The Last Valley is an unusually literate, serious-minded historical war film that feels like the missing link between Robert Bolts equally thoughtful A Man For All Seasons and The Mission

An interesting, thoughtful, unusual film -- one that in an allegorical sense has once again become relevant.

A labor of love but not a skillfully made movie.

The Last Valley is set in the German countryside during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), a conflict originally motivated by religious differences that soon became mainly political (if there’s any difference at all). Vogel (Omar Sharif), a former teacher constantly running from the ravages of war, discovers a village hidden in an idyllic valley; unfortunately for him, the Captain (Michael Caine) and his band of mercenaries — which includes Lutherans, Calvinists, and Anabaptists (“pagans”, “blasphemers,” “Satan worshipers”, and “worse;” i.e., Catholics) — arrive at the same time. To save himself, and the village, from looting, pillaging, and rape by the soldiers, Vogel persuades the Captain to camp there and forget about war, famine, and, of course, the plague, for the winter. Using Vogel as a mediator, the Captain brokers a truce with the population, agreeing to protect the people of the valley in exchange for food, shelter, and concubines; in a scene brimming with religious satire, the Captain manipulates the local Catholic priest into give, or better yet, sell the chosen women a “public blessing ... full remission of past and future sins” (I’m reminded me of the bishop in The Baby of Mâcon preemptively pardoning hundreds of rapists). Another great scene belongs to Sharif; the Captain has moved a conspicuous “Our Lady” altar to a less conspicuous location in the valley, i…