Film Response - Full Metal Jacket (Directed by Stanley Kubrick)

4.0

Full Metal Jacket is a story about a pragmatic U.S. Marine observes the dehumanizing effects the U.S.-Vietnam War has on his fellow recruits from their brutal boot camp training to the bloody street fighting in Hue.

One of things I love about this film is the quirky structure. The film is divided in to three parts; part one: Parris island training, part two: life in Vietnam and part three: war in Vietnam. Kubrick uses fades outs to suggest the endings of each part. The diversity of each act almost makes the film seem as though it is three short films with reoccurring characters. This interesting structure differs from the usual two act screenplay formula; this makes the story tell process longer but it also makes the viewer more connected with the characters.

The film should be highly praised on it's blunt telling of the messiness of war. Many American film about the Vietnam war exaggerate the plot to eventually become rather bias. The story although fiction depicts many truths about the Vietnam war; such as the propaganda sent to the US about the war giving false hope and confidence to the American people. One of the reasons I love Jokers character, played by Matthew Modine, is because he tells it as it he doesn't seem to want to glamorize this war but those superior are pressuring him to exaggerate the truth.