Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

The first segment of the French anthology based on Civil War writings by Ambrose Beirce IN THE MIDST OF LIFE, this is actually the least of the three stories (being somewhat draggy at 37 minutes) but still pretty good taken on its own merits. If anything, it sets the tone perfectly for the other two: being partially a story about childhood (like CHICKAMAUGA) and also sort of a plot-within-a-plot (like AN OCCURRENCE AT OWL CREEK BRIDGE), in this case a flashback to the protagonist's past. As expected, the period detail feels authentic and is exquisitely captured by the camera. Regrettably, some of the narration here is only presented in unsubtitled French! The premise involves a soldier on guard in a forest shooting an unseen enemy who tries to cross the lines; in the excitement (being young and, thus, inexperienced), he recalls his life growing up and in particular how he was separated from his twin brother. This sets up the predictable but nevertheless effective twist ending, where it transpires that the man he killed was his own sibling (leaving one in doubt whether the latter was conscious of the other's identity and had come to greet him)! Incidentally, the title refers to the children's pet which is heard chirping a tune subsequently picked up by the fallen twin! I followed this with yet another horror effort from this director – the made-for-TV but feature-length 'haunted house' tale THE GHOSTLY RENTAL (1965) and, for the sake of comparison, I also intend checking out the ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS episode from 1959 of "An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge".

Ambrose Bierce is a writer unknown to me, but the film that Robert Enrico has fashioned out of three Bierce stories has great power. The terrors of war are recreated here with great artistry by Enrico and his excellent cinematographer Jean Boffety (they made many films together). The sunlight cascading through dense foliage has rarely been so well caught in a movie.I found the final story La Riviere du hibou (An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge is the English title) to be almost unbearable in its emotional power. The hanging party is set up with great attention to detail--the condemned man notes at one point that sharpshooters always have grey eyes like those of the man who's aiming at him--and the effect is stunning. This film must be issued on DVD.

BUYER BEWARE!The short subject "La Rivière du Hibou" is only one part of a three-story anthology film by Robert Enrico called "Au coeur de la vie" ("In the Midst of Life", 1962) (please see "La Rivière du Hibou" elsewhere in IMDb). All three stories are inspired by Ambrose Bierce short stories about the American Civil War.Something very strange happened to this particular episode of 'Au coeur de la vie'. First of all, it was proposed as Best Short Subject at the Oscars in 1962 and won, even though it had probably never been shown commercially that way in the US or anywhere else. Second, it was chosen as the very last episode of Rod Serling's TV series 'The Twilight Zone', in a cost-cutting gesture. It is this truncated version that is generally available on VHS and DVD today. It is unfortunately not the way its director wanted it and the two other episodes of that film ('L'oiseau moqueur' and 'Chickamauga') have totally disappeared from everyone's consciousness.That is really sad as I remember seeing the whole film in a cine-club in 1963 and going through a thoroughly gut-wrenching emotional experience because of the cumulative effect of these three stories which really bring home the profound tragedy of the American Civil War. Some producer somewhere probably decided that this film would be too intense to be shown in its entirety to an American audience and it has since sunk under the waters of forgetfulness, except for that maimed 'Twilight Zone' episode. For the record, "L'Oiseau moqueur" ("The Mockingbird") tells of the terrifying confrontation of two brothers on a battlefield and "Chickamauga" relates the famous battle from the point of view of a six-year-old deaf and mute child living on a plantation.Let us all pray that somebody, somewhere will rescue it from the ravages of time before it is too late and make the whole thing available on DVD, in its original, uncut, uncompromised form, very, very soon…Note of interest: The flashback scenes of Maximus in "Gladiator" are directly, shall we say, "inspired" by the same scenes in "La Rivière du Hibou". As much as I despise "Gladiator", I have to admire its director's good taste in borrowing from the best. Also note that the sad twist-ending of the Director's Cut of "Brazil" is also diredtly inspired by the ending of the famous "La Rivière au Hibou/Occurrence at Owl's Creek" episode.

This is a beautifully-made film, nearly silent, based on three Civil War stories by Ambrose Bierce. It is one of the most powerful antiwar films ever made.It was shown in full at one of the early New York Film Festivals (in the 1960s), and the portion known as `An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge' has been shown as a short more frequently.Unfortunately, it is difficult to get hold of a copy, although the New York Public Library does have one available for viewing on site.It has long been on my personal list of the `Ten Best Films of All Time.'