The movie follows a group of schoolboys who are drafted into the military at the end of ww2
and follows them from being excited about the adventure of war through their suffering and realisation of the reality, when trying to defend an unimportant bridge over a small river against American tanks.
The movie focusses on the pain and fear
In the boys faces, and it’s one of the most remarkable, harrowing war movie ever made, (beside the original ‘all quiet on the western front)
There are several women in the opening scenes when the characters are introduced ( mothers, a girl friend, a sister, another girl that used to play with the boys on the titular bridge)
And because the boys are introduced separately
The various women don’t interact, except for one short scene where two of the mothers talk about
The difficulty to get food,
It’s only a short conversation to set
the scene, but it’s a pass 3/3