Broken Soldiers

Directed by Barry Spinello

"In BROKEN SOLDIERS Spinello tells the story of a young boy who receives a toy soldier from his brother, just returning home from the battlefield in World War II. When the toy breaks, the boy puts it into a paper boat and floats it down the river. The boat docks, and as the soldier leaves the boat to meet a company of compatriots the fantasy begins: a battle with rough, tough, icky garden snails. The soldiers are beautiful: a bugler, a messenger, a gunner cleaning his weapon, a cook with his hand in a pot. The snails mount an offensive on the fort. It's a scene you may have missed in Patton, but can see tonight on PBS." - David Kleinberg, San Francisco Examiner and Chronicle