A Clockwork Orange (1971) Review

 “Goodness is something to be chosen. When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.”

  The story is about a sick and twisted individual named Alex. To say Alex is unpleasant is like saying that Jeffrey Dahmer was a nice guy. He’s just not unpleasant; he’s appalling, disturbing, and ultimately something from a nightmare we all have. Yet Alex doesn’t view himself as a sick individual. Alex tells his mother that he is helping people. Now some viewers may think that he’s lying to her, but it seems to me like he honestly thinks that he is helping people. He feels like it’s his duty to punish those beneath him like the homeless man who Alex and his droogs beat up.  He believes it’s helping others because to Alex the homeless man is worthless to society. We view ourselves as normal and so too does Alex.  Alex considers himself normal yet he murders, sexually assaults women, and has fun beating people. Eventually he gets caught for his transgressions. He eventually undergoes the Ludovico technique in hopes that he will no longer harm another person. Alex is then sent back into the world where he soon becomes powerless to others.
    From the very beginning scene of Clockwork Orange we are shown a bar full of sexual imagery. In the milk bar there are many nude female mannequins used as furniture and milk dispensers. This immediately shows the exploitation and objectification of women that will be seen throughout the film. The scene straightaway starts off with Alex gazing straight into the camera and there’s a reason for this. Kubrick stated once that he likes holding a mirror to the audience. So we’re looking at Alex and he essentially is looking at us. We the viewer are looking into the mirror and we are Alex. This is very genius of Kubrick and very frightening for the viewer when they learn what Alex is capable of.
    Another big theme in Clockwork Orange is society. According to Clockwork Orange it is society that helps mold individuals into becoming criminals. This is the whole plot of the film. Alex undergoes the Ludovico technique to remove all the bad that is in him. Much like today where we blame the criminal and try to change them, we then overlook the way society and culture influence people into becoming like Alex. So rather than trying to force the individual to become respectable they should have tried to change the society where Alex would never have become a criminal. Every painting seen in people’s homes is sexualizing women’s bodies. Some of these painting even indicate abuse from shirts ripped and even a gagball stuffed in the mouth. When the viewer ponders the question “why is Alex the way he is?” it’s fairly simple. Society, culture, and art. Art, but why art you may ask? Life imitates art. Many psychologists tend to argue the topic “is there a link that connects violent video games with violent behavior?”  So why not argue that violent sexually aggressive pieces of art can cause the same affect on one’s behavior? Alex thinks highly of art and in some ways copies it throughout the beginning of the film. The grouping of sex and violence is seen as a social norm throughout the film. It can be seen as the shamefulness of society. Where the droogs become policemen. Alex who is a monster in the beginning becomes the victim in the end.  Deep within the core of the film the main character isn’t Alex, but the dangerous society that he lives in.
     Kubrick has made a disturbing yet beautiful piece of cinema with A Clockwork Orange. He provides an unforgettable style with classical music. When people hear Beethoven’s ninth symphony they immediately think of when Alex slooshied and dancing Jesus statues.  Kubrick’s direction is once again perfection and his attention to detail is amazing. This film is not for everyone especially for the faint of heart. It is full of ultra-violence and graphic sexuality. A Clockwork orange is even on my list of  the top five disturbing films of all time. This film is truly a piece of art.

5 out of 5

Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1960) Review

“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room.”

   In 1964, Stanley Kubrick directed a little film titled Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. The film came out at the height of the Cold War and nuclear threat was possible with the Cuban Missile Crisis. Essentially Dr. Strangelove is a comedy making fun of this subject matter. Kubrick wanted to demonstrate all the madness that enclosed the nuclear threat and what madness does to political leaders. Every single one of these leaders have lost their common knowledge. Instead of trying to prevent the world’s destruction they see personal gain on bombing the Soviet Union and abandon the people who believe in them. There are hardly any films that take such a serious issue and turn it into a comedy. The scary thing about this film is that it could have actually happened.
    Sex is unquestionably present throughout Dr. Strangelove. The film immediately opens with what one could call aircraft intercourse. The plane is refueling with some romantic music in the background. It goes back and forth as if thrusting slowly yet passionately. It feels like you’re watching an educational film about sex. Then there’s General Ripper who provides the most sexual references in the film. Ripper says the soviets caused his sex life to be problematic. He states that the Communists want American’s “bodily fluids”. So does this mean that Russia is a “woman” and America a man? The viewer eventually wants to see the bomb to be dropped and when it is it’s quite “climatic”. Major Kong rides the bomb and when he does certain angles makes it look like he has an erection. He straddles the bomb till the ultimate orgasm.
Stanley Kubrick made the cold war feel like it was simply just sexual tension. 
     Dr. Strangelove was made when there was a fear, almost an obsession, with America competing with Russia in the arms and space races. It had a bit of realism to it, which is kind of scary when one ponders about it.  Dr. Strangelove has its many moments of humor and is quite enjoyable, but it does have its moments of beauty. Kubrick directed this film flawlessly like he did with all of his films. All the actors did a wonderful job, but the actor who shines the most is Peter Sellers. Kubrick made the best of Seller’s wonderful acting abilities. Sellers plays three different characters with diverse and unique accents in addition to characteristics. He plays the president, Captain Mandrake, and Strangelove.  Also fun fact this was the first feature film starring James Earl Jones (Darth Vader, James Greer, and Mufasa). All-and-all Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is a fun entertaining film. I highly recommend it.

