Nature not to blame for man made war

Rating: Null/10 (23 August 2001)

I agree with the positive reviews. This filmed moved away from the usual daily dialogue of soldiers in films like Platoon (not in itself unrealistic or invalid) and gave the characters the chance to express some of their deeper feelings. I thought the inclusion of the crocodile worked well. At the beginning of the film this is the first image we see. My first interpretation of this was that it represented the inherent threat of evil and desire to kill which exists in the natural world. Nick Nolte's character notes nature is cruel as an explanation/excuse for the brutality of the fighting. However this is quickly contrasted with the awol soldiers who live peacefully with the villagers who themselves coexist peacefully with nature. Although one of the women refers to the boys fighting. The next time we see the crocodile it has been captured by the soldiers and has become another victim of the fighting and of "civilised men". The fighting disrupts the natural world rather than being an integral part of it. Or so I thought anyway. In England we have just had a good documentary series called Hell in the Pacific which includes interviews with veterans of the pacific conflict. It was made by Channel 4.