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Casualties of War (1989)
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Movie Review by Jarrod
October 14th, 2009
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'Casualties of War' achieves that primal, visceral effect; while not as universally acclaimed as Oliver Stone's Platoon, or Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, or Apocalypse Now, Brian De Palma's devastating drama captures the essence of war's ruinous impact on the human psyche, how it compels us to revert to our most monstrous impulses, and act without moral inhibition, against those we have come to regard as our enemies.
If Apocalypse Now served as a largely philosophical discourse on the nature of war, then this movie is a far more direct indictment of it, and, as with Platoon, it is highly critical of American conduct in Vietnam, and suggests that some American soldiers, many of them kids barely out of high school, committed horrible atrocities against Vietnamese civilians, and that when commanders learned of them, they considered covering them up, rather than investigating them and prosecuting the perpetrators.
An American squadron, led by the volatile Sgt. Meserve (Sean Penn), raids a village and abducts a young girl (played by former model Thuy Thu Le), ignoring the cries of her hysterical mother, and taking her along with them as they head through the jungle and rural areas of Vietnam, where the VC could be lurking behind every tree, so they do have a reason to be paranoid, and to suspect each peasant they encounter as being a secret VC sympathizer.
Meserve initially seems to believe that the girl could be a valuable source of information, and keeps her alive solely for this purpose, but eventually, he becomes interested in her as a sexual object, and decides to rape her, and encourages the other men in his squad to do the same; all agree, except for PFC Eriksson (Michael J Fox), and, at first, Diaz (John Leguizamo), who ultimately gives in to peer pressure, while Eriksson stands his ground, repeatedly intimidated by Meserve, and accused of being a homosexual. The conflict between Penn and Fox is what drives the picture; Penn's performance is frightening, but he also makes Meserve a somewhat sad and pathetic character, an irresponsible bully put into a position of great authority. Everyone but Eriksson is afraid of him, and he even shows a willingness to kill Eriksson, especially once they return to their base, and Eriksson threatens to spill the beans about what he saw.
Not that many of his superiors are particularly receptive to anything he has to say. What Meserve and his comrades do to the girl is unspeakable, and indefensible, raping her multiple times, having her trudge barefoot through damp jungle terrain, shooting her in the end to keep her silent about the tragedy she has endured, and trying to get Eriksson to get his hands dirty, trying to convince him that he cannot walk away from the situation with a clean conscience, and I do not suppose he does; he is consumed by guilt and remorse, his inability to stop Meserve, who, it must be said, is not someone easily persuaded by compassion and altruism. He does not understand it, believes it is a sign of weakness, and wonders what place it even deserves to have in a warzone. Michael J Fox is astonishing, stepping far out of his comfort zone, from roles in Teen Wolf and Back to the Future.
I do not know if Fox has ever given a finer, more powerful performance. Le is mesmerizing, without saying much, her face expressing fear and pain in every hurtful scene. The score by the legendary Ennio Morricone is occasionally too intrusive and manipulative, and guides us to a particular emotional reaction, when such a thing is hardly necessary. Potent and disturbing. Not a fun or pleasant experience, and difficult to watch repeatedly.
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