5 out of 5

The Shining (1980) Review

“I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just going to bash your brains in!”

    The views that I express in this review may offend people, from personal experience, so be warned. The Shining is highly regarded as one of the best horror films ever made. Unlike most horror films nowadays the Shining does not rely on gory imagery to scare the viewer, instead it sets a frightening atmosphere. It is also full of minor disturbing unexplained eccentricities which all adds up to never-ending scares for the viewer. The plot is quite simple: Jack takes a job as a caretaker for the Overlook Hotel that is remote within the mountains of Colorado. Jack brings his son and wife along for the ride. During their stay peculiar things start happening and his son begins seeing images due to his power called ‘the shining’. Jack starts having cabin fever and goes crazy. Plot seems simple, but nothing is ever simple with Kubrick. All of his films are very complex and I believe that the shining is the most complex horror film to ever be made.
   I’d like to discuss several things about the shining, the first being Jack and Wendy’s relationship. Throughout the film Jack does not wear his wedding ring, but Wendy is always wearing hers. Actually none of the men in the film wear wedding rings from Ullman to Lloyd. So it appears that all the men seem to have some sort of difficulty with commitment to their family. Wendy tries to spend time his Jack, but every time he comes up with an excuse. He bans her from checking in on him while he’s writing his novel. He stays up all night while she’s sleeping and then he sleeps alone during the day. It’s safe to say that this isn’t really a happy marriage.
    Then there’s Danny and Jack’s relationship. There are hints in the film that Jack is sexually abusing Danny. When Jack is waiting to meet Ullman he is reading an issue of Playgirl. One of the featured articles on the magazine was ‘INCEST: Why Parents Sleep With Their Children’. While Jack is away to make sure he has gotten the job, Danny has an episode and his mother calls the psychiatrist. When she’s asking him questions his pants are removed with his hands suspiciously positioned over his groin region. Danny tells her that a little boy named tony lives in his mouth. She proceeds to ask that if he opens his mouth could she see Tony. He replies no because Tony goes down into his stomach. The psychiatrist proceeds to ask Danny if Tony makes him do anything and he then tells her that he doesn’t want to talk about Tony anymore. When Wendy first brought Jack his breakfast he is wearing a shirt with the name of the school that he taught at, which also shows the presence of children. Was he fired from the school because of his sickness with children? The number 42 shows up a lot in this film. First we see Danny wearing a shirt with 42 on it. Room 237, the room where bad things happen, can equal 42… 2x3x7=42.  Wendy and Danny are watching the Summer of 42, which is a film of an older woman who seduces a young boy. If you look closely, ever so closely, you can see what Kubrick is trying to portray. 
    Lastly there are bears. Wendy is searching for Danny in what was supposed to be an empty hotel only to witness a man wearing an open butt bear costume who is performing fellation on another man. They then stop and stare at Wendy. This scene is quite frightening because it comes out of nowhere without any explanation, but Kubrick put it there for a reason. Kubrick put a lot of bear motifs throughout the film.  For instance, when Danny was talking to the psychiatrist he had his head on a giant bear pillow. Teddy bears were in quite a few scenes sometimes the teddy bear was on the floor or on a chair. Teddy bears symbolizes the innocence of childhood, while bear is a term used in the LGBT community that is usually a hairy ruggedly masculine male. While at the Overlook Danny’s room has a bear picture above his bed representing that he is the bear. When Wendy sees the man in the bear suit it indicates that she has finally become aware of the sexual abuse Danny has received from Jack. She freaks out because she’s been completely oblivious the whole time. Most people don’t notice any of this, which I can see because they’re so engrossed in the horror aspect of the film.
  The Overlook hotel is haunted whether it’s from the troubling history or that the past has returned to do away with yet another family. Overlook hotel is silent and the rooms are big, but not as empty as they appear. Jack Nicholson’s performance is timeless. The film is unforgettable, magnificent, thought provoking, and actually frightening. It’s another wonderfully visual treat created by Kubrick. It gets even better with time. Kubrick’s films will forever be visited by future generations long after we’re dead.

