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-