WWII feature film Reveille was filmed in Missouri, premieres today on VOD

REVEILLE. // courtesy of Millennial PR

The award-winning Missouri-filmed WWII movie Reveille releases today on Amazon for viewing. Inspired by a true story, a skirmish breaks out between an American squad and German soldiers. The Americans seek safety from artillery shells but are required to protect their new war prisoners. Confined within the close proximity of a cave, the soldiers question morality while attempting to stick to the rules of war. 

Akkerman graduated from film school at Columbia College Hollywood in Los Angeles. Fascinated by WWII and war films, he believes Hollywood takes a glamorized approach to tragic events. To combat this, Akkerman wanted to create an unembellished film with an interpretive, human focus. The passionate history admirer ensures accuracy as a production priority, contacting researcher Myra Miller Ph.D. for assistance. 

As the Footsteps Researchers founder and producer, Miller helps anyone with a familial veteran discover more about their history and the role played in the war. As a daughter of a WWII veteran herself, she helps others uncover loved ones’ stories through archival research.

Miller brings her archival skills on set with experience developing documentaries and shows on PBS and History Channel. On a new route of production for Miller, she assists Reveille as her first feature film. 

The Pitch: Tell me what inspired you to create the movie, and what messages do you want to be reflected within it?

Akkerman: War history in general has just always been my thing, and I just feel that it’s never been properly represented. There are some great war films out there, but I wanted to do something unique and different that did not put glamor on the subject matter. I wanted it to be very raw and stripped away of all the glitz. When I learned about this factual story, I thought, what better way to portray it? It’s ambiguous and unforgiving and very depressing, as it should be. 

What was your role in researching and helping the film’s accuracy? 

Miller: The American characters of the 15th Infantry Regiment, who are the main characters of the story on the American side, are real. Those were real people, they really did exist, and they were in the pitiful depression. And in November ‘43, they were in Italy, in this area, fighting the Germans. I live in St. Louis, and I traveled to College Park for my job as a WWII researcher. I got to know records, morning reports, unit journals, and histories of the entire 15th infantry regiment for those seven characters and have all the background on them to prove they really did go through this. 

However, the story is a little fictionalized. We don’t have the story of what happened in the cave. The Germans characters were made up, but the unit was there. So it’s, it’s historically correct. I have an advisor out of Italy, named Luciano Bucci, and he was an advisor on the movie. So we’re pretty confident that all this would have happened. 

How did you find the perfect spot for filming? How did it end up in a Missouri location? 

Miller: I had been to Italy leading WWII tours, and I had taken a couple over to see where their relative had died in December of 1943, in this exact same area back in 2019. Originally, the movie was planned to film in California, and I was looking at some of their location shots and I’m like, ‘this doesn’t look anything like Italy.’ Missouri is the cave state, so I thought we could do this here for a lot cheaper. We found the perfect location of a private landowner in Sparta, Missouri, that happened to have the same trees, rolling hills, landscape, and a cave. It was so similar, and it was amazing. The landowners were the nicest people you could ever ask for, and they gave us permission. 

How do you think including live ammunition on set affected the film? Why did you want to include it? 

Akkerman: That is the big controversial aspect, and we did it because when firearms actually are used in movies, they use blank ammunition and it doesn’t look like actual gunfire. It usually creates a big muzzle flare at the end of the rifle and there is no recoil, there’s no kickback on the gun. When actual guns fire, it’s a pretty violent concussion, and we wanted to capture that these were actual bullets flying. Obviously, we weren’t shooting in the direction of one when we did it. It was 100% done under multiple professionals, and all the actors were trained. The whole point was to capture the realism and not make it look like a flashy Hollywood film. It had to look real. We weren’t going to include it unless it was completely 100% safe, everyone consented to it. 

What was it like to speak with family members of WII soldiers to incorporate the film’s detail? 

Akkerman: I got to learn stuff about the actual people that have never been put in a book. So that was what I wanted to, if I could, get right, because I want to be as accurate to the truth as possible. It was really cool, because not only was it a chance to find out some great information, but you could tell that these people were also very grateful that someone was interested in their family’s history. 

What was it like seeing these emotions play out while you’re filming?

Akkerman: It was very powerful because we were trying to capture the sentiments that were in the script, in my mind, and in everyone’s mind, but once you actually see it, it’s very different. That’s when the reality of the film really hits you. There was a lot of energy running through that cave. 

Miller: I was in the cave for a lot of those scenes standing off to the side and I cried. My dad was in WWII, and the character Lattie in the movie…it was so much like my father. His character has a daughter in the film, a little girl, and I just lost it. 

For more information about the film, visit the Reveille website and Instagram and Twitter page. Watch the film on demand today through Amazon Prime Video.