Really good

Rating: 9/10 (1 September 2009)

Now, having seen the "Inglurious Basterds" about two weeks ago, you can imagine that Full Metal Jacket was quite a kick in the gut. I like the "old masters" directors (where have they all gone and where are the new ones...?) and Kubrick was no doubt one of them. This good movie, after a long time, gave me a proof that movies are worth spending time over, at least some movies, that is.
Well written, well shot, cut, directed - the hand of a skilled and experienced author is almost 'visible' behind the scenes. Technically very well done. Storywise - and here some people struggle with the 'two halves' - what more could you ask for? It's a "hero journey" of sorts, but twisted. It's so nicely tensed, between the peace and war, between the yearning for eternal peace and the ingrained disquiet and need for battle in man. If you ever wondered, like me, how does it happen, and how does it feel, that one finds himself in an army, and then in the battlefield, this film will gradually take you there - if you care to empathize with a bunch of main characters (I don't think there is one central main character in this movie). Training camp is gruelling and accomplishes slowly exactly what it usually does - collapse of individuality, gradual brain wash and eventually trained soldiers actually willing to go to war. But then - isn't some of this in the man already? Don't men feel good in a group of buddies, intoxicated mildly with a feeling of belonging and a cause that is greater than all of them together? I mean, don't we like to play hockey and all?? When the barriers of "who started it" are long forgotten, and a man is faced with a freshly shot body of his buddy, he will without a doubt devote himself completely to killing the enemy "sniper" right there. On a grand scale - this is a basic war conflict. The pull and push of the abstract "body" called war is way too strong to oppose. Only a coward runs away, and the protester asking for 'common sense' is bulldozed over, so the only thing left is to fight. The reality of this, and some other very ambivalent aspects of war fight are hinted on during the movie, especially during the second half.
The movie needed to move on from the training camp somehow. The montage of shots and cuts is wonderful, in my opinion, to establish that some time has passed - Joker is clearly more experienced, Vietnam is bombed out and the war drags. During his meetings at the newspaper office, I thought he wanted to experience some combat - and this was reinforced by his buddy photographer who was very hungry for it. After all - if one is sitting in the army base and sees other guys go to battle, then come back (a few dead), hear their stories and see it in their faces - wouldn't he desire to see it for himself? After all - war IS the place and time to become a fighter, to maybe become a hero. Joker has become disillusioned with the reporting job, being openly sarcastic with the chief editor. The story progresses as the base camp is attacked and Joker gets to the big machine gun right next to the gate. At that point, the movie mastery of this director (and the actors) rests in relaying the actual feelings during that fight - shooting with gusto but also with great fear for one's life, then resting with a hope in their eyes that this might as well be it. As it is said in many observations of war - it's one of the most 'real' experiences a man can get, so in a way, he becomes fixated on it. (Hence the adjustment problems of the veterans returning to society - punctuated by one of the soldiers remarking that he might as well miss the days when he could shoot these 'great people' on daily basis).
Later on, as Joker and his photographer buddy move closer to the front line, the tension grows and the scenery looks more and more like a battlefield. I thought this pacing was done well - from the training camp, to the base camp, to the 'safe' war zone, and eventually to the deep s*** battle, faced with a possible defeat (and death). At that point, Joker, who started wearing the peace-sign button some time ago, is faced with a wounded sniper, who has just taken lives of three soldiers, one being his buddy from the training camp. With some hesitation, Joker kills her, and earns remarks as "this was hard core" from other soldiers.
But again returning to the topic, Joker, being questioned by a higher rank commander on his wearing a peace-sign button and wearing his helmet with a 'Born to kill' writing, responds that he himself doesn't know why he's wearing both of them, and hints at 'something Jungian'. Jungian psychology helps here with its view of a man as essentially a dual being - consisting of a conscious, civilized part and a 'shadow', often unconscious part, which mix together in one unit known as human being, capable of wanting peace and killing another being in a conflict at the same time. This set up is implemented at very deep layers of human mind and there's no easy resolution. This movie shows that very pointedly - there's no easy resolution to this mess.
All in all, a movie that doesn't let up, has pace, has good story, has characters that viewers will find easy to empathize with (or dislike), has poignant points and leaves lasting impressions. They don't make these kinds of movies anymore. (I will have to check the "Hurt Locker" now). To the point of no easy answer to the question of war, leaving these young men changed forever.