Unfortunately, not what I expected...

Rating: 6/10 (17 February 2015)

Full Metal Jacket is composed of two parts : in the first one, privates train in a camp of the Marine Corps and learn how to use their rifle ; in the second, some soldiers are sent to Vietnam and deal with violent Vietnamese attacks.
Texas, Pyle and Joker : these are the nicknames of the identified soldiers who are dominated, insulted and brainwashed by Sergeant Hartman. They represent three profiles of soldiers (the obedient, the failure and the kind) and they meet different fates in the army. This part gives a well-balanced portrayal of soldiers' training, highlighting its flaws : Hartman is always yelling, giving absurd orders and singing silly mottos made to transform his men into death machines. It also shows what happens to a mere human traumatized by the army as soon as he is taught how to shoot and how to kill...
The second part is utterly different, and disappointed me a lot... The plot follows the Joker, embodiment of the duality of man "born to kill" but seeking peace, in the backstage of Vietnam war. Kubrick shows again the perverted side of the army - control of information ; inhumane soldiers - but I am not convinced at all by the evolution of the characters. Indeed, I do not have any empathy for them, their fight, their achievements nor their death... I think the mise en abyme created by Joker's work (when he interviews or films the soldiers) ruins this part since it puts the spectator in an unsettling position. Throughout my watching, I was doubting : Is it a feature or a documentary ? Aren't these soldiers prepared to die ? Didn't they accept it ? How could I feel pity for them after what they did to Pyle ? What I saw are childish men put in a battlefield : it may have been what really happened, but today it is a well-known fact which does not surprise anymore.
Despite some catchphrases and must-see scenes (the interview of the soldiers in Vietnam is hilarious), I dislike fifty percent of Full Metal Jacket. However, I can understand why it has a high rating on IMDb (8.3/10) and I would recommend it to someone who would like to discover Kubrick's style.