Kids all over the world, and all through time want to rebel. Peter Muller (Robert Sean Leonard) and Thomas Berger (Christian Bale) are two such young men whose rebellion against the conformity of Nazi Germany took the form of a love of American swing music, British fashion, and Harlem slang. But when an innocent prank forces Peter into the Hitler Youth, their friendship and their loyalties are put to the test against the seductive power of Naziism.—Jack Gambol