Heaven and Earth (1993)

 

            After scoring with “Platoon” (1986) and “Born on the 4th of July” (1989), Oliver Stone finished his Vietnam War trilogy with the unrelated “Heaven and Earth”.  Third time was not the charm.  Stone wrote and directed.  It is based on “Heaven and Earth Changed Places” and “Child of War, Woman of Peace” by Le Ly Hayslip.  She appears in the movie as a jewelry broker in a jewelry store scene.  The movie had a $33million budget, but made only $6 million. 

            The movie begins when Le Ly (Hiep Thi Le) is a child in the village of Ky La.  In 1953, the French arrive and destroy the village.   This happens after an opening title card proclaims that the villagers are protected by Father Heaven and Mother Earth.  Sure.  They restart the village and it is soon idyllic again.  You’ll wish you were a rice farmer in Vietnam.  And you won’t have to learn how to grow rice because the movie teaches you.  Unfortunately, when Le Ly is a teenager, the Viet Cong arrive and “all of them were angry”.  Ly’s brothers are “recruited” by the V.C.  Those expecting Stone to use the movie to kiss communist ass can stop worrying.  However, if you expected the ARVN and US Army to get trashed, bingo!  That ill wind a blowin’ is choppers carrying ARVN and Americans.  The village becomes a strategic hamlet.  If you are not familiar with that “strategy” was, the movie will clue you in.  It means the village is officially protected by the government, but not really.  And it makes the village a target for the communists.  It is between hell and hades.  Like many Vietnamese civilians, Ly is caught between the government and the Viet Cong.  She gets tortured by both.  Monkey, meet rock.  She ends up in Saigon as a prostitute.  Her life changes for the better when she meets a charming and sensitive American Sergeant Butler (Tommy Lee Jones).  When he returns to the land of the big PX, she goes with him as his wife.  It will not be marital bliss because Butler was in the Phoenix program and has PTSD.  Remember that monkey on a rock I mentioned?

            As you can tell, “Heaven and Earth” is not on par with its sister movies.  It is a sincere effort and you know how earnest Stone can be.  However, he does not use the movie to pillory the American effort. The narration does tend to be preachy.  It is equally harsh on both sides.  The Vietnamese did not allow Stone to film in Vietnam because of the portrayal of the Viet Cong.  The movie does clearly propose that Indochina was better off before foreigners came in.

            The two leads are strong.  Jones is more effective in making Butler an ass hole than making him a tormented veteran. Hiep Thi Le is better as a Vietnam woman whose life takes several abrupt turns.  Too abrupt.  Although the movie is too long, it still seems to rush the life changing moments.  It is predictable because you know each chapter in her life will end badly.  You won’t learn much about the war, but it does a good job with village life and Buddhism.  You will empathize with Ly and knowing she went on to write two books about her experiences is comforting.  There are plenty of movies that focus on the effect of the war on the combatants.  This movie gives you a peek at the life of a Vietnamese woman who had contact with both the Viet Cong and their foes.  The less contact, the better.

            I wanted to complete my watching of the trilogy because I appreciate the other two.  However, this movie does not hold a candle to them.  It’s not a strong effort by Stone.  It lacks his usual  passion.  For instance, all the Vietnamese characters speak English.  There are no subtitles.  Perhaps the studio insisted for box office reasons, but it sends a message that the movie disrespects the culture it means to laud.

GRADE  =  B-     

 

 

NOW SHOWING: Oppenheimer (2023)

 

            I had been waiting for some time for the release of this film.  I am not particularly a Christopher Nolan fan and I was unimpressed with his previous war film – “Dunkirk", but this is a must-see film.  I purposely did not read any reviews of “Oppenheimer”, but I knew it would be an experience that was best seen in a theater.  Unfortunately, there is no IMAX near me, but I did see it on the biggest screen in this area.  Nolan adapted the biography “American Prometheus” by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.  It is over 700 pages and is the best biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer.  His first choice for the lead was Cillian Murphy.  This was their sixth collaboration, including “Dunkirk”.  Murphy, who will clearly be nominated for Best Actor, lost a lot of weight for the role and learned over 1,000 words in Dutch.   Something Oppenheimer did.   Method acting!  Besides an amazing cast, the movie also used real scientists as extras.  Nolan did not use any CGI.  All the explosion effects were actual explosions.  However, the Internet suggestion that an actual atomic bomb was used just proves how stupid some people are.

