One Soldier is a black-and-white short film (30 min) from 1999 starring and directed by Steven Wright. Also starring is Sandi Carroll. The film tells the story of a confused soldier (played by Wright) who narrates throughout the movie his bizarre thoughts about the army and war in general, using Wright's trademark deadpan humor. Some of One Soldier was filmed on Block Island, an island off the coast of Rhode Island. Horses from a local stable on the island, Rustic Rides Farm, were used for the scene of Wright with horses on the beach.
The film is told entirely in retrospect, from a veteran of the American Civil War who may already have been executed. During the war, his job was to play music for a general who decided, in the soldier's words, "where hundreds of men would die." He has come home from the war skeptical about the meaning of life (or that there is a meaning), and trying to search for answers. He attempts to express his thoughts and doubts to his wife Becky, but she remains unconvinced that life is horrible and thinks he is crazy and going to hell. Convinced that people have come to have too much influence over art, he tries to play music not written by people by drawing music lines on his glasses and playing the stars as if they were notes. He also tries to get in touch with God, but, not wanting to be intrusive, he merely hangs about outside the church and whispers through the windows, "God...hey, God...what're you doin'?"
Finally, after many hints, it is revealed why he is sentenced to death: he fought in the war because a rich man paid him to fight in his (the rich man's) place. When the rich man showed up to see how he was fighting, he found the soldier standing and playing the concertina during a battle. The rich man gave him a gun and started yelling at him, so in frustration the soldier shot the rich man instead of the Confederates, picked up the concertina, and left him lying in the field. "He killed the wrong man in the war."
As he is about to be executed, the soldier has an epiphany: "My God...I wasted my whole life thinking about this stuff. I should have just gone fishing! I should have had a sandwich, or had a few laughs! Now I get it!" His illumination is cut off by the firing squad.
He, perhaps in some sort of spirit form, walks through a graveyard and muses, "I'm gonna miss being alive." The credits follow.
soldier, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, june, 2019, learn,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources One Soldier news newspapers books scholar JSTOR June 2019 Learn how and when to remove this message One Soldier is a black and white short film 30 min from 1999 starring and directed by Steven Wright Also starring is Sandi Carroll The film tells the story of a confused soldier played by Wright who narrates throughout the movie his bizarre thoughts about the army and war in general using Wright s trademark deadpan humor Some of One Soldier was filmed on Block Island an island off the coast of Rhode Island Horses from a local stable on the island Rustic Rides Farm were used for the scene of Wright with horses on the beach One SoldierDirected bySteven WrightStarringSandi CarrollSteven WrightRelease dateMarch 1999 1999 03 Running time30 minsCountryUnited StatesPlot editThe film is told entirely in retrospect from a veteran of the American Civil War who may already have been executed During the war his job was to play music for a general who decided in the soldier s words where hundreds of men would die He has come home from the war skeptical about the meaning of life or that there is a meaning and trying to search for answers He attempts to express his thoughts and doubts to his wife Becky but she remains unconvinced that life is horrible and thinks he is crazy and going to hell Convinced that people have come to have too much influence over art he tries to play music not written by people by drawing music lines on his glasses and playing the stars as if they were notes He also tries to get in touch with God but not wanting to be intrusive he merely hangs about outside the church and whispers through the windows God hey God what re you doin Finally after many hints it is revealed why he is sentenced to death he fought in the war because a rich man paid him to fight in his the rich man s place When the rich man showed up to see how he was fighting he found the soldier standing and playing the concertina during a battle The rich man gave him a gun and started yelling at him so in frustration the soldier shot the rich man instead of the Confederates picked up the concertina and left him lying in the field He killed the wrong man in the war As he is about to be executed the soldier has an epiphany My God I wasted my whole life thinking about this stuff I should have just gone fishing I should have had a sandwich or had a few laughs Now I get it His illumination is cut off by the firing squad He perhaps in some sort of spirit form walks through a graveyard and muses I m gonna miss being alive The credits follow External links editOne Soldier at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title One Soldier amp oldid 1222632379, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
