It made me cry when I saw this. Such a powerful scene. The cruelty of a terrible war that created a Lost Generation just overpowered by the innocence and hope of life of that baby girl. I thought if he survived the war, if he ever could have returned to see the woman and baby again. Powerful scene, I repeat.
Something that I love about this specific scene is that a lot of the story behind it was meant to be, with many elements converging into him giving the baby his milk. First, he cut his hand and used his water to wash it; then he gets buried in the German trench and washes his eyes. Finally, he finds in the small farm the opportunity to refuel his supply. God’s providence.
This scene made me sob when I saw it in theaters, and that is a very rare thing for me. I immediately started bawling my eyes out. This scene is among the greatest in cinematic history in my opinion, so is the rest of the movie.
"What is her name?" "I don't know." "Who is her mother?" "...I don't know." The most heartbreaking line in the entire movie, and in my honest belief, the saddest scene in the entire movie, as the French countryside was reduced to this for 4 long years. It was supposed to be the War To End All Wars.
@@Jaxck77 Actually, the opposite. Which lesson was learned after WWII. Then unlearned again in Iraq. You cannot dismantle a nation and expect peace. The allies were too punitive after WWI. After the second world war, they understood that they had to rebuild Germany and Japan for peace's sake. They executed the top of the Nazi hierarchy but allowed the second tier Nazis to rebuild Germany.
Except, cow's milk KILLS infants. Babies under 9 months will DIE if they drink cow's milk. Had they bothered to consult on the script with a woman or mother, they would have known this. The male writers really fucked up, in my opinion.
@@StefaniForster Let's just assume Some lady Managed to fill a bucket with milk and Left it outside for her Calf who's mother died or something. Then the milk was actually breast milk and the baby will grow up just fine
The utter look of disbelief, gratitude, and shock that he had milk, as she stared at him for 2 seconds is what made this scene for me. Her situation was desperate, as was his. That look of impossible disbelief surprised me. She looked at him like he was a hero. It was brief but it made the scene feel so real.
this scene is so soft and calm, it completely contrasts with the rest of the movie. I madly adore the way the girl touches him, so delicate, and the scene with the baby breaks my heart.
Modern American they will heal there pockets with your money. Taught early on how to find simp men and leave the loving to man that dont care about them. They say different but ots how they're hardwired.
I strongly believe that there was a brief yet profound connection between that young french woman and Schofield. So deep that it didn't matter the language difference at all. I like to think that maybe, given the circumstances, Schofield could've stayed there with them and started a family together, and leave all that hell and misery behind.
But schofield have 2 daughters and a wife back at home, he showed his husband and father figure, look how gentle he is with the kid, probably a good father schofield ma boyo
@@Oreosmilkshake I'm fully aware that he was a family man already. But if you notice, I mentioned that I've wrote "Given the circumstances". What if Schofield wasn't even married in the first place? Maybe he could've just stayed there with them :)
I remember after watching the movie, I was toying with the concept of Schofield passing out while with the woman (probably a mixture of his head injury, exhaustion, and his adrenaline crashing) only to wake up much later and realize that it was far too late and that he'd failed his original mission. So, as some sort of penance for his failure in saving the 2nd Devons, he takes up a self-assigned mission of bringing the woman and her baby to safety. I think it would be a certainly interesting idea to explore!
I liked to think that Will went back to that town and found that woman when the war ended. Then I remembered that the war still had a year and a half to go. The woman and her baby are starving in no mans land. The town she is in may be contested at the time in the film, but it will likely end up still in no mans land when the sector returns to stalemate within a few days. After that, it will be leveled by artillery from both sides for months. Will, on the other hand, is an infantryman who's unit (2 Devonshire) was destined to be overrun and annihilated during the German spring offensive a year later. They were already severely depleted by that point anyway, with only about 500 men left, and by the most generous estimates only about 80 of them escaped the German encirclement on May 27, 1918.
Honestly maybe he got moved to a different unit and while it may be unlikely its at least more hope then him dying. And who knows maybe the woman escaped with the food in time, or maybe I am just clinging to every strand of hope I have to try and not be saddened by this potentially horrible outcome.
I don't think they'll end up in no man's land. The Germans in the town are most likely some form of rear guard. The line had moved past the town as we see at the end so it's more likely that the town will be left abandoned, at least until the German offensive in 1918 but you get my point. They'll probably have left if possible.
@@sidtom2741 I disagree just because most audiences might not necessarily know French. This actually contrasts his POV, as French is a common second/additionally learned language in England, and possibly vice versa. They're neighboring countries, so even average lower class people might know a few words and be able to have a basic understanding of each other. Whereas perhaps an American or Australian viewer might not know French.
My mother's 60yo, she frequently talks about a war movie with a scene like this, about a girl and a soldier. We watched this movie recently and she told me "now you'll never forget this lady and her baby", just like her scene from the forgotten movie ....
It was supposed to represent Christian imagery with the virgin and baby (giving them gifts like in the nativity) you'll see right after this scene he ends up immersed in the river and then reborn out of the dead bodies in the river into a Sunday sermon.
I don't doubt they can understand each other at least to some degree. English monarchs for centuries right up to the 15th century had been speaking French as their mother tongue as well as the fact that the French and English up until this time had been feuding off and on for close to a thousand years.
@@obamayomama8291 Uhhhh isn't that what I just said? Read what I just said again. I just said that both nations had contact as well as cultural exchanges for centuries, making it easier for the two to understand one another. How is what I said any different from what you said?