5 out of 5

Full Metal Jacket (1987) Review

     “Well sir, I suppose I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man.” Joker tells his superior to why he wrote ‘Born to Kill’ on his helmet yet wears a peace button. His superior is confused and Joker continues, “The dual nature of man? You know, sir, the Jungian thing about aggression and xenophobia on one hand, and altruism and cooperation on the other.” The duality of man is a reoccurring theme throughout “Full Metal Jacket” and symbolizes the shaping of the characters.
   From the very beginning of the film we are introduced to Sergeant Hartman giving a speech, which is setting the tone on how the men will be trained, how they will act, and how they will essentially think. He breaks them down psychologically and in so tells them what they will become… a weapon. “If you survive recruit training, you will be a weapon. You will be a minister of death praying for war. But until that day you are pukes. You are the lowest form of life on Earth. You are not even human fucking beings. You are nothing but unorganized grabastic pieces of amphibian shit! Because I am hard, you will not like me. But the more you hate me, the more you will learn. I am hard but I am fair.” This establishes the sergeant’s approach of training the men to kill and in does so by placing the duality of man within them, coaching them that it is in their very best interest to learn how to kill. So after his speech the eight-week boot camp begins. Hartman then begins using his exceptional strategies on the men. He starts off by taking away the men’s names and provides them nicknames that they will use from that moment on. In doing this it inhabits their mind into believing that they are becoming someone completely different. Private Brown becomes Private Snowball, Private Davis becomes Private Joker, and Private Lawrence becomes Private Gomer Pyle. While training the men into becoming soldiers, he makes them say a prayer every night, while holding their rifle, about how their rifle is their only friend and that they must shoot the enemy before they shoot them. The men slowly start believing that they are cold-blooded killers and by the end of the training they believed it.
   Private Pyle is the character that I have the most sympathy for in this film. He has a childlike manner about him. Pyle is a bit overweight and he receives constant abuse from Hartman for it. Pyle couldn’t catch a break from anyone throughout training. In the beginning Hartman orders Pyle to choke himself with the Sergeant’s hand because he laughed at something. Hartman’s relentless abuse towards him makes Pyle struggle with his individuality and he was mentally being trained as a killer, which wasn’t a good combination. The sergeant assigned Joker to help Pyle, so for a time there was someone there for Pyle until Hartman found a donut in Pyle’s footlocker. Instead of punishing Pyle, Hartman punished the other privates. As the other privates were being punished Hartman tells them that they have not given Pyle the proper motivation, which was basically permission for what was to happen next. While Pyle is sleeping the rest of the privates performed a blanket party hazing on him. Pyle was broken for it was his snapping point since he had no one anymore. His unstable mind helped him get through the rest of boot camp and even became good at the training. Boot camp was to challenge the duality inside of them, but occasionally it’ll completely change a man’s duality can make him snap as in Pyle’s case. Everyone had graduated and on their last night Pyle snapped. Joker finds Pyle in the bathroom holding onto his rifle. The look Pyle gives has forever been implanted within my mind.  The look on his face is so unbelievable, such pain and insanity. This scene is the most memorable for those who watch it. While Joker is trying to calm him down Sergeant Hartman comes in yelling. Pyle shoots Hartman and points the gun at Joker, but decides to take his own life in front of Joker. Pyle’s struggle had ended and became like the other privates… a killing machine. This ultimately represents the dangers of training soldier duality of mind to be a killing machine.
   After that the privates were sent off to Vietnam. Private Joker is now the central character. He views the Vietnam War as a big joke and is constantly telling jokes to others. Payback confronts Joker on it and says he won’t be joking once he gets in the shit storm of war and when he does he will have that thousand-yard stare that every marine gets. He lost his friends during a sniper attack, which turns him into a mindless killer. He finds the sniper only to discover that it is a young female. He realizes that he’s just not fighting other men, but he’s killing the whole country whether it’s men, women, or children. Joker is struggling with his own morality when he is debates whether or not to kill her. He ultimately conforms when everyone is encouraging him to shoot her. He pulls his trigger and kills the sniper. He now has the thousand-yard stare. Kubrick during the film showed the mental struggle taking place through ones duality.
   The cast is excellent. Matthew Modine as Private Joker acts beautifully. Vincent D’Onofrio is unforgettable as Private Pyle and gives one of the best facial performances of all time. Lee Ermey played Hartman perfectly and he makes Nicholson’s character from the Shining look like a harmless puppy.  The film is flawless. It is Kubrick’s best? No. Is it his most beautiful? No. Is it a classic? It most certainly is. Kubrick only made two films in the 80s: The Shining and Full Metal Jacket, such beloved classics that were given to us by the legendary director.

