Pecados de Guerra

Casualties of War shows that war can be ugly for more than the obvious reasons. A great dramatic piece by Brian De Palma.

The good. Excellent score. Once past the intro, powerful mood. Riveting story. Well built scenario, very logical and nicely paced. Emotionally disturbing.

The actors. Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn are just perfect as antagonist. Don Harvey fits his crazy role very well. John C. Reilly plays the simpleton with convincing clarity. And I'll just mention in passing a good performance by Ving Rhames.

The bad. The initial jungle scenes lack realism, as well as some over-acting by the black guy in the first part.

The ugly. Nothing.

The result. An emotional and brutal movie. Not for the faint of heart.

Based on a true story, the arrogant sergeant (Sean Penn) of a 5-man squad on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam in November, 1966, decides to kidnap a Vietnamese farm girl for some "portable R&R" because it would be "good for the morale of the squad." But PFC Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) refuses to participate and fears being "killed In Action" for dissenting.

"Casualties of War" (1989) separates itself from other Vietnam War movies by focusing on the incident at hand, including the build-up and aftermath. Its uniqueness is augmented by Brian De Palma's slightly off-kilter style. The picture balances the beauty of the location and the artistry of Brian De Palma's filmmaking with the horror and ugliness of war & rape.

It's also realistic and compelling while simultaneously being mundane, which is why some viewers might find it boring. In other words, this is more of a gut-wrenching war drama with some action than a typical war flick with explosions and action thrills galore. It fairly closely follows the real story; Google Incident on Hill 192 for details.

The movie runs 1 hour, 59 minutes, with the original Theatrical Cut being 6 minutes shorter. It was shot in Phang Nga, Kanchanaburi & Phuket, Thailand, and Dolores Park, San Francisco, California.

GRADE: A-/B+

`Casualties of War' belongs to the same year as that other anti-war film `Born on the Fourth of July'. From about the mid-eighties American feeling rose bitterly against the aftermath of the Viet Nam war: the price had been too high. Too many young men killed or wounded and, worse perhaps, too many young men psychologically scarred for the rest of their lives. `Casualties of War' does not point any accusing fingers at anyone: the film is an anguishing account of a horrendous series of actions based on real facts. Even so, our interpretation must go a little beyond what the film tells us, what we are seeing. We must ask how many more service-men lost their nerve in the middle of that jungle inferno which was Viet Nam?

Brian de Palma obliges us to enter into that indescribable hell, so that we might, with a bit of luck, if our feelings can bear the torture of witnessing such inhumane irrationality, understand a little more the agonising palpable naked terror which so many men had to go through.

However, whether Michael J. Fox or whether Sean Penn played their part better seems to overlook an obviety: without that performance by the Vietnamese girl, Thuy Thu Le, this film would have been forgotten years ago. My first seeing of that fragile creature – some years ago – left me nauseated, my stomache churned and I had bad dreams for several nights. That pathetic little face and her screams of anguish haunted me for days afterwards. Her performance was so compelling, rivetting, anguishing, it had me hating being a man. I only just stopped short of throwing up. Perhaps nobody expresses this better than `Tony's Corner: a Fan's Notes' (www.colba.net):

<< the performance of a young actress, a woman named Thuy Thu Le. It is to my mind, one of the bravest, most courageous, and one of the most heartbreakingly real pieces of acting that I've ever seen………… the intolerable suffering that Thuy's character Oahn endures, her emotional intensity………... searing power, of blistering emotion, and raging despair, the outstanding performance of Thuy Thu Le is central to it's success >> (end partial quote)

Amen.

It is one of those performances that no Oscar can ever pay for: indeed such a triviality would have been an insult. The film is cruel, sickening, loathsome, heartbreaking; but something humane, something I can't explain, something deep inside me, compelled me to see this poor `wretch' again, compelled me to witness once again her tremendous scream of despair against the bestial inhumanity of war – any, every and all war. I have no love of morbidity: I shun such ridiculous programmes. But this poor creature called Thuy Thu Le forced me to see the film for a second time.

Enough: I will never see this film again. I have seen naked desperation and fear so realistic that my soul seethes to boiling point and is about to burst thus twice. That will do. In the end we are all casualties of war.....

No vote: I cannot reduce this to a simple vote. It just would not have any real meaning, would it?

Based on the actual events of the incident on Hill 192 in 1966 during the Vietnam War, 'Casualties of War', directed by legendary filmmaker Brian De Palma, is An Effective Film, that talks about Human-Cruelty & Violence. De Palma handles this unsettling & disturbing fare with ruthlessness, making it an experience to remember.

'Casualties of War' Synopsis: During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager.

'Casualties of War' is disturbing, unsettling & yet effective. Based on a true horrifying event, the film comes across as uninhibited & Extremely bear.

De Palma's Direction, as mentioned, is ruthless, like the story itself. David Rabe's Screenplay talks about Human-Cruelty & it very efficiently narrates that. Cinematography & Editing, are mention-worthy.

Performance-Wise: Michael J. Fox delivers a believable performance, that ranks amongst his finest works to date. Sean Penn is mesmerizing as the bad-guy, causing hate each time he appears on-screen. John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo & Don Harvey, are terrific. Thuy Thu Le as the frightened victim, delivers a haunting performance, that's impossible to forget. Ving Rhames is good in a brief role.

On the whole, 'Casualties of War' is worth a watch, but its certainly NOT meant for the faint-hearted.

Although Platoon may have gotten more acclaim, by far the best film on the Vietnam War is this one. Casualties Of War is going to leave Platoon way in the dust when history has its verdict.

Though Sean Penn's got several great films to his credit, by far this is the best work of Michael J. Fox on the big screen. His soldier with a conscious who can't live with himself after witnessing an act of barbarity that the other men of his squad commit should have brought him an Oscar nomination. In fact there could have and should have been a few of them for this film.

Fox plays a young soldier only a few weeks in Vietnam. On patrol Sergeant Sean Penn saves his life, but then on a second patrol because Penn and friends could not get leave to bleed the lizard as they say, they kidnap a young Vietnamese woman and take her on patrol. All the men on the patrol, Penn, Don Harvey, John C. Reilly, and John Leguizamo all gang rape the girl, but Fox refuses. Later on he's got a crisis of conscience.

Kids who grew up on World War II movies and westerns with clearly defined good and bad guys were ill prepared for a war in Vietnam. So was our government which had been involved in more or less degree since the end of World War II and the breakup of French Indochina. The subtleties of the regional politics eluded our policy makers in Washington. It was mighty hard to tell who was a friend and who was an enemy. You treated anyone with a yellowish pigmentation and slanted eyes as an enemy, the only friends you knew were the ones wearing the same green jungle fatigues as you were.

The war twisted Penn and Harvey. Leguizamo and Reilly were essentially followers, only Fox who hadn't been there long enough to have his sense of morality impaired could see this was all wrong. That's the frightening part of Casualties Of War. None of the four could see anything wrong, even Leguizamo who sees his first duty as to stick with the guys who have your back in the field.

As good as Fox and Penn and the rest of the Occidental cast is, the best performance in the film is Thuy Thu Lee. As the bewildered and frightened young girl she will positively break your heart with her one and only film performance.

Casualties Of War was shot in Thailand so we're seeing actual Southeast Asia locations. Brian DePalma's direction of his stellar cast is right on target. Don't ever miss Casualties Of War about the ultimate Vietnam experience.