No subject is as disturbingly timeless as war. Going back more than 200 years to the winter of 1797-98, Swiss documentarian Francis Reusser has made a parable about the cruelty and senselessness of war in general.

For David, who joins the French army, it won't matter whether he dies for the better cause. The son of conservative patriarch Josias, David faces his father in battle.

Reusser painstakingly recreates the fall of Berne and the victory of Bonaparte's troops against the backdrop of a rural community divided by political change.

As in all war stories, human ideologies and fanaticism play an important role. The love story between David and Julia, the daughter of a tolerant libertine, gives the film emotional depth &emdash; for in these dark times, love is doomed.

A visually opulent epic and finely etched character study.