Bravery in the Field
1979 · 28m · Canada
Directed by Giles Walker
Genres: drama, historical
Tones: contemplative, melancholic
World War II veteran Tommy waits alone for his pension cheque and passes evenings at the Legion Hall, while young Lennie prowls the same streets, both lives lacking place and purpose as Remembrance Day approaches.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Walker's doing the opposite of what you'd expect from a war film—no heroics, no spectacle, just two men circling the same emptiness on different schedules. It's almost boring enough to be radical, which means it's probably smarter than I want to admit.
A formally precise study in Canadian social realism, situated squarely in the lineage of NFB documentary-drama hybrids; the restraint of Walker's framing and the measured accumulation of small, observed details create a portrait of post-war displacement that rewards close attention and formal consideration.
The genius move here is the dual timeline structure—cutting between Tommy's static routine and Lennie's restless wandering without ever spelling out their connection forces you to hold both lives in the same frame, and that single compositional choice does the thematic work of the whole film.