A Most Powerful, Near Complete War Film.

Rating: 8/10 (20 August 2019)

I am alive. And I am not afraid." These last words from the movie, sum up the very reality and terror of war. From our homes, sat on comfy cushions softer than air, chewing on cheap popcorn, it's easy to romanticise about war, it's glory and the bravery of those involved. But, when we choose to see beyond this fool's illusion, war is a different game altogether. In short, it is the great atrocity that mankind can inflict and suffer, one that brings out the worst in every man.
Stanley Kubrick's "Full Metal Jacket" taps into this terrorising essense of war and creates a traumatic masterpiece that is built so bare and strong, that it shall drive fear and concern in the heart of all those loungers who choose to look on it. "Full Metal Jacket" is one of the most true war films ever because it chooses to capture almost the entire spectrum of impact that war creates on the lives of those involved, especially, the preparatory part before the war. The first half of the movie, that deals with the preparation for the marine corps, is a keen insight into the gruelling regime that aspirants are forced to go through. Regimes that often take a great toll on their body, and more importantly their minds. Traumatic experiences that can turn your mind insane and lead you to shoot your head and yourself to death in a bathroom, with a rifle, at midnight. With brilliantly crafted dialogue that is rich in mockery, vulger speech and rough communication, coupled with the endless sequence of drudgery shot one after another, the first part of the movie provides a true feel of the hardcore, loveless circumstances in the corps.
However, as far as discussing cinematography is concerned, the most remarkable achievement for the movie lies in the neat and systematic shooting of war scenes. Inspite of the general chaos that entails such environments, the shots have been taken so, that the strategies are relayed to the audience very comprehensively and allows them to understand the chaotic proceedings in detail. This, along with the extended nature of scenes that focus on and capture the warcraft, gets the audience engrossed in the battlefield and provides major intellectual satisfaction. And this, along with genuine moments of warmth and brotherhood scantily interspersed in between the cold and brutal circumstances, provides the rewarding feeling that every audience needs to walk away satisfied from a radically provoking film of this nature.
1. Sharp, vulgar and provocative dialogue with brilliant deliverance.
2. Brilliant cinematography that helps present the chaotic battlefield action in a strategic, organised and comprehensible form.
3. Extended scenes focused on warcraft and gruelling routines, to complement the gruesome conditions and amplify the impact the movie has on the audience.
The film intends to say the exact opposite of what it's characters suggest. With smiling faces, flippant attitudes, vulgar speech and often lewd interests, the soldiers seems rather okay if not enjoying the thrill of it all. But it is not what they say, but what we see around them, the manifestation of their actions, that is the true directive to be followed. The flight because they have to. The soldiers, they do not fight for freedom, as one openly confesses. It's nothing but slaughter, ordered by superiors. Bloods of the innocent, spilt for conflicting ideals of great, but unwise men.