Review of All the Young Men

There are any number of Second World War films about American soldiers at their best, and there are a lot of Vietnam war films about American soldiers at their worst, but there are not so many Korean war films, because that war was neither dirty nor heroic. All the films there are about that war practically only display the worst sides of war, horrible tribulations and arduous sufferings for nothing with normally a most unglamorous cruel death, there was nothing attractive at all about that war, and there could never be any sympathy or empathy with the communists on the North Korean side - they were just all a horrible menace with nothing human about them. Here at least there are a few North Koreans who earn some respect, sympathy and understanding, although just two women and a boy, but they bestow a tiny portion of humanity into this picture which otherwise would have been just unbearably hard. Alan Ladd is a scarred veteran who fares ill, and gradually Sidney Poitier more and more takes over the lead of the film and with honour, which eventually leads the film into a very satisfactory end, although the beautiful monastery is blown into cinders, but humanity survives it.