You thought the Nazis were dicks?! Well, get ready for the WWI Germans. Did they practice genocide on a large scale? No, they did not. It’s hard to beat a standard of “exterminated 6 million Jews” for comparisons of evil. However, did WWI Germans kill civilians indiscriminately on little more than “I don’t like that woman?” If The Last Front is to be believed, the answer is “Yes.” Feel free to wiki “The Rape of Belgium.” Yeah, Germans did that, too. *sigh* How bad are your war crimes that we’ve never heard of the “lesser” ones that involve names of countries.
The setting is Belgium, 1914. The German army has invaded. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Belgium is thin; my first and only thought about Belgium tends to be, “not France.” In my mind, Belgians have done very little to distinguish themselves, especially in comparison to their Dutch neighbors.
Well, tell that to the dudes who got invaded by German armies; I’m sure they’ll be receptive. German platoon officer Laurentz (Joe Anderson) leads the invasion through Belgium and goes absolutely apeshit when one of his men is killed by a house-hidden local. This action gives Laurentz carte blanche to -pretty much- exterminate every Belgian he can find. His actions are tempered only by his commanding officer, who is also his father – a detail I’m not sure we needed, but perhaps makes the story more authentic.
Meanwhile, a farmboy and his uptown girl are sweet on one another. Don’t get too attached; within minutes of us establishing the boy’s father, Leonard (Iain Glen), ain’t pleased with what he sees (in his estimation, farming drains women), Laurentz comes in, shoots the boy and his sister, and eventually finds his way to the girl’s parents.
That’s a lot of bodies for what should have been a peaceful occupation.
The movie gets unclear here. At this point, The Last Front has an obsessed Laurentz, already reprimanded by his father, acting as if he has nothing to lose with the cruelty routine (instructing his men 
to be as ruthless), seeking the “Belgian resistance.” Oh, there’s a Belgian resistance? You could have mentioned that before now, movie, I think. (Or did you and I just didn’t notice?) Matters little. That’s the plot now.
And who leads the Belgian resistance? Is it Leonard? Well, if he wasn’t all in on resisting Germans before, two shot children might just push him there now. Yeah, there’s gonna be a Laurentz v. Leonard mano a mano. Hmmm, what language do they speak in Belgium? Google tells me Dutch, German, and French are all national languages – so feel free to translate “mano a mano” into whatever variant of those three you prefer. Personally, I’m going with “main dans la main.”
Was The Last Front worth the effort? Hmmmm. Well, the film ends up making the war personal on both sides, which certainly can make for a more engaging tale. Did it in this case? Not especially. We don’t learn much about Laurentz other than he’s a sociopath and we don’t learn much about Leonard other than he’s a family man who is running out of family. The battle we wait for is shot in darkness and is hard to follow, which rarely describes good action scenes, especially personal battles. I like that the film got me to care about Belgium more than I would naturally, but I can’t say my emotional investment was more than fleeting.
There once was a German, Laurentz
Not an ideal of what his nation represents
For he killed some randos
But without commandos
Perhaps he was just trying to establish precedence
Not Rated, 98 Minutes
Director: Julien Hayet-Kerknawi
Writer: Julien Hayet-Kerknawi, Kate Wood
Genre: World War I sucked, too!
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Belgians
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: Germans
