Kubrick's unique genius on War

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2015)

What happens to an ordinary-looking man, in the start of the 1970's, when he is put through a soldier factory ? He is forced to endure a psychological process that Full Metal Jacket brilliantly sets in its first half. The film opens on an island where the Platoon 3042 constituted of young soldiers-to-be, is confronted to a rough training, conducted by a merciless instructor. There, in this isolated training camp, begins a process during which they are deprived of identity, pride and almost come to lose their awareness of an outside-world. In the second part of the film, the training is over and they are released into the savage context of the Vietnam War to be faced with death.
Many a film was made before this one and has been since, following the same trail, dealing with harsh trainings and the progressive dehumanisation of soldiers. However, it has not prevented director Stanley Kubrick from stepping out of the mass with a brilliantly constructed plot and organized movie. The soldiers are introduced to a mechanical system through which they are constantly repeating their actions, reminded of their littleness, perfectly aligned, shouting their robotic answers to the chief's questions with the same voice. When joining the platoon, they lose the individuality of their appearances, they lose their names to take on comical nicknames such as Joker, Cowboy or Gomer Pyle, they lose their sense of shame... Difference is scorned while servitude is promised immortality.
Somehow, while witnessing the soldier's transformation, we are left wandering who these men's real enemy is if not war itself. The frontier between the soldier and the criminal grows thinner to the point when themselves lose track of which they are. Leaving the training, they may be returning to a more 'common' fight, it will have nonetheless affected each one of them permanently. In a way, the second part of the movie is rendered obsolete by the virtuosity of the first and the image it gives of the warrior resembles the one we already had : a sense of brotherhood, a little bragging, a need for heroism, but also fear, on entering the battlefield.
War itself has been depicted in many ways before today. For his part, Kubrick has chosen a 4:3 frame as is his habit, to tighten our vision and therefore match the soldiers'. The use of straight lines and symmetry enhances the unity of the military world. There is also a subtle balance between dark humor and brutality made possible by the mastering of the dialogs. In addition, Kubrick's knowledge of philosophy and psychology adds to the movie when, for instance, he evokes the duality of men or has the soldiers unconsciously associate the act of killing with the feeling of love and care.
I would totally recommend this movie while warning the viewer that it is quite violent (though justifiably). Without wanting to spoil anything, I would invite him to pay attention to the references that are made and the relations between some parts of the movie and other... such as the sound of water-drops falling or of a laughter echoing.