            The film begins with a reference to Prometheus.  For those of you that are a little hazy in your Greek mythology, Prometheus stole fire and gave it to man.  Zeus punished him by taking away his security clearance.  The movie is nonlinear with three threads.  One is Oppenheimer heading the Manhattan Project.  This is shown in flashback from the second thread which is the investigation into Oppenheimer’s affiliation with the Communist Party.  The third covers the confirmation hearing for Richard Strauss (Robert Downey, Jr.).  Strauss is revealed to be at the heart of Oppenheimer’s fall.

            The scenes that cover Oppenheimer’s life begin with him at Cambridge where he establishes himself as an eccentric genius who comes close to poisoning his professor.  Or Neils Bohr (Kenneth Branagh).  He meets the famous physicist who passes the torch to him and emphasizes that he will be in a race with the German Heisenberg to create the bomb that Einstein prophesied.  Oppenheimer is recruited by Gen. Leslie Groves (Matt Damon) and they start one of the most consequential partnerships of the 20^th Century.  The film does not get bogged down in the dysfunctional relationship between these opposites.  The movie gives the impression that Oppenheimer ran Los Alamos.  (Groves was in charge, but he did learn to give the eggheads some slack.)  The scientists revolve around Oppy.  The one that gets the most coverage is Edward Teller (Benny Safdie).  Teller is used as a bridge to Oppenheimer’s post-war quandary over the hydrogen bomb.  The movie hits its crescendo with the Trinity test.  The movie manages to make this seminal moment exhilarating.  The aftermath foreshadows Oppenheimer’s future as he goes from soaking up the applause of his fellow bomb makers to the guilty conscience that would have come to any intellectual (except Edward Teller).  Nolan shows this turn in a scene where Oppenheimer gives a speech to a cheering audience reminiscent of the Nuremberg rallies.  He is buffeted by images of the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  He dares to confide that he feels he has blood on his hands during a visit with President Truman (Gary Oldman).  Truman calls him a “cry baby”. 

            The movie is vague about the nine years following WWII.  The second thread is set in 1954.  Oppenheimer is brought before a kangaroo court where he is persecuted for his communist sympathies.  Joseph McCarthy does not appear in the film, but his minions hound Oppenheimer.  It is not just his flirtation with communism, he is also in trouble because of his opposition to the hydrogen bomb.  Oppenheimer is the stereotypical scientific genius who is naïve when it comes to politics.  He made an easy target for the Red Scare. 

            The third thread is something of a redemption arc by showing the confirmation hearing for Strauss.  It takes place in 1959.  We learn that this supposed friend was actually scheming to take down Oppenheimer for a reason that is not obvious up to this point.  Their relationship reminds of that of Mozart and Salieri in “Amadeus”.   It’s the weakest of the three and comes off as a showcase for Downey.  I bet you already know that politics can be a dirty business.

            “Oppenheimer” has been called a masterpiece.  It may be the next Best Picture.  It is a very good movie, but I think it falls short of greatness.  It clearly is the best movie about the Manhattan Project.  It easily outclasses the disappointing “Fat Man and Little Boy”.  I am always a proponent for movies that cover deserved persons and events.  Oppenheimer was once one of the most famous humans.  But today few know anything beyond his heading the Manhattan Project.  Very few know that he went from celebrity to persona non grata within ten years of one of the greatest inventions in history.  The movie does an excellent job making the development of the bomb interesting without relying on Hollywood enhancements like scientists getting radiation poisoning.  Instead, Nolan emphasized Oppenheimer’s soap operaish love life.  He has an affair with a communist (Florence Pugh) and marries a woman (Emily Blunt) who is mentally unstable. 

The nonlinear structure is intriguing.  Nolan treats Oppenheimer’s Manhattan Project arc as subjective, through the eyes of Oppenheimer.  The security investigation thread is also subjective and also in color.  The Strauss thread has an objective viewpoint and is in black and white.  One problem is the movie does not make it clear when scenes are occurring.  It is easy to follow the chronology of the Manhattan Project, but most audience members would have trouble realizing the security investigation was nine years after the war and the Straus confirmation five years later.  The movie could have used some time stamps.  And it could have used some on-screen identification of all the notable individuals that appear in the film.  For instance, you have to be familiar with the bombing to catch the appearance of Col. Tibbet’s of Enola Gay fame.  Speaking of which, the cast is full of recognizable faces playing famous people.  (Even at 3 hours, Nolan was not able to make the Manhattan Project an ensemble affair.  Only a few of the remarkable and fascinating group of scientists get significant roles.)  And the acting is outstanding.  Besides Murphy, there will be several actors vying for Best Supporting Actor recognition.  And certainly Hoyte van Hoytema will be nominated for Best Cinematography.  The soundtrack does a great job making the movie seem like a thriller

