THE 100 BEST WAR MOVIES: 20. Born on the 4th of July (1989)

 

                “Born on the 4^th of July” is the second in Oliver Stone’s Vietnam trilogy.  It was released in 1989.  It is sandwiched between “Platoon” and “Heaven and Earth”.  The film shares eleven actors with “Platoon”.  It is based on the memoir by Ron Kovic who wrote the script with Stone. (Kovic has a cameo in the film, he is one of the wheelchair vets in the parade.)  Interestingly, the two veterans both won Bronze Stars and Purple Hearts.  Stone also produced and directed the film.  It was a huge success at the box office and with critics.  It won Oscars for Director and Film Editing. It was nominated for Best Picture (losing to “Driving Miss Daisy!!!), Best Actor (Cruise lost to Daniel Day-Lewis in “My Left Foot”), Adapted Screenplay (losing to “Driving Miss Daisy”!!!), Cinematography (losing to “Glory”), and Original Score by John Williams (losing to “The Little Mermaid”). It won Golden Globes for Picture, Director, Actor, and Screenplay. The budget was only $18 million. Both Cruise and Stone worked below their usual salaries, but got a percentage of the profits. This paid off because the movie made $161 million.

            The movie opens symbolically with a young Kovic playing war – an American rite of passage.  This flows into a 4^th of July parade featuring crippled veterans (including the real Kovic).  The crowd is very appreciative of the WWII veterans.  Next, we hear JFK urge young Americans to “Ask not…”  This trio of images establishes the template of pre-disillussioned America.  (Interestingly, the Kennedy of this film is urging young American boys to go to Vietnam whereas the Kennedy of Stone's "JFK" is killed for wanting us out!)

            Kovic is recruited by the Marines and seduced by the desire to “find out if you got what it takes.”  He doesn’t want to miss the chance to go toe to toe with Communism.   In a twist, his veteran father (Raymond Barry) is not thrilled, but his mother (Caroline Kava) is supportive.

            The movie jumps forward to Kovic’s second tour in Vietnam.  His unit is attacking a village and find a whole family slaughtered.  The combat is visceral and graphic.  In the chaotic retreat, Kovic accidentally kills one of his men.  When he tries to accept responsibility, his CO brushes the incident under the rug.  This adds to Kovic’s anguish and creates an ominous vibe.  Sure enough, in the next combat set piece, Kovic is badly wounded in the assault on another ville.  The action is intense and frenetic.  Both scenes evidence the “fog of war”.  Tragically, the military hospital is more hellish.  He is given last rites, but survives to end up in the Bronx Veterans’ Hospital.

            The hospital is like Purgatory.  Viewers eyes are opened to how our warriors were treated by the system they fought for.  Rats, filth, uncaring staff, drug abuse, faulty equipment.  (This makes it even more damning that some similar examples of mistreatment greeted veterans of Iraq!)  In spite of this, Kovic remains a hawk and rails against anti-war protestors.  “Love it or leave it!”

            By the time he is well enough to go home, Kovic has slid into depression. His mother can’t handle her golden boy who is now a broken man. She’s a hawk and he is becoming increasingly dovish. The dysfunction causes him to leave and he ends up in a seedy town in Mexico which is home to other mentally and physically scarred veterans. He has to hit rock bottom before he can become a functional human being. In the process of mentally healing, he comes full circle to the anti-war movement. He becomes one of the most famous voices against the war and for better treatment of veterans.           

ACTING:   A+                

ACTION:   N/A

ACCURACY:  B      

PLOT:  B                

REALISM:   A+ 

CINEMATOGRAPHY:   A

SCORE:   A

SCENE:  the wheelchair fight

QUOTE:  Kovic:  It's my leg! I want my leg, you understand? Can't you understand that? All's I'm sayin' is that I want to be treated like a human being! I fought for my country! I am a Vietnam veteran! I fought for my country!

                Here’s a cliché for you;  “I’m not a big Tom Cruise (Oliver Stone) fan, but…”  How often do you hear that?  This is one of those movies where both men are at their best.  It is a very impressive movie.  There are few weaknesses.  Stone controls himself (you know how he can be) and deserved the Oscar as Best Director.  It is astounding that the movie lost to “Driving Miss Daisy”.  You can definitely argue this was more egregious than the infamous “Shakespeare in Love” win over “Saving Private Ryan”.  The cinematography of Robert Richardson mixes chromes to match the moods.  For instance, the combat scenes have reddish tinge. The two combat scenes stand out for me, of course.  Richardson uses a hand-held and gets the you-are-there feel that has become common in modern war films.

       The acting is outstanding.  Cruise is amazing and must have finished second to Daniel Day-Lewis for the Oscar.  He is fully into a role that took great physical commitment. He spent weeks in a wheelchair preparing for the role. It is probably his best performance. Kovic was so impressed with Cruise that he gave him his Bronze Star. Leave your feelings about him at the door and admire his performance.  The other standout is Willem Defoe as another wheelchair bound veteran. Their scenes together are highlights. Their fight in wheelchairs is a very poignant moment in the film.

          In less capable hands, the movie could have been maudlin and heavy-handed.  Stone is obviously sending a message, but he does not bludgeon us with it.  One theme  is that the war was a big mistake that wounded America. Stone also makes it clear that veterans were treated poorly, especially wounded vets. There have been other Vietnam War movies that have concentrated on PTSD, but few that have focused on wounded vets and their maltreatment by Veterans Hospitals. Another theme is that war is not what you expect. “Born on the Fourth of July” reminds of Paul Baumer’s journey from patriotic German enlistee to disillusioned soldier in “All Quiet on the Western Front”. It is important to note that Kovic is not a fictional character. The movie is acceptably accurate, but there is some historical license. (see below)

              Although Stone struck out with “Heaven and Earth”, the first two in his trilogy are important films.  “Platoon” has lost luster for many war movie fans (not me), but the fact is that it opened the Vietnam combat experience to many Americans.  It is not the only Vietnam film that has done a credible job in this area.  On the other hand, “Born” opened people’s eyes to the plight of wounded veterans.  This depiction is rarer with the inferior “Coming Home” the obvious competitor.  The sad thing is the limited impact it had on treatment of future veterans.  It also should be mentioned that the movie did the service of bringing Ron Kovic to public recognition.  For the Vietnam War, it is appropriate that we get a crippled, but resilient hero to replace Col. Kirby of “The Green Berets” (a movie that is the polar opposite of this movie).

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:  He did enlist after Marine recruiters talked to his class. His mother was supportive and his father was lukewarm. The combat at the first village was accurate with the civilian deaths and the friendly fire, but it was actually two separate incidents. His commander did try to brush the friendly fire incident under the rug. Kovic did not visit Wilson’s parents. He apologized in his memoir. Kovic’s wounding is accurately depicted. He was given last rites. Unfortunately, the stay in the hospital is true. Treatment of wounded veterans was egregious. He did try to walk again, but the broken leg was later, when he was in college. There is no Donna mentioned in his memoir.  He did ride in the parade, but he did not give a speech. The peace rally at Syracuse University was Hollywood. (Stone later apologized to the Syracuse police department.) He was involved in a rally in Washington which the police broke up. He was not assaulted. In his memoir, this is the moment that turned him into an activist. The stay in Mexico was well done. He drank and slept with prostitutes, but in his memoir he does not write about falling in love with one. He did have a fight with Charlie while in their wheelchairs. His anti-war protesting is accurately portrayed, but his interview at the Republican convention was before Nixon’s speech. He did speak at the next Democratic Convention. (The studio was not impressed with the scene and allowed Stone to reshoot it with 6,000 extras instead of 600. It cost $500,000.)

