I can forgive low budget filmmaking and its accompany ills as long the story is well written and told with imagination. Sadly, that is not the case with Vivandiere. For every red smoke cloud billowing out of a cannon to represent blood, there's a poorly shot scene which is set up like a stage play. One example is when the maid is telling the northern woman to not play billiards with her brother's friends because it could threaten his political clout. It is shot entirely from the back. We never get to see the actors' faces.
Historically Accuracy? Regiments were transferred from Virginia to fight in Missouri in 1863 and then back to Virginia. I get it that the filmmakers were trying to include a William Quantrill, but there were guerrillas who committed atrocities east of the Mississippi. They could have easily made someone up.
My main problem is the ending. We see the southern and northern characters reconcile as they flee Confederate authorities. Then the train explodes and the bridge collapses. That's a pretty climactic scene with a resolution. However, the film goes on for another 10 minutes, flash forwarding to the 1870s. The Confederate general, who was a good guy for most of the film, shows up. For some reason the characters know he is there to exact revenge. Revenge for what? Being upset that the girls stole a train engine isn't enough motivation enough. Why was the train so important? Why would the loss of it cause him to be hell-bent on vengeance for so many years? Did the loss of the train result in the death of someone close to him? Unclear. He was going to execute the northern girl's brother because he was caught in a Confederate uniform behind southern lines because that qualified him as a spy. Being upset that a supposed spy got away isn't enough to turn him into a villain. And how do the girls know he is still angry that a prisoner escaped? Southern girl being thrown from a horse the day before so she could have a rifle attached to her leg was convenient. And the final lines of a bleeding old man lying on the floor, "What have you done to me," was just awful. It gives the ending a horror movie feel instead of a period drama. And worst of all, it does not make you sympathetic to the female characters who the film is supposed to honor.
The story of women in the American Civil War, especially vivandieres, deserve to be honored with a film. However, this film, especially with its ending, is not the one.
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