" the commentary completely ignores the fact that the boy in movie is under age. Just because there may be love involved does not make it right. Walt is the adult and used a child for his own sexual gratification. He had a responsiblility to the child to put his own sexual needs aside and put the child's welfare first. There are good reasons why there is a taboo in most cultures on child-adult sex.
The film is about love and intimacy. The sex is your own imagination.
@@CoreyChambersLA I don't think so.
@@CoreyChambersLA I quote from Timzit below: "I’ve been reading comments posted to For A Lost Soldier videos for a long time, and I think it’s a shame that many commenters really don’t make an effort to understand some pretty fundamental facts about Rudi Van Danzig’s book and Roeland Kerbosch’s movie.
Van Danzig said his book was autobiographical. Having never heard anyone dispute his story, I assume it is factual. It covers slightly less than one year in his young life. It starts when he is 11, and ends when he is 12.
Kerbosch’s movie was inspired by Van Danzig’s book, but it was never intended to be literally faithful to it. Far from it. Kerbosch bought the screen rights and wrote the screenplay himself, making some sweeping changes to Van Danzig’s story. He wanted to turn it into a love story, and he did. Here are the two main changes:
First, Kerbosch chose a 14 year old boy to play the part of Jeroen (Maarten Smit). NEVER ONCE IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS JEROEN’S AGE MENTIONED. I think it is obvious Kerbosch thought an 11 year old playing the part would not be acceptable to moviegoers. Maarten Smit was clearly well into puberty.
Second, in the book, Walt was a sexual predator. His advances sometimes revolted the young Jeroen and yet they exerted a bizarre fascination on him. KERBOSCH WOULD NOT HAVE IT.
He re-wrote Walt’s personality, made him into a good young solder."
@@CoreyChambersLA I agree with you. David is overreacting I M H O
@@davidrose1993 i disagree with you. Why do you say what you say
This movie is so magnificent in every single way! From direction, to script, to visuals and the tender feelings that are explored, it is truly a masterpiece. Thank you @timsit9666 for sharing your thoughts, words and wisdom with those who have an appreciation for such a cinematic treasure. I hope the conversations about this marvellous movie continue.