Johnny Got His Gun (1971)

 

            There are anti-war movies and then there is “Johnny Got His Gun”.  It was based on Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 novel.  He was inspired by the stories of British and Canadian soldiers who had been reduced to only their trunks in WWI.  They were examples of what soldiers called “basket cases”. In one case, the Tommy was so badly wounded that his family was not told he had survived until after his death years later.   Before Trumbo could get it made he had to go through a period of being blacklisted in the 1950s because of McCarthyism.  He wrote the screenplay and then shopped it in Hollywood with little success.  He was turned down by 17 producers before the film was made.  Trumbo made his directorial debut with the film.  The shoot lasted 42 days and used 23 locations.  The rough cut was over 300 minutes, but it was cut down to 111 partly to get a PG rating.  The title comes from the George M. Cohan song “Over There”.  The movie won the Grand Prix Special du Jury at Cannes, but it did not do well at the box office and lost money.  Years later, the rock band Metallica was inspired to write the song “One” based on the movie.  Clips from the film were used in the video and the movie became a cult classic.

            The movie opens with footage of WWI leaders, soldiers marching off enthusiastically, and U.S. entry.  A badly wounded soldier is in a hospital bed.  Joe Bonham (Timothy Bottoms)  is an American soldier who was on the wrong end of an artillery shell.  The doctors think he feels no pain and is a vegetable.  The hospital scenes are in black and white, but when the soldier remembers, it’s in color.  His girlfriend Kareen (Karen Field) did not want him to enlist, but he had to go because his country needed him.  He leaves to patriotic music, speeches, and a prayer.  He also has dreams brought on by the drugs.  For instance, several of them involve Jesus (Donald Sutherland).  The hallucinatory scenes are color saturated.  This is the first of numerous religious references.  He also fantasizes about his dysfunctional relationship with his father (Jason Robards).  Seemingly abandoned, he finally gets some care from a nurse (Diane Varsi).   She communicates with him by tracing letters on his chest.  He uses Morse Code to respond that he wants to be put in a carnival to show what war does.  Or in a movie by Dalton Trumbo.

            Obviously, this is a strange and unique movie.  Trumbo was set on making it as a statement about the ongoing Vietnam War.  It is better matched to the war it is set in.  The Great War is exemplified by fathers prodding their offspring to march off to war.  At the time it was released, it might have convinced some young men to think twice about enlisting or head off to Canada to avoid the draft.  There is no doubt it is a powerful film.  There is nothing uplifting in it.  The “war is hell” theme is not ambiguous, but it is not hammered because the movie concentrates on the back-story dreams and the hallucinations.  The ones with his father have some interesting twists and the ones with Jesus are surreal, and not just because Donald Sutherland is Jesus.  By the way, if you think the movie is reverent, think again?

            For a low budget film, Trumbo manages to be competent in his first directorial effort. His script might be corny in spots, but it never becomes maudlin.  The acting is average with honors going to Diane Varsi.  The score tends to be a bit melodramatic.  The cinematography is average with the three tones nicely differentiating the scenes.  In spite of the competence, the movie is hard to watch.  If you can put yourself in Bonham’s shoes (sorry, I feel bad about that), you’ll be depressed at the end.  But maybe war movies should leave you depressed about the effects of war.  Not many do.  Because making war movies is a business and downers don’t sell tickets.  However, if you are a war movie fan, you do need the occasional film that does not feign being against war. 

GRADE  =  B