Castle Keep

The film opens with long takes of ancient European art and sculptures being blown apart by artillery while screams and dissonant sound design fill the air. A narrator begins telling the tale of eight American soldiers before the scene abruptly cuts to a few weeks earlier.

A ragtag group of American soldiers led by Major Abraham Falconer arrives in December 1944 and seeks shelter in Maldorais, a 10th century Belgian castle filled with priceless art. They travel by problematic Jeep, bringing a small trailer, and prepare for a quiet respite from combat.

Within the castle, Falconer starts a dangerous romance with the Countess, who is not the Count's niece but his wife. The romance adds personal tension against the looming threat of war and the castle's priceless treasures.

Captain Beckman argues about the value of art and whether to save or destroy it in a German assault. He inventories the artworks and begins moving the most precious pieces into the castle's underground storage tunnels.

While the world outside remains at war, the men seek temporary escape in the psychedelic Reine Rouge brothel run by a mystic madam. The setting contrasts the beauty of art with the soldiers' base desires and decadence.

Sgt. Rossi, formerly a baker, falls in love with a baker's widow and deserts, returning to civilian life in the village boulangerie. The act underscores the fragility of discipline amid war and personal longing.

Corporal Clearboy develops an odd affection for a Volkswagen Beetle, a running gag that sits oddly beside wartime violence. The quirk provides comic relief while highlighting the soldiers' detachment from the battlefield.

Lt. Billy Byron Bix leads a band of hymn-singing conscientious objectors who try to preach pacifism to the town, only to be driven away by Rossi. The scene contrasts moral stances and foreshadows the chaos of war.

While riding with the Count, Falconer uncovers a German reconnaissance patrol that includes a former lover of the Countess. He eliminates them, demonstrating his ruthlessness and the cast's precarious moral balance.

A German reconnaissance plane flies overhead and Beckman shoots it down with a .50-caliber machine gun, signaling the increasing danger to the castle. A tense encounter with a German skirmisher follows for Amberjack and Rossi.

The Count flees to the German lines, and Beckman fears a betrayal that could enable the Germans to seize the castle. He contemplates the tunnels where the most important artworks are stored, signaling the tension between protection and exposure.

Falconer organizes defensive positions around the castle and sends his men into town to delay the German advance. He even funnels shell-shocked survivors toward the castle in a Pied Piper-like procession that is slaughtered by artillery.

The defenders push back the German attack with improvised tactics: sex workers ambush tanks with Molotovs, and they manage to operate a captured German tank. The defenders, however, are eventually overwhelmed and retreat back to Maldorais.

The Count is killed by German forces who suspect him of betraying them, while Beckman is horrified by the possibility of betrayal and the use of tunnels as entry points for the enemy. This deepens the sense of imminent tragedy around the castle's art treasures.

In the climactic assault, the Germans breach parts of the castle and Falconer floods the moat with gasoline to slow them, while the defenders are picked off one by one. Falconer and Beckman are wounded as Benjamin and the Countess escape through an underground tunnel; a shell ends the scene and the narration repeats the theme of eternal recurrence as the credits roll.