Formal Film Study: Dark Vietnam War Movies

                           

those of you who don't know me very well, let me start off by telling you something about me. I LOVE history, and have since a kid. So don’t be surprised to see primarily movies that take place in history. Be prepared for a history lesson too.

Over the past year or so, I have been interested in the Vietnam War. I have seen a fair share of movies that take place in or revolve around the war, like Forrest Gump, Platoon Leader, Good Morning Vietnam, and We Were Soldiers just to name a few. When I heard we had to do a formal film study, it finally gave me a reason to watch The Deer Hunter (1978), Apocalypse Now (1979), and Platoon (1986). When I wanted to talk about dark Vietnam War Movies, I didn't just mean the war as being dark. I meant things such as: character development, and setting, and cinematically how it looked.

L to R Nick, Michael, Steve →

The first thing I noticed between the three was the writing and how completely different are. The Deer Hunter is about a group of friends, three of which, Michael, Steve, and Nick, go off to Vietnam and shows their lives before and after hand. It also shows how Russian Roulette changes their lives. Apocalypse Now, is about Captain Willard who is sent on a mission into Cambodia to assassinate an army colonel named Kurtz. Platoon, is about a Chris Taylor's new platoon (15-30 soldiers) and the differences in the unit ( 25th Infantry Division) and how they pull the new recruits into each groups ideas. How each movies charters treat the Vietnamese is completely different too. In Deer hunter, there was little, Apocalypse had it only when Willard and PBR ( Patrol Boat River) street gang attack the village with the helicopters. While in Platoon, someone said "Gook" or "Charlie" every 3 minutes it seemed.

Now the lighting, as I said before, I wanted to watch dark movies setting wise and each movie had different depictions of darkness. In Hunter, The Dark scenes are the ones at the steel mill, the hunting lodge and Roulette House (Presuming that's what they're called). The steel mill is nothing important, just the boys working. The lodge and house are where the movies are at their darkest both plot and cinematically speaking. In Apocalypse, the majority of the movie is during the day, the dark parts are the last base at the Do Long bridge, and at Kurtz's compound. I believe Coppola used the darkness at the bridge to create even more chaos and to show how the men of Street Gang felt about the mission. Kurtz's Compound because it was supposed to match the darkness in him and the people around him. In Platoon I believe Stone used darkness to show how it created fear in the men during the war and to build and the disorder that usually followed.

The camera work was also something that interested me. All three used different types of shots. Hunter very heavily used far ranged shots. I also noticed that primarily they were primarily in the hunting scenes and shots of Michael's house. The rest of the shots were for the most part medium angle shots used in the Roulette House, Vietnam, and the hunters hut. Apocalypse used a full spectrum like small, medium in large shots. The ones that stood out to me most were the close of of Kurtz( Marlon Brando) and Willard (Martin Sheen). In M. Sheen's face you can see how the events around him leave him sometime unphased and by the end the sheer terror he is in. In Brando's face you can see how sinister and cold he is. Platoon like Apocalypse, used a range of small medium and large shots. The large was always used when the soldiers were walking in patrol or in battle. Medium shots were used in the end. The small shots were used almost entirely on Taylor ( Charlie Sheen). 

Of the characters/soldiers in the three movies, none were the same. Some were gung-ho, some reserved, some nervous, the whole spectrum. It was nice to see the variety that rather than the generic soldier who is one of those three. My favorite of the movies was Chris Taylor. When we first see him, he's new, scared and regrets his decision on coming to Vietnam. By the end, he's mad, running around like an animal, and shoots at everything that. I feel that I would personally be him if I was in Vietnam. I would not be this by choice, I think everyone would be him at the beginning but by the end, I know I would be mad after a terrible year of getting shot at I'd run around like crazy too.

The settings, Much like their stories, were completely different. While Hunter focused on events at home, the other two didn't. At the same time, In Platoon battling the Vietnamese at close quarter wasn't seen in the other movies. All the movies also were almost in all the same place which I thought was interesting. Hunter was Home, Vietnam, and Russian Roulette scenes. Apocalypse was almost completely, Saigon, the PBR, and Kurt's camp. Platoon was The camp, The battles, and nights. Each movie had other scenes, but those were short or unneeded.

When I watch movies, I like when they can create immersion. I want to feel like I'm hunting deer, or sitting in a boat in the Mekong Delta driving inland, or in a jungle 6,000 feet away from the Cambodian Border. I think all three do a great job doing it, but each movie has a different amount you can get into it. I personally think that Apocalypse and Platoon are the movies that created the most immersion,

The base of these movies, they all have the same common theme, A soldier trying to survive get home. In Deer Hunter, Michael, Steve and Nick all make a pact on trying to get home together. Apocalypse is about to get Kurtz home and the men of PBR Street gang  crave nothing more than home. In Platoon, Taylor and some of the other men doubt that they'll get out alive let alone in one piece. It didn't matter if you were a green beret, sent in on a secret mission or just a basic grunt, everyone wants to go home.  

Directer Oliver Stone In Vietnam→

Of the three movies, Platoon was my favorite of the three. The movie's plot moved quicker and was more action based which I enjoy more. The Movies Director, Oliver Stone, is also a Vietnam vet, who was with the 25th infantry (Ironic) then the 1st Calvary. He got a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. so I believe that Stone's rendition of it is a more accurate one than The Deer Hunter or Apocalypse Now.