On Common Ground

Members of the "greatest generation" meet their one-time enemies in this sensitive, insightful documentary. Directors Jessica Glass and David Eilenberg follow World War II veterans of the 8th Division as they prepare to have a non-rancorous reunion with the German soldiers they fought against back in the winter of 1944 in the Huertgen Forest, located on the border of Belgium and Germany. The sad, amusing and all-too-human reflections of the veterans are complemented by remarks from celebrities, including war correspondent Walter Cronkite (who tells of an amusing encounter with General Patton), news anchor and greatest-generation chronicler Tom Brokaw and one-time Nazi interrogator John Kenneth Galbraith. The disc's supplements include a single two-minute deleted scene, a map of the Huertgen Forest and an audio commentary by Glass and 8th Division vet Mike Eliasof, which repeats entire chunks of information already contained in the feature. This doesn't detract from the effectiveness of the documentary itself, as the filmmakers quietly and unassumingly allow an assortment of eloquent old gentlemen to recount their hellish war experiences and then discuss the commonalities they share as senior citizens. The memories of the German veterans have a harsher cast to them, while the Americans tell tales that have a rosier, Norman Rockwell glow. But both groups were irrevocably scarred by their bloody battle in 1944, in which 30,000 Americans and 33,000 Germans were wounded or killed. Common Ground doesn't provide a great deal of strategic and situational information in the manner of a History Channel program, but it does offer a personal insight into the two groups of soldiers--one side considered heroic, the other looked on as monsters--who in actuality were just scared, bored and resourceful young men. --Ed Grant