Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

Casualties of War (1989) is not a film that you are going to find particularly pleasant or 'fun' to watch. It's a very serious, intense and unflinching moralistic tale. Director Brian De Palma who has usually displayed some elements of sleazy exploitation in his previous films completely resists the temptation. There aren't the sort of camera flourishes DePalma fans have come to expect.  There isn't another De Palma film this serious and straight ahead. You won't find any wild stylistic flourishes or any homages to Hitchcock or sequences borrowed from Potemkin (like in his previously filmed The Untouchables).


Casualties of War is a moralistic drama based on a true story that appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 1969 (which became a book by Daniel Lang and was turned into a screenplay by playwrite David Rabe).  It sometimes feels like it was adapted from a stage play.


De Palma drives this film straigh at us with the headlights on bright and dares us not to blink or turn away. He shows us some pretty despicable things, particularly in the behaviors of some of the characters we are introduced to. The flaw of the film is there's little ambiguity, no shades of gray on display here. Right from the start everything is drawn almost too clearly. We know who the bad guy is, and we know who's the good guy. Eventually we'll witness a brutal rape and there's no question that such an act is very wrong indeed or that such things occurred during the Vietnam War. The rape scene is not an easy one to watch and nor should it be.   The message is obvious and unpleasant and this isn't a film that offers entertainment value.


Michael J Fox in 1989 was still known as Alex Keaton on Facts of Life from the little (TV) screen and on the big screen people wanted to think of him as either a High school basket player who turns into a werewolf (Teen Wolf) or that Marty McFly guy in Back to the Future and it's sequel. Here he plays, Private Ericksson -- a soldier who witnesses the sadistic raping of an innocent Vietnamese woman by four members of his platoon (which include John C. Reilly, John Leguizamo, Don Harvey and Sean Penn). Sean Penn is the mean spirited Sergeant Meserve who leads the platoon and has decided all's fair in WAR. Private Ericksson is forced to take sides and it's a decision that might cost him not just the friendship of his comrades, but his life.  We are so familiar with Fox's screen and television personna, it is difficult for the actor to over-come audience expectations and inhabit and different--not sit-com character.


Penn is superb in his portrayal of a man who's been 'in country' a little longer than he should have been. The film needs a very strong performance and Penn is more than up to the task. It's a
memorable performance. Fox is surprisingly good in his role as well, but besides being too familiar because of his over-exposure at the time, he also gets saddles with the impossible task of giving a couple of long speeches during the film.  Since most of the film is not stylized or theatrical--this construct makes the film off-balance and allows the audience to be emotionally distant.   There's also a pretty ineffectual framing device that is used to get us into and out of the story.


De Palma tells the story without over-stylizing or pumping up the film with unnecessary camera flourishes. He works subtly and resists the opportunity to be exploitative, or over the top. His restraint is quite frankly surprising.


The film was a box-office flop partially because: 1)too many films about Vietnam were being released 2)the subject matter was particular grim and unpleasant  3) De Palma's name was not associated with serious moralistic films and 4)The public didn't want to see Fox playing serious roles in serious films (he flopped in the fairly serious: Bright Lights, Big City and Light of the Day).


De Palma delivers a grim, unpleasant flawed film that most of you should make sure you see at least once.


Yes I'm saying it's an 'important' film but it isn't all dolled up with lots of bells and whistles or constantly reminding us of its importance.


DVD STUFF


Casualties Of War looks very good, though the audio isn't overly impressive.


The extra features on this DVD include:


Ericksson's War: A Conversation with Michael J. Fox - a 19 minute recollection by Fox of how he felt about the script and the making of the film on location in Asia. Fox and Penn for instance purposefully avoided socializing with each other during the filming of the movie to more easily stay in character when the cameras were rolling. There are quite a few behind the scenes stills used as well.


The Making Of Casualties Of War - an informative 31 minute documentary by Laurent Bouzereau featuring new interviews with producer Art Linson, editor Bill Pankow, director Brian De Palma and others. It combines factoids and recollections about the making of the film, many production stills and behind the scenes photos and some personal stories. The story of how De Palma dodged the draft is a fascinating one indeed.


You'll also find five deleted scenes on the DVD. These scenes remain in very primitive and rough shape.. one of them is even in black and white. The scenes while of some interest deserved to be left on the cutting room floor.


Some theatrical trailers, abridged filmographies on the main members of the cast and crew and a few frames worth of production notes are tossed onto the disc as well.


BOTTOM LINE


Casualties of War is a grim, depressing  and powerful film featuring some excellent performances and restrained effective direction from Brian DePalma.  It mostly avoids being preachy or overly melodramatic, though Rabe's screenplay unfortunately can't resist giving the Ericcson character a couple of near soliloquoys and no actor ,Michael Fox included would have been capable of delivering the speeches glitch free. There's also an awkward framing device that begins and ends the film as well.   It's flaws however should not discourage you from seeing one of the best modern War dramas ever made.

4 1/2  bumped to 5.



©2012, Christopher J. Jarmick



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening