Drywall Reviews

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

A true anti-war film

[10/10 · 31 March 2005]

I have heard of the idea that every war movie is in fact an anti-war movie, because they all show the horror and brutality of the situation.

I do not agree.

Some war films, while showing violence and blood, have stories describing how war gives people the potential to be heroes; movies like 'Saving Private Ryan', 'A Bridge Too Far' and even 'The Great Escape' fall into this trap; they seem to say that, even though war is terrible, some good can come from it.

A true anti-war film has no heroes. The statement is very clear: war turns men into vicious animals, with no drives except to eat, copulate, and kill. Films in this category include 'King Rat', 'The Dirty Dozen', 'Platoon', and of course Stanley Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket'.

With 'Jacket', Kubrick provides what is perhaps the most comprehensive and complete overview of how human beings are de-evolved through the military process. He begins in boot camp, where they are treated as scum, beaten and abused, and (in some cases) driven completely mad. By the time they reach the field, they are "killing machines...angels of death", and the horror of battle only makes it worse.

They suppress fear, pity, love...and and all emotions that distinguish humans from animals. Sex is purely physical gratification, and killing is a rush. There is no loyalty or patriotism; the desire to retrieve a wounded comrade is more akin to how a pack of wolves protects one of its own. They act on instinct rather than reason, and they do not hesitate to destroy everything they see.

That is the plot of Full Metal Jacket. The movie itself is a scathing example of how horrible war truly is. Perhaps there is the potential for heroism...but few, if any, rise to it.

Eros (2004)

Two out of Three...

[18 September 2004]

I saw this movie at the Toronto Film Festival, on the suggestion of friends who were very excited about Wong Kar Wai's short in particular. I had never seen anything by that director, but I was interested enough in the concept of the movie (three short films by three directors of different nationality) to go along.

The first short, Wong's 'The Hand', is excellent; it is touching and powerful. The acting is so good that the sub-titles are barely necessary; the emotion in their voices conveys meaning in itself. I enjoyed this enough to want to see more of the director's work.

The second is Steven Soderbergh's 'Equilibrium', and it's the sort of film that I sometimes think the West has forgotten how to make. It's a funny, fast-paced bit of banter between two excellent actors (Alan Arkin and Robert Downey Jr.), both of whose professional lives are thrown off balance by women. Also, despite its short running time,it manages to stick in a number of amusing plot twists.

Which brings us to the third short, Michaelangelo Antonini's 'The Dangerous Thread of Things'. As my friend put it: "Like so many directors, he got old and he got horny". This is a shocking combination of bad acting, pointless storytelling, and unnecessary nudity...and this is not just my opinion; by about halfway through, most of the audience was laughing with embarrassment and more than a few were leaving the theatre.

So, in conclusion, Eros is a film of contrasts: two excellent pieces of cinema and one piece of garbage. If you like the work of Wong or Soderbergh, I highly recommend this film. If you are an Antonini fan, stay away...it'll just upset you.