The — Young Lions

The problem is that the film is to Irwin Shaw’s 700-page novel. It feels episodic, jumping from set piece to set piece. The coincidences required to bring these three men together in the same war (and ultimately the same forest) strain credibility. Moreover, the American scenes—especially the barracks-room anti-Semitism—feel like a lecture, while the German scenes have a more complex, shaded dread.

The Young Lions is a flawed but important film. It is too long, too preachy in spots, and structurally lumpy. But when it works—watching Brando’s Christian realize he has become the very evil he once dismissed, or watching Dean Martin’s Michael finally understand the cost of his own detachment—it achieves a mournful power. The Young Lions

| What Works | What Doesn’t | | :--- | :--- | | Brando’s nuanced, heartbreaking performance | Overlong and episodic structure | | Dean Martin’s surprisingly effective dramatic turn | Heavy-handed anti-Semitism subplot | | A rare Hollywood attempt to humanize a German soldier | Forced coincidences to unite the three leads | | Bleak, morally complex ending | Occasionally dated dialogue | The problem is that the film is to

This is not a war film for those seeking adrenaline. It is a war film for those who want to sit with the wreckage and ask hard questions about complicity, identity, and the lie of "good wars" fought by clean hands. But when it works—watching Brando’s Christian realize he