In late 1944 young American soldiers of the 28th Infantry regiment fought a hideous battle against the Germans in Huertgen Forest. Many of the survivors could not speak of the horrors they experienced until fifty-five years later when a group of veterans decided to revisit the killing fields and seek out the former enemy. Giving eloquent voice to both American and German veterans, calmed by a half-century of peace, On Common Ground reaffirms the shared humanity of men who were once engaged in lethal combat. Melding reminiscences with rare archival footage and illuminating commentary by such historians as Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite and John Kenneth Galbraith, filmmakers Jessica Glass and David Eilenberg fashion a most uncommon documentary that transforms the horrendous banality of war into a meditation on the human condition.

2000, USA. 88 min.