5 out of 5

Paths of Glory (1957) Review

“See that cockroach? Tomorrow morning, we'll be dead and it'll be alive. It'll have more contact with my wife and child than I will. I'll be nothing, and it'll be alive.”
   Paths of Glory is considered to be on of the best WWI films, so is it any surprise that Stanley Kubrick directed it?  The story starts off with General Mireau, a conceited man, who orders Dax and men on a pointless suicide mission against the Germans on the unachievable Ant Hill. After the unavoidable fiasco, which killed many men, Mireau orders three men to be executed for cowardice. Dux who was once a lawyer and now a colonel is the only reasonable person standing up for this injustice done to the men. He attempts to defend the men during their unfair trial even though he knows it’s pointless because the sentence is already made. He knows it’s all about the politics of war.
     The ending has a great impact on the viewer. Dax has given up on humanity when he hears whistling and shouting. He stares through the window expecting that the men may soon be assaulting the poor woman who is about to come and sing to them. Once she steps into the room the men get rowdier. She’s quiet and almost afraid. Dax puts his head down in shame because he expects what will come next, but as soon as she opens her mouth to sing there’s silence. The men have comprehended that she is a regular person, a ravishing victim of their war efforts, she’s trapped in a threatening condition she didn’t ask to be apart of. She is trapped and her outliving the war seems uncertain. The soldiers become ashamed at their ability to cut off their emotions so easily and become easily brutal. They look at what they’ve become and become teary-eyed. Dax witnesses this and it gives him a small glimmer of hope that humanity might have a chance. 
   Paths of Glory is my second favorite WWI film behind All Quiet on the Western Front (1930). This film is an outstanding piece of cinema. It shows the senselessness of war, where soldiers are simply treated like numbers instead of human beings. The battle scenes are quite good. The cast provides stellar performances. It’s safe to say there is no glory in Paths of Glory. Kubrick provided the viewer with a wide range of what humanity is truly capable of from the cruelest injustices to moments of beauty. Surprisingly about roughly 30 years later Kubrick gave us another great war film… Full Metal Jacket.

4.9 out of 5

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) Review

 “You and I made love. And we made plans about our future. And we talked about Helena. And yet, at no time, was he ever out of my mind. And I thought that if he wanted me, even if it was only for one night… I was ready to give up everything. You. Helena. My whole fucking future. Everything. And yet it was weird because at the same time, you were dearer to me than ever. And at that moment, my love for you was both tender and sad.”

