Casualties of War
1989 Directed by Brian De Palma
Synopsis
Even in war... murder is murder.
During the Vietnam War, a soldier finds himself the outsider of his own squad when they unnecessarily kidnap a female villager. Based on the actual events of an incident on Hill 192 in November, 1966.
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Based on the notorious Hill 192 Incident during the Vietnam War in 1966, De Palma's Casualties of War takes on a much more serious and difficult subject than any of his other efforts and as far as I can tell seems to be his most mature work to date. In the leads we have the then up and coming Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox in some of their best roles and rounding it up with John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo and Don Harvey we have a solid supporting cast. It's a very performance-driven film and as such it was important to have a spot-on cast for which the director evidently had a fine eye. They may not be groundbreaking…
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I'm convinced Brian DePalma doesn't have a subtle or original bone in his body, which makes him the perfect director for two things: a sports movie or a war movie. While I'm still waiting for his remake of Field of Dreams, Casualties of War will tide me over for now.
Featuring Sean Penn doing a prescient impersonation of the Al Pacino of the 2000s.
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Technically it's very entertaining to watch, the camerawork is brilliant as is the score, but it's so fucking dramatic with more questionable performances than good ones (of which there aren't any). I haven't watched a movie all week and interestingly enough the last one I did watch was also a war movie but uhh, kinda from a very different perspective.
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Here we have a movie about vietnam but the focus isn't soley on the combat side but follows a true story of a group of soilders who whilst in war kidnapped and rapped a vietnamise woman. Two of the soilders, one including Micheal J. Fox didn't like the idea of this and he tries to stop it the best he can, the performence's especailly from him and Sean Penn are great, For me Micheal J. Fox stole the show, he was intense and powerful I really felt for his character. Sean Penn played a douchebag seargent and skillyfully at that, the whole cast did well.
What I loved most about the film other then the all-round solid cast would have…
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That scene when Michael J. Fox's character is alone with the Vietnamese sex slave and tries to help her is probably more important than any other in the film... It finally validates her character as a person--we even see her eyes under her thick long hair for the first time!--and their communication with each other here as she slowly realizes he won't hurt her is just absolutely devastating. I think this is THE pivotal moment for the film in which De Palma deconstructs his own filmmaking. And he does it very self-consciously in order to turn CASUALTIES OF WAR into something much more deeply compelling and sombre than his other works.
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Based on the notorious Hill 192 Incident during the Vietnam War in 1966, De Palma's Casualties of War takes on a much more serious and difficult subject than any of his other efforts and as far as I can tell seems to be his most mature work to date. In the leads we have the then up and coming Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox in some of their best roles and rounding it up with John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo and Don Harvey we have a solid supporting cast. It's a very performance-driven film and as such it was important to have a spot-on cast for which the director evidently had a fine eye. They may not be groundbreaking…
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Whether or not De Palma thinks this is his best movie, the ending feels strangely removed from his usual intense skepticism, since it actually seems to suggest that the systems works, even when the historical record shows that it doesn't. Still, the lead-up might contain his most direct, withering equation of sexual persecution with violence / moral rot yet, and the dreamy coda succeeds in pushing things into more ambiguous territory, suggesting that while one crime may be resolved, the nightmare still isn't over.
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Here we have a movie about vietnam but the focus isn't soley on the combat side but follows a true story of a group of soilders who whilst in war kidnapped and rapped a vietnamise woman. Two of the soilders, one including Micheal J. Fox didn't like the idea of this and he tries to stop it the best he can, the performence's especailly from him and Sean Penn are great, For me Micheal J. Fox stole the show, he was intense and powerful I really felt for his character. Sean Penn played a douchebag seargent and skillyfully at that, the whole cast did well.
What I loved most about the film other then the all-round solid cast would have…
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Lesson to all cinephiles and film students...
Always look at the syllabus for your class. That way you won't end up watching a very good yet very emotionally heavy film twice in two-and-a-half weeks.
Phew...I'm spent.
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Technically it's very entertaining to watch, the camerawork is brilliant as is the score, but it's so fucking dramatic with more questionable performances than good ones (of which there aren't any). I haven't watched a movie all week and interestingly enough the last one I did watch was also a war movie but uhh, kinda from a very different perspective.
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That scene when Michael J. Fox's character is alone with the Vietnamese sex slave and tries to help her is probably more important than any other in the film... It finally validates her character as a person--we even see her eyes under her thick long hair for the first time!--and their communication with each other here as she slowly realizes he won't hurt her is just absolutely devastating. I think this is THE pivotal moment for the film in which De Palma deconstructs his own filmmaking. And he does it very self-consciously in order to turn CASUALTIES OF WAR into something much more deeply compelling and sombre than his other works.
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This was pretty incredible. Brutal and relentless and emotionally wearing but powerfully, remarkably made. Floored.
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Dark and depressing. Good performances though.
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This movie was completely spoiled for me with the moral high horse ending :P