War is Beyond Morality

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2019)

What "Saving Private Ryan" is when compared with "Thin Red Line", is "Platoon" vis a vis "Apocalypse Now" in that, whereas the latter of both pairs reflect the irrationality of war, the former ones of each take into focus all that is inhumane and unbearable on the horrifying scene of war; that is, the formers are the emotional counterparts of the latters which are based on the meditative tone of philosophical movies. Indeed, "Platoon" is the film which concentrates upon the cathartic effect rather than on the uninterrupted reflective mode typical of the solemn atmophere depicted by the philosophical films. For me, one of the most unsettling messages of the film is that wartime is when the good and the bad become indistinguishable. As a matter of fact, war is the event during which your comrade may become the one whom you get ashamed of yourself fighting shoulder to shoulder with. Killing the brother in arms as a consequential act of seeking justice is one of the most striking scenes and reminded me of the fact that a person is always in danger of falling into conflict with himself like the private who has been in conflict with his comrade whom he killed in the end. The impossibility of perfect match with the comrades whom you entrust your life during the wartime can be interpreted as the continual interrogation of conscience which cannot be interrupted even when coming face to face with death. But I am not sure whether this inference is too optimistic to be accepted or not. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure and it is that being the area of perpetual conflict, war is the sphere which takes place beyond the realm of moral thinking and its untouchable Platonic ideas of good and bad. The bodies together with the dreams of men are not the only casualties of war; moral principles should be added to them.