Two Soldiers (2002) - Synopsis

Based on the short story by William Faulkner, "Two Soldiers" is the poignant story of two otherwise inseparable brothers pulled apart by War. Set in rural Mississippi at the tail end of the depression, the story is told through the eyes of younger brother Willie (9) whose every effort is spent in total devotion to older brother Pete (19). Two authentic subjects living in a classic American portrait, Willie and Pete spend their days sharecropping their father's land while spending nights huddled below a neighbour's parlour window, eavesdropping on the adventures of their favourite radio heroes.

On the evening of December 7, 1941, the broadcast and their lives are abruptly interrupted by an NBC broadcast announcing that the United States of America has been suddenly and deliberately attacked by the Japanese Empire. Lying beside Pete in bed that night, Willie begins to sense a growing distance from his brother, who eventually succumbs to "the call to arms."

By sunrise the next morning, Willie finds himself at a country crossroad, struggling with the loss of his brother who steps aboard a bus to Memphis to enlist. Later that night, lying alone in bed for the first time in his life, Willie is suddenly struck with his own sudden and intense "call to duty" - that to his brother.

Gathering his rabbit's foot, pocket knife, and favourite bird egg, Willie walks out to the highway in the pitch black of night, and begins an 80-mile march to Memphis, where he intends on rejoining Pete and enlisting alongside him.

What follows is an emotional and mythical journey that masks a young boy's irreconcilable grief for the loss of his brother. Originally published in 1942 in the Saturday Evening Post, "Two Soldiers" and it's heroic protagonist are Faulkner's loving homage to the Americans who would sacrifice their very lives and family ties for the freedoms that America enjoys today.