The cinematography was a drawing card for the movie because the marketing of the movie trumpeted it being made for IMAX viewing.  I was skeptical as to why a biopic needed that venue.  It turns out my skepticism was confirmed.  There is little in the movie that struck me as something I wished I was seeing it on IMAX.  The explosion was awesome, but other than that, Nolan’s penchant for closeups simply means you will see more pores on an IMAX screen.  Another odd marketing decision was insisting on making the movie R-rated.  This rating was the result of two nude scenes involving Florence Pugh.  Don’t get me wrong, I did not close my eyes in disgust, but I did shake my head wondering why the movie limited its audience by showing nudity that could have easily been avoided.  Other than breasts, there is absolutely nothing else that would warrant an R-rating.  The movie does not even show the results of the Hiroshima bombing.  Nolan handles this by focusing on Oppenheimer’s reaction to pictures taken there.

I have not yet vetted the movie for accuracy, but I have seen that historians have commended the film (including Kai Bird).  It gets Oppenheimer’s life and legacy correct, but Nolan had a goal of sending a message about nuclear weapons.  The Prometheus theme is carried through to the conclusion with the movie implying that Oppenheimer had set the world on a path to destruction.  Teller and his hydrogen bomb triumphed over Oppenheimer’s attempts to put the genie back in the bottle.  The fortuitous timing of the movie with the Ukrainian war has put the fear over the use of nukes back in current events.  You leave the theater with Oppenheimer’s “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” echoing in your mind.  (He never said the phrase and definitely not during foreplay.  He did think it at the time of the Trinity test.)  However, the truth is Teller was right.  If we had not developed the hydrogen bomb, the Soviets certainly would have.  And mutually assured destruction, as insane as it seems, actually worked in keeping nukes on a leash for 78 years and running.  One must wonder whether a modern-day Oppenheimer would have worked to develop AI or tried to stop it.

GRADE  =  A-  

   

Above and Beyond (1952)

 

                Beirne Lay, Jr. flew B-24’s out of Great Britain during WWII.  After the war, he became a writer.  Along with Sy Bartlett, he wrote the novel “Twelve O’Clock High”.  He went on to write the screenplay for the movie and others like “Strategic Air Command” and “The Gallant Hours”.  As his screenwriting career took off, he was still a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve.  One day, he suggested the idea for a movie about Paul Tibbetts to the commander of the Strategic Air Command, Curtis LeMay.  LeMay, who was concerned about the high rate of divorce among his personnel, saw the movie as a morale booster.  Lay prepared an outline and turned the project over to Melvin Frank and Norman Panama.  The duo wrote, produced, and directed movies.  They wrote the screenplay and it got full cooperation from SAC which provided an air base and technical advisers.  It was originally entitled “Eagle on His Cap”.  The movie was a hit and was nominated for Oscars for Best Original Story (Lay) and Best Score.  Star Robert Taylor had been a U.S. Navy Flight Instructor in WWII.  He did some of his best work in the movie and considered it one of his best roles.

                The opening of the film sets one of the themes as Lucy Tibbets (Eleanor Parker) is waiting and wondering about her husband.  It is obvious we will be treated to the stale cliché of the warrior having to choose between his profession and his spouse.  If you know war movies, you already know how this ends.  The movie flashes back to 1943 North Africa.  Tibbets is a scheduled to lead a bombing mission against Bizerte.  His superior insists on a dangerously low bomb drop and Tibbets refuses.  A general overhears the argument and on a hunch chooses Tibbets for a special mission that will be dangerous to his welfare and his marriage.  He won’t be seeing Lucy and his son much.  He placates her with perfume, but the scent won’t linger forever.  The mission is to help develop a new long-range heavy bomber called the B-29 Superfortress.  He then is tabbed to command the secret bombing unit that will drop the atomic bombs.  His security officer Maj. Uanna (James Whitmore) suggests the wives and families be allowed to live on the base.  Unfortunately for the male viewers, Lucy is included.  The intercutting between their lives now intersects for some tedious home scenes.  This being a 1950s movie, they sleep in separate beds and trips in between are interrupted by baby cries.  She gets increasingly bitchy about the “cloak and dagger” stuff.  The movie should have concentrated just on the mission and cut the soap opera bull shit.  But then it would not be a morale booster for overcoming marital problems.  The male scenes chronicle the steps leading up to and including the bombing of Hiroshima.

