Beauty in Chaos

Rating: 10/10 (16 July 2006)

It takes a master filmmaker like Oliver Stone to find real beauty in chaos. The two are of course polar opposites, and yet the talented director fuses them in a movie that is both haunting and amazing.
I saw this film two years ago when I was only fourteen. Usually I wouldn't make personal comments in a review, but I think its important to understand what effect this movie had on me. I was young and knew that I wanted to be a filmmaker but it was this film that really encouraged me to make movies. I was spurned on by the artful camera-work, brilliant screenplay and dynamic acting that, as clichéd as it sounds, really created an unforgettable screen experience.
The movie still haunts me. Despite scenes filled with drug abuse, violence and an overall sense of menace, there are some moments which speak volumes to us all. There's an attention to detail usually lacking in war films: characters actually sound like real people instead of cardboard cuttouts.
All in all this is a movie I'll never forget.
Watch it and you'll see what I mean.