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Full Metal Jacket

Major Spoilers Ahead

Kubrick’s take on a war movie following the success of “The Shining,” to me, felt almost incomplete. The first act is brilliant, showing the gritty and brutal nature of training in Paris Island. R Lee Ermey’s portrayal of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman is especially memorable, as is Vincent D'Onofrio’s performance as Private Leondard ‘Gomer Pyle’ Lawrence. The training on Paris Island shows the development of 'Joker,’ our main protagonist. He’s shown to be quite skillful as a Private and is eventually made Squad Leader. He’s specifically tasked with motivating Lawrence, who until this point has failed nearly every training exercise in some humiliating fashion. Despite progress being made, Lawrence’s mistake of sneaking food into the barracks brings about the punishing of the rest of the Privates in order to bestow upon them a sense of responsibility for Lawrences actions (brilliant staging and camera work in this scene btw.) This scene results in a presumed consistent informal nightly beating of Lawrence until he improves, and THIS causes the onset of Lawrences lust for revenge. D'Onofrio’s performance at this stage is brilliant, despite some inconsistencies in the beginning (it seemed he wasn’t sure if to play Lawrence as lazy or mentally challenged or a combination), as Lawrence is shown to slowly be turning insane. Act One climaxes in its conclusion where Lawrence shoots he Sergeant and himself. In short, I think the character development of Lawrence is well thought out and meaningful, and his death marks the end of what could very well be a finished short film.

Before continuing, I��d like to mention the gorgeous cinematography of the work. In Kubrick fashion, it’s obvious each shot was well planned out and each frame intentional. The wide shots of the battlefield through the close intimate shots of conversations are beautifully staged and filmed. The film has two distinct acts and I think the use of cinematography helps with distinguishing the transition. The second act features much more prominently wide shots displaying the vast landscape of the battlefield, while the first act deals much more with close-up shots of the squad and of Joker and Lawrence. In all I think, as usual, Kubrick brings something beautiful and logical to the film with the staging and filming of its scenes.

Act Two begins by making Joker the spotlight, where until this point the audience doesn’t know much about him either than he’s a good soldier and he’s kinda empathetic sometimes. I think the major pitfall of Act Two is that I find it personally very difficult to understand where Joker is coming from. He constantly makes light of the war and the killing and acts eager to get into battle, yet the penultimate scene of the movie shows him incredibly hesitant and even scared to mercy kill a murderess already sentenced to death. I obviously understand this is meant to show the turmoils of war through the eyes of a naive soldier, as we the audience are too naive, but the significance of this kill seems very little to the scope of the film. I think the buildup to it is incredibly well done, the slow killing off of empathetic characters and even Jokers friend, but the final killing of the Vietnamese girl feels so insignificant. I think that we’re led to believe Jokers right of passage will be some beautifully scarring moment when in the passions of war he vengefully rampaged through a barrage of soldiers, etc. However, were left with someone scarred and thankful for being alive, after an attack of a single sniper who only killed 3 men.

It’s here where I find myself unsure of what Kubrick is trying to say with this film. I came into it anticipating a grand climax with our protagonist being changed forever at the end of it. We get this, only the climax isn’t anywhere near as grand as one would expect in a movie of this nature. I think now, as I’m writing this very piece, that Kubrick was aiming to capture the anticlimactic nature of war. That after all of this build-up and suspense for a grand life-changing moment, both by us and by Joker, we end up with a beautiful intimate moment in which a man is confronted with the power, nay the moral responsibility AND the justification, to kill and yet he trembles for quite a long while only to then kill her lamely to the mockery of his squad. This, I think, is the true nature of war. War isn’t about the large battles in which hundreds of soldiers on both sides die at a time, it’s about when a man or woman is confronted personally with the power and responsibility to kill someone right in front of them, when despite all of the anger and hate you have towards the enemy you can’t bring yourself to pull a trigger, and when you do you’re changed forever. It’s the reality that you should be thankful to be alive on a day when you watched four people die right in front of you. I came into this article intending to bash this incomplete unsure movie. That’s not to say it’s not incomplete, the penultimate scene still feels like it’s missing the element of finality a story like this needs, but perhaps it’s meant to feel that way. Perhaps you’re meant to leave with a sense of it being unfinished, because while the movie is over, the war continues on.

Cinematography: 10/10 Screenplay: 8/10 Direction: 10/10 Soundtrack: 7/10 (dated properly but some choices seemed odd but it works) Cast: 8/10

Additive: 8.2/10 Overall: 8/10

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Inglorious Bastards

Few Spoilers Ahead Tarantino's 2009 Film, taking place in Nazi controlled France, utilizes his trope of non linear storytelling by connecting a band of blood thirsty soldiers with a revenge hungry undercover Jewish cinema owner as they each separately plot to kill Hitler at a German movie premiere. Strange as the plot may sound, as is with most of his films, Tarantino brilliantly webs these stories together to create a well thought out and cohesive narrative. However the real merit of this film comes with the character development. Christoph Waltz's brilliantly maniacal yet humorous character Hans Landa makes a fantastic villain for the piece. Portrayed as a sort of all knowing masterful "Jew Hunter," Tarantino creates these thoughtfully brilliant moments of insight for him, as he slowly pieces together the plan the audience already knows is in store. These present a real force to be reckoned with for the Bastards and Shoshanna, the Jewish cinema owner who has a traumatic past with Landa. Onto our heroes, Brad Pitt makes a surprisingly good protagonist. Both cocky and inspirational, Pitts portrayal of the Tennessee-born Lieutenant adds absolutely no depth to our stereotype of the cocky southern cowboy-like leader, but rather enhances it with his delivery of Tarantino's wit and humor. Mélanie Laurent is the other protagonist of the piece, and is absolutely fantastic in her ability to portray this odd character. While for many the transition from naive cinema owner to revengeful blood-hungry mass murderer may seem brash, Laurent's ability to gain empathy from an audience justifies her quite sudden transition. She plays both sides of the coin well, as her comically scared and awkward reactions to a lunch with Nazi's she can't understand are just as believable as the stone cold face she makes when she murders them. Other noteworthy performances include Daniel Brüher as Frederick Zoller, the German war hero who's "act of bravery" gives him a both humorous and obnoxious air, as well as August Dehls brief but chilling performance as Major Hellstram, who is briefly responsible for fooling the Bastards' plans as he carefully and brilliantly breaks down the Bastards' disguise as Nazi soldiers. Another thing to mention is the films brilliant cinematography. Taking on a film noir-esuqe approach, the realistic lighting pairs fantastically with the suspenseful moments of the film, and draws focus when necessary. The CinemaScope aspect ratio is juxtaposed with absolutely brilliant close-up shots, and surprisingly very few wide panoramic shots. Together this creates beautifully intimate dark suspense scenes, where one is able to watch the reactions of multiple characters over the period of a discussion, with emphasis on subtle facial expression changes as discussions escalate into arguments. Overall this film works as does any other Tarantino piece: thrilling plot lines brilliantly weaved together, and performed by a brilliantly cast list of well written characters. Cinematography: 10/10 Screenplay: 9/10 Direction: 9/10 Soundtrack: 8/10 (fantastic at many times but nothing special by Tarantino's standard) Cast: 9/10 Additive: 9/10 Overall: 9/10