                “Above and Beyond” is not a biopic, but Tibbets dominates.  Or rather, Paul and Lucy dominate.  Their relationship is apparently accurate, but it certainly breaks no new ground for a war movie.  The romantic/dysfunction episodes bring the film down and it does not help that Parker is weak in a stereotypical role.  Taylor’s performance was acclaimed, but his Tibbets is unemotional.  While probably true to the man, it means the home scenes fall flat.  The movie makes a case for the pressures military marriages had to endure.  However, this focus means that you come away from the movie thinking Tibbets was a poor husband and father.  On the other hand, it does not make a case for him being the best pilot in the Army Air Force, which is what he was considered to be.  It also does not cover the development of the bomb. I would argue that would have been a wise substitute for the romance.  The Lucy and Paul arc also prevents any coverage of the personnel.  We don’t get to know the crew of the Enola Gay.  Shame.

                The movie is not overly patriotic.  It is not a commentary on the Cold War.  Parts of it feel like a docudrama about the Hiroshima bombing.  On that, it makes the case that civilians sometimes are acceptable collateral damage in war, but it does not debate the decision to drop the bomb.  It is more interested in a straight-forward history lesson.  That lesson is acceptably accurate.  (See below)  The movie does not enhance the narrative for entertainment purposes.  I feel like a hypocrite for saying this, but the movie could have used more dramatic license because it is boring in stretches.  The bombing mission pays off pretty well and sticks to the facts for the most part.  The footage was actually from the 1947 movie “The Beginning or the End” and it works as the explosion is impressive.  (This footage works better than the scene where Lucy learns the dangers of her husband’s job by witnessing footage of a B-17 crashing.  Shut up, aviation buffs!)

                “Above and Beyond” is a pre-“Patton” biopic.  It is much closer to Lays’ Halsey movie “The Gallant Hours”.  Tibbets may come off as a bad spouse, but the movie is not interested in delving into whether he was a war criminal.  It is just a standard war pic that does a good job covering Tibbet’s role in the Hiroshima bombing with a heavy dose of his marital life.  Guys might want to fast forward through those scenes.

GRADE  =  C

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  The movie does not give much background on Tibbets’ career.  He was  originally stationed in Great  Britain as part of the 8^th Air Force.  He was already considered one of the best pilots.  He led the first bombing mission over France.  Tibbets was selected for the secret missions of flying Gen. Mark Clark and then Ike to Gibraltar.  His unit was then transferred to Jimmy Doolittle’s 12^th Air Force in North Africa.  After 18 missions there, he was appointed assistant for bomber operations under Col. Lauris Narstad (Brig. Gen. Roberts in the movie).  He did complain about the 6,000 foot altitude for the Bizerte mission, but unlike in the movie, he got his way and it was changed to 20,000.  His promotion was vetoed by Narstad, but it was because Narstad was jealous and felt Tibbets was moving in on his turf.  It was Doolittle who recommended him to head of the Army Air Force Gen. Hap Arnold.  Arnold was looking for someone to help develop the B-29. He was very successful at that and was the logical choice to head the secret 509^th Composite Group which would train to drop the bomb.  It was his decision to allow families to Wendover Air Base.  It did put pressure on his marriage as he had to lie to Lucy about the Manhattan Project.  He did call engineers “sanitation workers” when they had to do some work in his house.  I do not know if he refused to tell Lucy even the bare-bones of why he had to be so secretive.  The movie implies he was just doing what he had to do, but if Ike could tell reporters about plans and trust them to keep it a secret, it seems like Tibbets was overly secretive with his wife.  They divorced three years later, by the way.  As far as the mission is concerned, the movie is close enough.  Tibbets did have the name and image painted on the day before.  Hiroshima was chosen because of cloud cover over the primary target.  The mission was uneventful as shown.  Tibbets did make a hard turn after dropping.   However, he and his crew would not have had an above view of the explosion like the perspective in the movie.