Der Steinerne Garten

An excellent film. The subject matter is not one that I thought would hold my attention....but I was wrong. The characters in this movie will involve you in their lives, so be prepared to stay awhile. The writing is first-rate. But I was most impressed with the directorial abilities of Coppola....and here's the reason why: he reined in the actors so that they gave marvelous, realistic performances (James Caan and Dean Stockwell are not always the most subtle of performers - but here, they are perfect). There is one exception - Coppola allows Angelica Huston to shine, and brings her out to full advantage (what is the opposite of 'reining in?'). For all the actors to turn in such great portrayals says something about the director, I think.

After 'Apocalypse Now', it's hard to believe that this film was directed by Francis Ford Coppola with such sensitivity. Truly a testament that in many ways demonstrates that Coppola is one of film's greatest directors.

This film shows the lives of many different people and their backgrounds in opposing the Vietnam war. James Caan is a military officer working as a home guard at Arlington National Cemetery during the casualties of America's most tragic conflict. It shows his relationship with Anjelica Huston and James Earl Jones as his closest friends. D.B. Sweeney and Mary Stuart Masterson are great as the younger and more naive observers of the times.

Part documentary style, part sentiment and all inclusive drama showcase its impact in a more sedated manner than most other films dealing with its subject but worth a look as an alternative.

It's the military funeral of Jackie Willow (D.B. Sweeney) as he recounts his journey. It returns to Jackie's first day at Fort Myer which provides soldiers for Arlington National Cemetery and he's gungho to fight in Vietnam. He's the son of a friend of Sgt. Clell Hazard (James Caan) who tries to talk him out of Vietnam. He helps screw-up Wildman (Casey Siemaszko) from platoon Sgt. Flanagan (Laurence Fishburne). Sergeant Major Goody Nelson (James Earl Jones) and wife Betty Rae set up Hazard with anti-war Washington Post reporter Samantha Davis (Anjelica Huston). Pete Deveber (Elias Koteas) is a clerk and Homer Thomas (Dean Stockwell) is the commander. Jackie marries Rachel Feld (Mary Stuart Masterson), the daughter of a colonel.

Francis Ford Coppola revisits Vietnam with something less epic and more traditional. There are great actors. The thing I remember most is the story of the Vietcons fighting helicopters with arrows. This is certainly not as iconic as Apocalypse Now. It doesn't mean that it's not a worthwhile watch. For a war movie, this surprisingly has little war action. That's probably what throws most people off.

In the late 60s, a cynical Korean vet (James Caan) would rather be training soldiers for Vietnam in Georgia, but instead he's stuck at Arlington National Cemetery playing what he calls "toy soldier" with his colleagues (James Earl Jones, etc.). When an old buddy's gung-ho son shows up (D. B. Sweeney), he settles for trying to keep him from becoming another statistic in The 'Nam. Anjelica Huston plays his potential girlfriend and Mary Stuart Masterson the greenhorn's girl.

Directed by Francis Ford Coppola based on the 1983 novel, "Gardens of Stone" (1987) is a worthy companion piece to all those Vietnam War flicks of the 70s-90s as it chronicles what was happening on the home front. It's a war drama, but not a war action film, yet not a dull, lifeless drama (more on this in a moment).

Caan and Jones have good chemistry as old Army buds and Sweeney works well as the "new kid" (he looks like a young Ben Affleck when he broke out ten years later). Meanwhile Mary Stuart Masterson was never more beautiful.

In ways the movie's reminiscent of Eastwood's "Heartbreak Ridge" (1986) with its spunkiness and a smidgen of comedy (which I wasn't anticipating), although don't expect the cartoonish character of Cpl. Stitch Jones (Mario Van Peebles). In other words, the proceedings aren't all dour. Yet there are heavy, moving parts given the topic. Coppola contrasts the beginning scene and ending scene. They're the same sequence, but it holds more weight the second time around for reasons you'll discover.

I was entertained, amused and moved. It's a necessary piece of the puzzle in understanding the era of the Vietnam War. While it's not on the level of greatness of Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979) or "Forrest Gump" (1994), it's still a solid Coppola movie with a little sloppiness here and there. For instance, the war games episode could've been done more coherently and entertainingly, as was done in "The Dirty Dozen" (1967). But time means money in cinema and they had a deadline.

I've heard people complain about how this or that wasn't technically accurate or realistic, but filmmakers aren't interested in being 100% true-to-life. If they were, no one would go see their flicks. Let me put it this way, movies are real-life with the boring parts taken out, as well as exaggerations thrown in. Take "Platoon" (1986), for example. Do ya really think everything that took place in that movie happened to ONE platoon in real life? Of course not. Oliver Stone simply took many different highlights of the 'Nam experience and condensed them into one 2-hour tale of a single platoon.

The notable cast also includes the likes of Dean Stockwell, Sam Bottoms, Larry Fishburne, Dick Anthony Williams and Elias Koteas. Bottoms and Fishburne of course worked previously with Coppola on "Apocalypse Now."

Before shooting commenced, Francis' 23 year-old son, Gian-Carlo Coppola, was tragically killed in a speedboat accident in May, 1986. The reckless driver of the boat was Griffin O'Neal (Ryan's son), who was slated to play the role given to Elias Koteas.

The film runs 1 hour, 51 minutes, and was shot at Fort Myer & Arlington National Cemetery and nearby Washington DC.

GRADE: B.

My oldest son spent 8 years in the Old Guard Delta Company from 1984-1992. He was fortunate to be ask to play the part of the guidon bearer ( the black Delta Company Flag ) in the movie, and also to help instruct the actors in how to dress, stand, march ect. The movie was a masterpiece that covers just how it was for troops state side while the war was raging in Asia . My son said " Coppola did a superb job of following military protocol to make the film as real as possible " The story line is so right on. Coppola has another winner in my books. I thought the movie was very moving, lacking in nothing .

It was tragic that Coppola's son was killed in a boating accident while out with Ryan Oneal's son during the making of this excellent movie.

As you can tell I'm not a professional writer, but I just had to say something about how good this film is