Martin Bradley It's unlikely that a movie like "For a Lost Soldier" would be made today. Some might say we live in more 'protective' times; others might say we live in more puritanical times. I have no intention of getting into arguments over the Me2 Movement or indeed about how cinema and the world at large has become more censorial on what we can see or say or do. "For a Lost Soldier" is by no means an explicit film but its theme is clear. It's about a 12 year old boy in war-time Holland who not only develops a friendship with an older Canadian soldier but also falls in love with him as well and, we are lead to believe, probably experiences something sexual with him, too. The boy grows up gay, (he is played in adult life by Jeroen Krabbe), though I would suggest he was always gay and was simply acting on his nature.Since the film was made in 1992 the age of consent has gone down and the world in general is thankfully much more accepting of gay relationships in all forms though children are still protected in law from exploitation and rightly so, though someone seeing "For a Lost Soldier" might argue no exploitation takes place while others will argue that Walt, the soldier's relationship with the child is predatory since it is he who initiates the sexual element and may argue that the abuse is at least emotional. Some, on the other hand, will see him as innocent as the boy.Of course, what the film basically is is a love story; a tale of first love, the difference being that both protagonists are male and one of them is a child. It was controversial when it was made and it's just as controversial now. It discusses issues that most people still find repugnant and it will always be a film that will have difficulty finding its audience. It isn't that well-made; director Roeland Kerbosch isn't the most proficient of film-makers and the acting is adequate at best but it remains a brave and challenging film and ultimately a very touching one. Unfortunately, times being what they are, it's now almost impossible to see.

larapha At present times, it's impossible not to not to note the pedophiles connotations of the movie. After all, we have a young but mature soldier making love to a pubescent youth. But is it all? The relationship that develops between them is very sweet, and one couldn't say is not consensual. We know better that gay feelings are preexisting in many boys very early, and he must have felt very solitary before the emergence of the soldier. Our present legislation and morals wouldn't give a chance to the love of the two boys. But is that reasonable? Not for the morals of the film, who presents the relationship of the two as something quite natural. It's a polemic film, that can lead us to think as of present costumes in a dialectic way. Are we correct in judging as bad as we should such a tender relationship, coming out of the terrors of war, and which gave so permanent good feelings to the minor involved?

colinirwin1 Fantastic film.Shows EXACTLY what boys of that age go through,the feelings of puberty.All boys feel some kind of feeling for someone of the same sex at that age,even if they are not prepared to admit it.This film dealt with this issue like it is.It showed how some boys never forget their first feeling of "love" and some move on.The boy in the film never forgot his and lived with it all his life.It is an outrage that Walt,the object of the young boys feelings in the film,was seen as some kind of "peado".He never encouraged the relationship as the boy,Jerome, later admits in the book he wrote many years later on which the film is based.This film had all the right emotions for that time.1945.The soldier away from home in a strange land meeting the boy going through puberty.A lovely,lovely film and very well acted and directed.

William This intriguing film challenges the notion that sexual contact between children and adults is always bad for the child. However, it also raises the issue that such relationships typically may not continue into the child's adulthood, and the abandonment can be as painful for the child as the relationship was gratifying. The film takes the child's view of the experience at the time and later as an adult in middle age. The film's verisimilitude made me feel like this either could be autobiographical or a gay man's vivid fantasy of a possible childhood relationship with a kind and handsome soldier. The cinematography is simply beautiful, and the characters are developed in three dimensions with sympathy. I've never seen another film like it.