   Eyes Wide Shut, the Kubrick film that causes the most mixed feelings. People don’t know how to feel about Kubrick’s final film. When people ask me my thoughts on this film it’s always so hard to comment as for most of Kubrick’s films. This is because his films are so complex that they have a large amount of layers and have such a deeper meaning to them. I can’t describe all of the perfection of his films in a single film review. It’s hard for me to find flaws in them. One has to think when watching his films and that’s where many people consider this a problem. They rather not think when watching a film, they just want to see a popcorn flick or some mindless Sandler film. One must think especially with Eyes Wide Shut. Kubrick never liked to have his films explaining themselves to the viewers. The film is a reflection on sexuality and how it‘s in association with many things such as: death, marriage, and money. So it’s a shame that Eyes Wide Shut was advertised as a steamy erotic thriller because it’s not that at all and Kubrick wouldn’t have allowed that to happen if he were alive. 
    The story is about Bill who is a doctor that lives happily with his wife and child. He and his wife go to a party and she dances with a man that brings up memories. Later she then tells him of the time she almost slept with another man and she really wanted to have an affair with him. She doesn’t regret it one bit. This triggers him to have a wide variety of emotions like re-examining his relationship with her. Thus causing him to take a trip through his sexual subconscious or as many people call it “into the rainbow”. 
   Throughout his trip into the rainbow he confronts many hidden sexual fantasies and anxieties. His fantasies are orgies, sex with someone much younger than he is, paid sex, and simply the sex without consequence. His anxieties being homosexuality, sexual disease, and being found out.  First a prostitute who wants to have sex, paid of course, with Bill, confronts him. He only gets through the kiss before respectably declining. Then a storeowner’s young daughter hits on him, yet he moves on. Then comes the orgy. The orgy isn’t what one would consider kinky and almost all the women look similar to Nicole Kidman’s body structure. So this is maybe what a married man’s fantasy of an orgy might look like. Everyone at the orgy is wearing a mask to cover their faces and this may represent Bill’s internal struggle to comprehend or acknowledge his wife’s sexuality. The first of his sexual anxieties come when he is walking down the street when a group of college gay bashers push him calling him many obscenities. This could be a fear of repressed homosexual urges or it could simply mean he thinks he has lost his masculinity because of what his wife has told him. Bill goes back to where he met the prostitute only to discover she’s gone and to find out she has aids. Lastly, Bill’s fear of being found out. He’s a respectable doctor and doesn’t want his sexual fantasies out in the open. In the end he comes to comprehend that fantasies are simply fantasies. 
     Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut is truly an unacknowledged masterpiece. It’s been overlooked on so many levels and has been misinterpreted from the general viewer. The film essentially examines most male’s fears… the loss of their masculinity. The use of music is bold and brilliant. I’m in awe of every shot of this film. Kubrick proves he was one of the best directors to ever live. Eyes Wide Shut is sadly the last temptation of Kubrick. 

4.9 out of 5

The Killing (1956) Review

“You have not yet learned that in this life you have to be like everyone else - the perfect mediocrity; no better, no worse. Individuality's a monster and it must be strangled in its cradle to make our friends feel confident. You know, I've often thought that the gangster and the artist are the same in the eyes of the masses. They are admired and hero-worshipped, but there is always present underlying wish to see them destroyed at the peak of their glory.”
  The Killing is Stanley Kubrick’s third film and in a way it was his first serious film. Kubrick’s first two pictures were basically preparations to help him perfect his directing skills.  The Killing helped establish him as one of the best directors in Hollywood, which later helped pave the way for his future films like 2001. It’s sad because “The Killing” seems to be overlooked in Kubrick’s amazing filmography, but the film has influenced the film industry. This film gave Quentin Tarantino inspiration for his film Reservoir Dogs. 
   The film is essentially about a meticulously planned heist at the racetrack. Johnny thought of nothing else in prison, but conceiving this heist. The plan is flawless… if only he picked better people to help him with this heist. Soon things become getting chaotic, although not all at once but in small increments that add up dangerously. The little things range from miscommunications to miscalculations in the timing. It all leads to an outstanding climatic scene at an airport.  “The Killing” is much like a chess match with the characters as the pieces.  Some of them pawns that leave the game quickly while others last a while like the king and queen. 
    A lot of the noirs from the 50’s can be very slow at times, but “The Killing” is far from that. The acting was great, although I would have liked to see some of the characters have more screen time. I love how the film builds the anticipation to the heist. In a way it was like the anticipation I felt during the opening bank robbery scene in the Dark Knight. The directing was great naturally. 
  “The Killing” is another great film directed by Stanley Kubrick. I’ve never once been disappointed with his films. He is one of my favorite directors, probably right behind Hitchcock. 

4.8 out of 5

Spartacus (1960) Review

“And maybe there's no peace in this world, for us or for anyone else, I don't know. But I do know that, as long as we live, we must remain true to ourselves.”

    Spartacus is a story of a man who is simple yet proud. He’s a gladiator who desires to be free and will stand up for freedom. So a slave revolt happens and some political factions use this revolt to get what they want out of the Roman Empire. The cast of characters were great, but I just couldn’t find myself to like Kirk Douglas as Spartacus. Maybe it’s because I knew the backstory of how this film was made.  I did like the statement that screenwriter Dalton Trumbo was trying to portray. I also found it intriguing about the homoerotic nature of the Roman bath scene when Crassus and Antoninus discuss their mutual appetites for “snails and oysters”. At the time it was taken out and later put back in during the restoration.

