Movies Of Vietnam
Essay Preview: Movies Of Vietnam
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There is no medium more powerful and influential than that of the motion picture. Reaching millions of people around the world, film holds the power to shape ideas and beliefs. It has the ability to bring stories to life and show certain premeditated perspectives on any given subject. The most intriguing aspect of cinema is its ability to focus on real life situations and events and show it differently again and again. The representation of the story can be altered and manipulated while maintaining the illusion of being historically accurate. There is no better example of this than the films depicting the Vietnam War. Though the accuracy of the films can be questioned and the stories are unique, each film truthfully illustrated the psychological damage the war had on Americans, ultimately shaping the way it is perceived today.
“The first time I ever encountered the Vietnam War was in Hollywood movies. It was a way for me to get a perspective” (Dao 541)
Vietnam was hell on earth. There seemed to be no rules, no mercy and no morals for many fighting the war. The psychological stress on soldiers due to their loss of innocence and exposure to death made the perfectly sane into psychosomatic killers. Taken from The Killing Zone, Frederick Downs gives his point of view explaining the horrors of his situation. “I thought I would be safer if I played dead. What was happening? The cracking sound of bullets passing over my body was terrifying. I couldnt move because I was afraid. I have got to move! I thought. Everything was blackIts a wonder I wasnt shot by my own men.” (Downs 132) Situations such as this werent uncommon during Vietnam. It was chaos. Two films, Platoon and Apocalypse Now, were major contributors to this perception of the mental breakdown of soldiers during the war in Vietnam. One film takes a representational approach, making the audience a part of an American unit and letting us experience the horrors of war with the characters; the other a more experimental approach that throws us into a situation after the character has seen the horrors. Each story was presented differently, but with the same overall message.
In Oliver Stones 1986 film, Platoon, the war was shown through the eyes of a young recruit, Chris Taylor. The film portrays him as an innocent college boy, rebellious yet kindhearted. His character is well defined in the beginning and slowly falls apart through his tour of duty. Chris major breaking point is the portrayal of the destruction of a civilian village and his bloodthirsty platoon doing unspeakable atrocities. After witnessing the murder of a villagers wife and the gang rape of a young girl, Chris is forever changed, saying the war will live with him for the rest of his days.
The most remarkable feature of Platoon is the films focus of the insanity of the soldiers from more than just the fight against the Vietnamese, but also through the suspicions and corruption of men within the same unit. Nervous of word getting out in regards to the village massacre, the character of Staff Sergeant Barnes ultimately kills another man in his unit without flinching. It is one thing to kill your enemy in a time of conflict, but Director Oliver Stone showed a side of war that rarely, if ever, is talked about and even more so, seen. It is difficult to visualize how one soldier would end the life of one of his own, but through dynamic storytelling mixed with historical evidence, Stone makes it clear how being under those circumstances drove men to do inconceivable acts. He goes one step further by allowing the audience to be a part of the platoon. By exposing us to what the other characters are exposed to, we find ourselves reacting and thinking as if we were one of them. It puts the whole idea into context during the film, yet afterwards denial sets in, leaving viewers with the notion I cant believe I thought that.
Director Francis Ford Coppolas Apocalypse Now focuses on the journey of Captain Willard, a CIA contract killer sent to kill a crazed U.S. officer, Colonel Kurtz. The colonel has set up his own kingdom of which we are told “worship him as a god.” Willard is puzzled by Kurtz insanity because he was known as one of the finest United States officers. As the captain moves forward in his journey, he sees the horror of Vietnam and himself becomes responsible for the murder of a young woman in a sampan. The experience helps him understand the character of Kurtz, and in short, the idea of the only way to adjust to a mad war was to go mad yourself. Unlike Platoons straight-forward narrative delivery, Apocalypse Now takes the audience on a drug induced acid trip through a multitude of metaphors and symbolism. Both films succeed in their representation of the disintegration of the soldier, using Vietnam as the catalyst to self-destruction. “And there were people who thought we were nothing more than glorified war profiteers. And perhaps we were, those of us who didnt get killed or wounded or otherwise fucked up.” (Herr 229)
Before going into battle, the American boys must be trained to become soldiers. It is at a recruit training camp where ordinary men learn to fire ammunitions and tactics to survive on the battlefield. Regardless of the truth of the situation, Stanley Kubricks film, Full Metal Jacket, was the only film that allowed audiences into the training of Marines headed off to Vietnam. It is rumored that as the war progressed and became bloodier, training became increasingly difficult and its primary objective was to teach these men to become killers. “He was a hell of a sergeant…The guy just loved killing. He really hated them, hated their fucking guts. He had scars on his face and he lived to kill. He was like a real Ahab.” (Stone 255)
The film begins at a training camp in South Carolina. Unlike the previous films mentioned, Full Metal Jacket primarily centers around the situation within men who have yet to see the horrors of battle and who are currently still on friendly soil. Right off the bat, the character of the drill instructor, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman, is introduced as an abusive and violent veteran. One of the recruits, Leonard Lawrence, a socially awkward and heavy set man, becomes Hartmans primary mission. After extensive physical and psychological abuse from the drill sergeant, we find Lawrence becomes detached from himself, the others and ultimately reality.
A main theme throughout the film is to show the breakdown of an ordinary man into becoming a trained killer. But what happens when a man doesnt want to kill? Extra pressure is placed on Lawrence when Hartman decides to punish the entire unit for every mistake the trainee makes. After repeated failures, the unit decides to