For a Lost Soldier (Voor Een Verloren Soldaat) is a 1992 Dutch film based upon the autobiographical novel of the same title by ballet dancer and choreographer Rudi van Dantzig. It deals with the romantic / sexual relationship between a 12-year-old boy (Dantzig) and a Canadian soldier during the final months leading up to the liberation of Holland from Nazi occupation during World War II.

[edit] Plot summary

Jeroen (Jeroen Krabbé) reminisces about the time in 1944 when he (Maarten Smit) and other children were sent to the countryside by their parents to escape the war. The city suffers from food shortages, with more food available in the country. He stays with an eel fisher's family, but despite the abundance of food, he is plagued by homesickness.

Things change when the village is liberated by Canadian troops. Jeroen meets Walt Cook (Andrew Kelley), a Canadian soldier in his early twenties, who befriends him. Jeroen revels in the attention the soldier showers on him, and eventually their relationship becomes sexual. His foster parents are aware of the closeness between Jeroen and the soldier, but it is unclear in the film whether they are aware of the deep nature of the relationship.

After a few more days, Walt's troop are ordered to move and Walt leaves without saying goodbye to Jeroen. Jeroen is heartbroken, having only a photo to remind him of the soldier. After the war is over, he returns to his family back in Amsterdam, where he decides to go to America later in his life.

The film ends with grown-up Jeroen affectionately recalling the story and trying to express it as a ballet dance.