The Deserter is an American, comedy-drama film feature film released on April 19, 2006. It was written and directed by Eric B. Borgman. It premiered in film form at the Brussels International Festival of Contemporary Silent Film in June 2004. About the Film Borgman was inspired to write this film while participating in historical battle re-enactments with a British Revolutionary War re-enactment group called the 10th Regiment of Foot in America. The Deserter, was shot in the style of a silent comedy movie from the 1920's. However, no use of the old fashioned title cards are utilized to tell... the story. The whole film plays out visually so that people all over the world can enjoy the film with no language barriers. Borgman who is a fan of the silent comedy genre credits Laurel & Hardy and Buster Keaton as his sources for his comedy inspiration. But unlike Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy he is not one half of a duo and unlike Keaton his character smiles. Although influenced by some of the great visual humorists Borgman tries to capture the feel of a silent comedy but not the feel of some of his favorite comics. The film is more than just a comedy however. Borgman was inspired by the writings of Ensign Jeremy Lister and the storyline was loosely based on the real high rates of desertion in the British 10th Regiment of Foot during the American Revolutionary War. Borgman tries to show the serious side of the war by letting the battles play out longer than usual in a film of this kind. He also tried to make the film as authentic as possible by accurately portraying the battles as they may have actually looked and by making sure that the uniforms looked as period as possible. Hundreds of extras were used in the making of the pivotal battle scenes which led Borgman to boast that he had more battle scenes in a silent comedy since Buster Keaton did in his 1927 classic The General. Award Winner The Deserter has won the Global Film Critics Award for Best Costume Design. Synopsis The story takes place during the American Revolution in the late 1700's. A loyal British drummer, one of the thousands of British soldiers stationed in America, accidentally drops his canteen into a stream while trying to fill it. He, by chasing his floating canteen down the stream, puts into motion a series of events which will won't stop until he is dead. For a British officer sees him chasing his canteen and mistakes it for his trying to desert the British army by running away into the woods. The officer quickly orders two of the dumbest soldiers after him. The drummer, after catching up with his canteen gets lost in the woods and can't find his way back to the British encampment. When the two British redcoats catch up with the "deserting" drummer, things go from bad to worse for him, when he finally realizes he is being hunted down for execution. His accidentally killing one of these soldiers doesn't help his case either. The drummer briefly escapes right into the hands of the Americans! In the meantime, the British forces, back at the encampment, march off to meet the American forces for a grand battle, which will rage for hours. And which all the soldiers hunting down the drummer will conveniently miss. The story doesn't end until the officer and his small band of men sees the deserter hanged, but is that really the end of the story? DVD Release The Special Edition Director's Cut DVD release date was April 19, 2006 Patriot's Day. The DVD contains the original un-cut 75 minute feature length of The Deserter. The special features include an early twelve minute silent comedy by Borgman entitled, The Tree Surgeon, and a special behind-the-scenes look at Borgman's next feature film The Man in the Movie. This article is one that I wrote and oruginally posted on TVWiki.
more