FULL METAL JACKET
(Spoilers)
A film review by Stuart Cracraft
Copyright 1987 Stuart Cracraft
FULL METAL JACKET is a disappointment. After a rabble-rousing first 5-10 minutes, the absurdly funny drill sergeant becomes repetitive and boring. The portrayal of a young, overweight recruit's difficulty in fitting in is interesting at first, but by the time all his comrades beat him senseless with towels-wrapped-with-soap, it becomes quite clear what Kubrick is trying to tell us about life and people. This viewpoint is strongly echoed in the last few minutes of the film (see below).
The fat recruit goes nuts (who blames him?), and drills his drill sergeant with a .22 caliber, and then drills himself. What do we learn? A mercilessly- persecuted human finally takes the ultimate trip, a murder-suicide. Is this surprising or revealing of human nature?
The critical scene in this movie occurs in a large, abandoned structure which hides a sniper. The sniper gradually picks off the platoon's members one-by-one as they enter. Finally ensnared, the sniper reveals herself as a pretty, young Vietnamese girl, who begs the platoon members to kill her. The young Vietnamese girl I saw this movie with commented: "They show all the bad things about Vietnam, and little of the good."
Kubrick's vision of war and humanity is certainly strongly anti-war, but as usual with Kubrick, it may be anti-human too. Kubrick has never directed people well, save for LOLITA and the movies before it. Ever since LOLITA, his movies have painted humanity as a depraved, scared bunch of individuals unwilling to stand firm and take responsibility. If Kubrick could once portray an individual showing the self-same responsibility that Kubrick himself shows in molding his own movies to perfection, then we would know what the heights of human endeavor could achieve. We await such a character in Kubrick's movies.
Stuart Cracraft
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