            All things considered, "Born on the Fourth of July" is admirably accurate. Some of the inaccuracies are designed to advance the themes and since Kovic had a hand in the production, we can assume he was okay with the liberties Stone took. Of course, this does not excuse inventing a character like Donna or a trip to Wilson’s parents. It is more acceptable to combine some incidents for time and plot purposes. The biggest strength of the movie accuracy-wise is Cruise's portrayal of Kovic. The Kovic of the memoir is the Kovic of the film. Cruise channels Kovic and the extreme emotions Kovic writes about in his book are apparent in the film.

THE 100 BEST WAR MOVIES: 21. The Grey Zone (2001)

 

                When I taught the Holocaust, I present my students with a dilemma.  You are a Jew working in a concentration camp.  To stay alive, you have the job of removing the corpses from the gas chamber and bringing them to the crematorium.  One day a little girl is found alive among the bodies.  You and your fellow workers have to decide whether you will risk your lives by trying to smuggle her into the female population or turn her over to the S.S.  This dilemma is based on an actual incident.  That incident is part of the plot of a movie entitled “The Grey Zone”.  The movie was directed by Tim Blake Nelson (the goofy Delmar in “Oh, Brother Where Art Thou?”).  Looks can be deceiving, he was the only member of the cast or crew who had read the Odyssey.  He wrote the play that the movie is based on and then the screenplay.  His research came from the book Auschwitz:  A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli.  The movie was filmed in Bulgaria.  Actual plans for the camp were used to make a 90% scaled replica of the crematoria and barracks.

                There have been many Holocaust movies, but few have dealt with the Sonderkommandos.  These were the “special units” that removed the bodies from the gas chambers.  They were given better food and housing, but they joined the corpses after a few months.  The movie is set in Auschwitz II – Birkenau in August, 1944.  Dr. Nyiszli (Allan Corduner) meets the infamous Dr. Josef Mengele and decides to collude with him on his human guinea pig experiments.  He figures the arrangement will help keep his wife and daughter out of the gas chamber.  He also has the attitude that at least some science might come from the experiments.  The other plot line involves a plot by some of the sonderkommandos to blow up the crematoria and the gas chamber.  They are aware that the clock is ticking on their employment.  In order to blow up the buildings, a trio of extremely brave women are smuggling gun powder to them from the munitions factory. 

            The movie hits several Holocaust images – the band playing as the Jews enter the “showers”, the burning of the Hungarian Jews in pits, the sorting of belongings.  However, the movie is not interested in depicting life in the camp.  In fact, the sonderkommandos are living a much better life than the typical prisoners.  They are literally feasting in their comfortable barracks.  This is not “Schindler’s List”, it is closer to “Escape from Sobibor” because it deals with resistance to the “Final Solution”.  Unlike that movie, “The Grey Zone” digs deep into ethics and choices.  The sabotage plot is going well until Hoffman (David Arquette) discovers a young girl among the bodies.  Nyiszli is brought in to help her recover.  He is let in on the plot.  Now we have two dilemmas.  What to do with the girl and should Nyiszli use his new knowledge to save his family?  He is under pressure from an S.S. officer named Muhsfeldt (Harvey Keitel) to tell about any plotting in exchange for preferential treatment for Nyiszli’s family.   These two arcs will get us to the explosive final scene.

ACTING:   A+                 

ACTION:   N/A

ACCURACY:  A0        

PLOT:  A+                   

REALISM:   A 

CINEMATOGRAPHY:   A  

SCORE:  not memorable 

 

SCENE:  the revolt

            “The Grey Zone” is an outstanding movie.  The reason it is not well known is it is grim, even for a Holocaust movie.  It also did not get much in the way of marketing.  It made less than $1 million! The budget was a measly $5 million.  Not a lot of it went to the cast, which is not all-star, but does have some excellent actors.  Harvey Keitel is great as Muhsfeldt.  The character is not your typical evil Nazi and is not predictable.  In fact, the whole movie is unpredictable – other than the obvious failure of the plot.  David Arquette plays against type as Hoffman.  He has a very powerful scene involving a Hungarian Jew who argues with him before going in the gas chamber.  It is one of several shocking moments in the movie.  The standout among the cast is David Chandler as Rosenthal.

