Review of The Last Valley

I was a bit surprised by all the positive feedback this film received. While it is a well-produced film in terms of costumes and cinematography it lacks in storyline. The narrative is too fragmentary to be entirely cohesive. Perhaps Clavell was attempting to convey the sudden power shifts and chaos that actually characterize war but on screen in comes across as incomplete. Also the characterizations are inconsistent. For example at the end of the film Michael Caine's character returns to the valley suddenly remorseful and war weary. It seems like a tacked on ending without the necessary character development that would lead a viewer to understand his change of mind. Most noticeably this film has too much dialogue with characters explaining their views of the situation. The dialogue was stale most of the time. That's why I thought this film was rather boring.