“Full Metal Jacket” began its long journey to the screen when director Stanley Kubrick (“Dr. Strangelove”, “Paths of Glory”, “Spartacus”) read about Gustav Harford’s novel The Short Timers. Kubrick convinced his good friend Michael Herr to flesh out a screenplay. Herr had already written one of the great Vietnam War books – Dispatches. Harford was also involved in the adapted screenplay that ended up with an Oscar nod (the only one the film garnered!). The movie was filmed in England because Kubrick hated to leave home. The Hue scenes were filmed in a ruined factory. Modine claimed the cast and crew came in contact with toxins there. The shoot lasted an exhausting 17 months. Kubrick eschewed a big name cast. Matthew Modine was coming off of “Birdie”. Vincent D’Onofrio was making his debut. He set a record by gaining seventy pounds for the role (breaking De Niro’s pigging out for “Raging Bull”). R. Lee Ermey was hired as the technical adviser and put the actors through a boot camp that included him yelling at them for ten hours a day. He angled for the DI role by impressing Kubrick with a fifteen minute profanity fueled rant while tennis balls were being thrown at him.
The movie opens with Marine recruits having their individuality removed via the scalping of their hair. The theme of dehumanization kicks in early. If it’s not obvious enough we transition to Drill Instructor Hartman (Ermey) declaring: “You’re not even human fucking beings”. Hartman quickly becomes one of the most memorable war movie characters with his introductory emasculation of the stunned ex-civilians. He substitutes derogatory nicknames as their names are removed like their hair. But Hartman reserves his main animosity for the chubby, intellectually challenged Leonard (D’Onofrio). Hartman presciently labels him “Gomer Pyle”.
The first part of the film is set on Parris Island for Marine boot camp. The movie skips the usual backgrounding of the recruits and the bonding off base scene. We do get the training montages, but with Hartman’s constant colorful berating. The main plot thread is the arc of the hapless Pyle whose incompetence sets Hartman off. The relationship between the two will have a tragic conclusion proving that when you train young American men to be killers, you might get a murderer.
After that stunning resolution of the boot camp section, we are suddenly in Saigon months later (to the tune of “These Boots Are Made For Walking”). Joker is a military journalist working for “Stars and Stripes”. He does not get on well with his editor because he knows coverage of the war is bull shit. The editor insists on the war being reported in a manner conducive to the reputation of the Corps. Truth is the first casualty. There are two types of stories “Stars and Stripes” covers: winning “hearts and minds” and winning the war by killing bad guys.
The Tet Offensive breaks out and their base is assaulted. Joker gets a taste of combat and it is exhilarating. Joker and his buddy Rafterman head off to Hue to try to acquire that “thousand yard stare”. They hook up with a squad and participate in the house-to-house fighting that the battle was infamous for. There is an enemy sniper in their future.
ACTING: A
ACTION: B (8/10) this is for the second half of the movie
ACCURACY: N/A
PLOT: B
REALISM: B
CINEMATOGRAPHY: A
SCORE: C
SCENE: the sniper
QUOTE: Joker: I wanted to see exotic Vietnam... the crown jewel of Southeast Asia. I wanted to meet interesting and stimulating people of an ancient culture... and kill them. I wanted to be the first kid on my block to get a confirmed kill!
HISTORICAL ACCURACY: FMJ is not meant to be historically accurate. It is based on a novel, but Hasford was a correspondent in Vietnam and supposedly based the book on personal experiences. The Joker character is apparently based on him. The boot camp segment is realistic as to Marine boot camp in 1967. If anything, the movie underplays the physical abuse. (The DI in the book is more brutal.) The “Stars and Stripes” reporting strategy is accurate. Da Nang was one of the targets for the opening Tet attacks (note the fireworks in the background – nice touch). As far as Hue, civilians were executed by the Communists. There was a sniper problem as part of the urban house-to-house combat although the movie does not refer to a specific incident. Last, but not least, there were hookers in Vietnam that offered to sucky sucky for ten dollars. My only real problem is I doubt the sniper could have been that accurate using a standard AK-47 from that distance.
CRITIQUE: “Full Metal Jacket” is not a perfect film, but parts of it approach perfection. The acting is amazing, especially considering that the cast is far from all-star. Modine does a great job as the main character and he is likeable. It’s an assured performance considering his star billing is undermined by career-making turns by D’Onofrio, Ermey, and Baldwin. D’Onofrio owes his career to this movie (which he readily admits). For a debut, he knocks it out of the park. His transition from grinning buffoon to malevolent nutcase is amazing. It was a travesty that he did not get an Academy Award nomination. Although Ermey had acted before (starting with 1978’s “Boys in Company C”), FMJ was his breakthrough. He completely dominates all his scenes and Kubrick’s lensing abets this. Watch him closely – the dude never blinks! It is important to note that the control freak Kubrick allowed Ermey to improvise some of his lines. (I must point out that many of his lines appear in the novel.) In spite of all this, I do need to remind everyone that Ermey was essentially playing himself. (Sorry, R. Lee.) As far as Baldwin, he is perfect as Animal Mother and should still be kissing his agent’s ass for getting him the part.
The dialogue is a highlight, especially Hartman’s lambasting of the men. Joker gets some great snark in. I counted the number of curse words – 115. And such a variety (skip to the next paragraph if curse words offend you) - bull shit, dogshit, faggots, son of a bitch, shit, cocksuckers, ass hole, scumbag, pussy, swinging dick, cocks, dickhead, dumbass, and bastard.
The movie is technically brilliant. Not surprising since it’s a Kubrick film. He took years to make it and the care is on the screen. The cinematography is masterful. The barracks scenes are especially noteworthy as the camera tracks Ermey in his transits. There are several long depth shots that are well-composed (e.g. when the men pray to their guns). When the film shifts to Vietnam, we get lots of shots with action in the background. Watch the TV crew scene. They are moving leftward, the Lust Hogs are stationary, and other soldiers move across the frame rightward. Cool.
The score is used very sparingly, but effectively. It was done by Kubrick’s daughter Vivian and she uses some eerie music that fits the mood well. Kubrick blends in some great contemporary songs. The Hue set is great. Kubrick used photos of Hue to adapt an abandoned gas works in East London. (Modine claims they were exposed to toxins.) This contrasts to the pristine atmosphere of the barracks. The editing has been justifiably lauded. For instance, Kubrick uses cadence runs to divide up the boot camp scenes. He bookends the middle section with the hooker. However, it is perplexing how he allowed the final assault on the sniper to go from six soldiers to eight back to six then eight and finally the original six. WTF
The plotting is fine, but not great. The movie is essentially three parts with the boot camp segment dominant and hard to top. This cannot be helped and critics have been too harsh on this. Kubrick explores the themes of war destroys and war corrupts our young. It is also clear that when you reprogram young men to kill you end up with killers that may not have a steady moral compass. The movie surprisingly does not take a clear stand against the war although it is clearly anti-war. The plot throws in some nice twists and avoids cliches. Kubrick does include a military funeral scene, but what the eulogizers say is distinctly iconoclastic. Animal Mother: “Better you than me”. The ending “Mickey Mouse” scene is an effective close. Certainly better than the original idea of having Animal Mother chopping off the sniper’s head and them playing soccer with it.
CONCLUSION: Kubrick made a unique film. He stood the boot camp trope on its head. He explored urban combat in Vietnam. He gave us three memorable characters. It was sadly underrated by The Academy. Who would argue today that it is not better than “Moonstruck” for Christ’s sake? And would you have guessed that the war movie nominated that year would be “Hope and Glory”? A good war film, but come on.
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