            Aside from the great acting and interesting blend of cinematography (mostly hand-held and some POV), the strength of the movie is in the provoking of thoughts.  Should the girl be saved?  Is Nyiszli a villain or a man doing whatever it takes to save his family?  Are the sonderkommandoes in need of redemption?  Most importantly, what would you do in the circumstances the movie posits?  The film is a welcome addition to the Holocaust subgenre of war movies.  It is instructive of the sonderkommandos and covers several aspects of Auschwitz that are seldom portrayed in Holocaust movies.  It also is based on a true story so there is a history lesson here.  (See below for how accurate the movie is.)

            “The Grey Zone” is one of the top five Holocaust movies.  It is tough to watch because most of the movies in this subgenre have relatively positive endings.  This one is entertaining, but depressing.  Shouldn’t you be depressed when you finish watching a Holocaust movie?  I’m not criticizing movies like “Schindler’s List” or “Escape from Sobibor” because they tell true stories and those stories emphasize the strength of the human spirit.  But we need movies that question human behavior and decisions made under difficult circumstances.  Thank God this movie will be as close as you get to the “what if?” scenarios Nyiszli  and the gas commandos faced.

HISTORICAL ACCURACY:    The movie accurately depicts the work of the sonderkommandos.  These were squads of Jews who were forced into the “special units” when they first arrived at the camp.  Their job was to remove the corpses from the gas chambers and transport them to the crematoria.  It was not unusual for them to come into contact with the bodies of dead family members.  In exchange for this work, they were isolated from the rest of the prisoners and lived in their own barracks.  The barracks was nicer and they were well fed.  They were given food, medicines, and cigarettes accumulated from the victims.  The feasting shown in the movie was probably exaggerated, but they certainly were better off than the other Jews.  They also were protected from being shot by the guards for minor infractions or just because the guard was having a bad day.  Since they were “bearers of secrets”, they could not be allowed to survive, so every three months or so they were liquidated.  The replacement sonderkommandos’ first job was to dispose of their predecessors.

            The incident involving the young girl (she was probably around 15) was based on Nyiszli’s recollection.  He volunteered as a doctor and caught the attention of Josef Mengele.  Mengele put him to work doing autopsies and helping with his experiments.  Some of this involved Mengele’s twins.  His work and a bribe saved his family from the gas chamber.  They all survived the war.  Some historians dispute his information about the Sonderkommando. The girl possibly survived by being under the crush of bodies with her face pressed against the wet floor.  When the men discovered her, they called for the doctor and he revived her.  At this point, he brought the matter to Oberscharfuhrer Eric Muhsfeldt who he had a relationship with through his work with Mengele.  Nyiszli thought he could convince the officer to let the girl be filtered into the female work groups, but Muhsfeldt did not think the chance of discovery was worth it.  He had a guard shoot her.  The incident involving the girl was not connected to the uprising.

            The plot to blow up the crematoria and gas chamber is based on an attempted uprising by Sonderkommando XII in Auschwitz.  Small amounts of gunpowder were smuggled from the munitions plant on site by three Jewish women – Ester Wajcblum, Ala Gertner, and Regina Safirsztain.  The trio passed the explosives to Roza Robath who was part of the resistance.  The planned rebellion had to be moved up when word spread that their time as body disposers was about to come to an end.  On Oct. 7, 1944 they attacked the SS and Kapos with two machine guns, knives, and grenades.  They killed three and wounded twelve.  Part of a crematorium was destroyed, but for the most part the uprising was a failure.  Some did manage to escape, but were soon recaptured.  200 were executed in a manner similar to the movie.  The four women were ferreted out after the event, tortured, and executed.

            Erich Muhfeldt was a mass murderer who was executed for war crimes after the war.  He participated in the mass executions that attempted to cover up Madjanek when the camp was destroyed after the escape.  He then ended up at Auschwitz and was in charge of Sonderkommando XII.  He did have a creepy relationship with Nyiszli similar to the one shown in the film.