Man, this scene evokes some powerful emotions with the horrors of war on the civilian population, but hope shines through it all in the form of that baby girl.
I found like a connection between the poem and the movie till that moment: The "Sieve" the mission or the message. "In a sieve, they went to sea, they did." The trial for the mission. "(...) In a spite of all their friends could say...." Schofield being against the mission by the beginning but convinced by Blake to accomplish it. "(...) And when the Sieve turned round and round, And every one cried, ‘You’ll all be drowned!...' Referring to the bomb on the german trench that almost buried them alive and the death of Blake by the german pilot "(...) But we don't care a button! We don't care a fig!..." Schofield strength to get the job done. Despite the very hard circumstances that he's involved in. "Far and few, far and few, are the lands where the Jumblies live; their heads are green and their hands are blue," meaning the general of the Devons and Blake's brother. Idk, maybe I'm overthinking it.
Not a bad take, or ww2 was like ww1s older brother because they seem so horrific and close together in time. And technically ww1 caused ww2 so they are linked
@@noble7superman637 My grandma always said that it was an extension of World War I… She passed away a few years ago but I think she was onto something because when you think about it Germany was aggravated after the loss of World War I to become an even worse tyrannical power
You are not completely wrong because WWI and idiotic handling of situation after it ended directly caused rise of fascism in Germany and Italy and rise of communism in Russia. They called it The war to end all wars, but I guess they didn't learn anything from it.
@@leviathantoobz the hardships of the Weimar Republic and harsh penalties imposed on Germany in subsequent treaties of WW1 made it so tyrannical powers could rise and nationalism I'm a homogeneous culture and society is powerful. I met a lot of WW2 vets but only heard stories of WW1 vets combat stuff.
I hope one day people will recognize the significance of what he did in this scene and WHY. It relates to the MEDAL he has and why he gave all his food to the child. He only would have earned his MEDAL by taking a life, something he vehemently regretted as displayed with his disgust of his MEDAL, and why he never bragged about it or even wanted others to know he had it. This scene he not only saves 1 life but 2 in giving them all his food, but also by leaving them so not to threaten them in the event the enemy found them together and drawing the enemy away from them giving them both the chance to survive. It's one of the most moving scenes of the movie for me personally that only some will ever personally come to understand the true significance of. A piece of ribbon and metal can't possible be worth anything with such significant cost or burden for the remainder of your life, a weight that must be carried for a debt that can never be repaired. Only in the act of saving another can it begin to compensate for the hole left within. This is a movie that every single teenager should see in school with a veteran commentator to help explain the immeasurable costs and toll of war that should never be acceptable or justified by any politician ever. What is GREAT about the GREAT WAR? Only those whom have served in any conflict can possibly understand the weight of the decisions which are made in a second-by-second basis to remain HUMAN (to not descend into madness) and demonstrate perseverance in the absolute chaos of insanity that war actually is. This movie captures the insanity of it all superbly as well as the psychology of those both forced to participate, volunteered to participate, and the civilian casualties such as the woman and child.
Part of me thinks he was sorely tempted to. The little grotto was warm and dry and relatively safe and was the home of a beautiful young woman who looked at him with stars in her eyes. It'd be difficult for any man to leave that, let alone a man who's been through the hell that is trench warfare for three years straight. I think that if that bell hadn't rung and reminded him of his mission, he might just have stayed with her and the baby, at least for a little while. But Schofield had a mission and a wife and children waiting for him back home. The bell rung, he remembered his vows, and he tore himself away.
The woman: “Keep talking” “Yeah so you probably don’t understand what is going on but there is a messenger like me who will soon take power of Germany and you will probably be drafted to war to fight against the man
A woman helping a man, or vise versa, doesn't have to mean that they're in love lol. What I saw from this scene was a person following his role as a man to help a woman needing help to feed her baby, and another person following her role as a woman to help a soldier who has been injured.
he heard the bell, which signals how much time he has left. i dont remember from the movie, but i know he and blake had to get to the line before they sent over the waves of soldiers at a specific time. hearing the bell gave him a time from of how much was left to get there. im pretty sure he was supposed to warn the Colonel before the first wave went over, but the first gets sent over, and he makes it in time for the second.
A man who can understand French but can’t speak it, and a woman who can understand English but can’t speak it. Can someone make sense of that for me? Still a wonderful scene.
French and English tend to learn bits of eachothers language since they are essentially neighbours. They were probably just picking up on the key words of the prases to have basic communication. Like the french girl might pick up on "name" and "mother", and Scofield would understand "i don't know" as a basic phrase in french. She did try to use a couple english words like "stay" to clarify what she was trying to say when it was evident he either didn't understand her or had to reject that request
I think this is a little common. I think it's easier to recognize words from a language you understand just a little rather than recall the words on your own without prompting. It's like when you read a multiple choice question on a test and you don't know what the answer is until you recognize it in the multiple choices. It's a matter of memory jogs.
William Schofield his friend Blake died in France during Plane Crash and World War 1 Blake also killed by Driver Plane William Schofield shot Driver Plane
@@davidnigenda9867 Mate, women were literally nothing at that time, they were just in the house taking care of their kids, I don’t understand why you think it’s unoriginal, it’s a history movie, it’s normal that it reflects history facts you know
Not to mention, cow's milk KILLS infants. Babies under 9 months will DIE if they drink cow's milk. Had they bothered to consult on the script with a woman or mother, they would have known this. The male writers really fucked up, in my opinion.
@@blackeroni honestly I thought we'd be given a more involved story, and I didn't like how the friend was killed only minutes into the movie forcing the brother to make the journey alone.