    The initial director scheduled for Spartacus was Anthony Mann, but was fired by Kirk Douglas after shooting one scene. So then Stanley Kubrick was set to direct the film. He and Douglas worked together in the film Paths of Glory.  Kubrick had little artistic freedom with this film, which is sad because it makes one think how it could have turned out with him in full control. Every time he tried to direct the Kubrick way Douglas would fight with him.  Kirk Douglas wanted Spartacus to be all about Douglas, that’s why he was a producer. He needed it to be his Ben Hur.

    Spartacus is a Kubrick film and yet it is not a Kubrick film. If you ask a Kubrick fan if they like the film they’d usually say that they’re disappointed with it because it was too Hollywood for a Kubrick film compared to the rest of his filmography. Then ask someone who is not a fan of Kubrick, probably a Michael Bay fan, and they’d most likely say that they enjoyed it. So is it a bad film? I don’t consider it a bad film it’s still a better film than most of the junk Hollywood makes nowadays. It’s a respectable film. Fairly good, but it’s no masterpiece or a great film. Kubrick deserves a whole lot of credit for making this film work.

4.2 out of 5

The Thin Red Line (1998) Review

“I want to stay changeless for you. I want to come back to you the man I was before. How do we get to those other shores? To those blue hills? Love… where does it come from? Who lit this flame in us? No war can put it out conquer it. I was a prisoner. You set me free.”

 SPOILERS

   The Thin Red Line is probably the most spiritual poetic war film that has ever been made. Most people’s favorite war film is Saving Private Ryan and rightfully so. That film was made for the eyes while the Thin Red Line was made for the soul. Spielberg showed the carnage that takes place during war, which showed the viewer how war is hell visually. The Thin Red Line takes on a different approach of showing how war is hell through the reflections of soldiers who have to experience it. Terence Malick’s earlier films, also including Tree of Life, are so thoughtful and abstract.

  Much like Malick’s Badlands and Days of Heaven it starts off in a sort of Garden of Eden for Private Witt and his friend who are staying with natives in a small village. They are most happy there because they are far away from the death and destruction that is caused by war. Their paradise is soon taken away suddenly when their fellow American soldiers find them and sent straight to battle. Just like Private Witt, many of the soldiers have been taken away from their Edens and in search for the answers to why they are at war amid all the chaos.

   The soldiers aren’t portrayed like how most of Hollywood portrays them in many films. Most of them are not courageous, patriotic, or selflessly brave who are willing to risk their life for their country. It’s actually quite the opposite.  They are almost all terrified and some even incapable to fight in battle. The soldiers want to be able to live through battle so that they could eventually grow old and tell war stories to their grandchildren. In the film’s tag it says, “Every man fights his own war” it’s quite appropriate because each of the soldiers who have screen time act like the protagonist.

   There is Lieutenant Colonel Tall who is stubborn due to his shortage of sense. First he decides to bomb a random space in hopes that it will make the soldiers excited to go to battle, but it only terrifies them even more. Second he acts like he has good news and it only confuses the soldiers. Third to get his point across to the captain he asks how many men have to be killed in order to succeed their mission. Captain Staros is the opposite he wants as few casualties to his men as possible. He’s not concerned with appearances like Tall is.

   Out of all the characters Private Witt is my favorite. He’s almost Christ-like in a way. There are two things that Witt truly wants. The first thing is to return to that place where everything is once again okay. He still believes that he can go back there if he endures the war, which is possibly poisoning his inner being. Second is to the find that calm his mother had as she was dying. He is discovering this calm every time he confronts death. He discovers the key to the calm in his own death. He is the only character to sacrifice his own life in order to save the men. Before his death he hears the sound of water and it reminds him of the time he spent in the village. So in the end he is fulfilled because he essentially gets the two things that he wants.

   Nature is a key character in a way. These soldiers are essentially dying over nothing when they could have approached the Japanese differently. They are just like the useless bombs that Tall ordered. Didn’t strike much of an impact on the enemy only shook leaves off the trees. There’s a scene during the charge up hill of a baby bird wounded horribly by the shots being fired. It’s crawling and trying to flap its wings in a pointless attempt to escape the destruction that’s happening. Showing the innocence of nature that is ultimately destroyed by man. Yet as we witness many of the men on both sides losing their lives we slowly realize that the vines and the trees will outlive these characters. While every character is facing their internal war, nature will still live on without them.

    The music composed by Hans Zimmer is really one his best scores. The music enriches the characters and their narratives very successfully.

   This is Terrence Malick’s masterpiece. It’s the most stunningly shot war film. It explores the human condition and provides the many differences every soldier faces during war. Sadly people say it’s too “intellectual” for a war film and I have to disagree.

5 out of 5