Casualties of War
Brian DePalma's "Casualties of War" is in some ways just what you might expect from the director of horror films ranging from "Carrie" to "Body Double" — as well as his breakthrough drama of two years ago, "The Untouchables.""Casualties of War" is technically specific, manipulates the audience in a precise manner and is likely to touch some nerves that other — better — Vietnam films have not pricked. But not because it has any more heart than DePalma's other work. Simply because he is such a skilled technician.
On the other hand, those familiar with DePalma's work may be unprepared for a couple of things. His treatment of the lone female in this film, though she is certainly brutalized, is much more sympathetic than anything he's ever done before. And the touching performance of Thuy Thu Le is every bit as important to the film's moral point as Michael J. Fox. This from a filmmaker whose work is often interpreted as misogynistic.
And "Casualties" is much less flamboyant than "The Untouchables" or, say, "Dressed to Kill." This is DePalma at his most compact, and though there are occasional epic proportions, "Casualties" is in many ways a small story, working from a tight, economic screenplay by award-winning playwright David Rabe.
Early in the film Penn saves Fox's life, and though it demonstrates his bravery, devotion to duty and loyalty to his men, we see fairly quickly that Penn seems to almost revel in killing the enemy as much as he does being in charge. Penn's saving him will also complicate matters for Fox later on.
Quickly Fox begins to understand that being alone in the jungles of Vietnam with four other men, and being expected — even ordered — to do things that would land you in prison back home, changes people. Life's rules are different in the bush.
The film's main plot begins when Fox, Penn and the others try to go into town for an evening and are prevented from doing so by MPs. Penn suggests they get a woman from the village and take her on reconnaissance with them the next morning. Fox thinks he's kidding. He's not.
The squad enters a village, kidnaps a sleeping teenage girl and takes her into the bush, despite Fox's protests.
Later in the day Penn orders the entire squad to rape the girl — Penn himself going first. But Fox refuses to be a part of it and tries to prevent it. Naturally, he is helpless — especially when another new recruit at first sides with him but ultimately goes along with the group. It's all part of the bonding ritual of soldiers in the jungle.
Later, Fox tries to help her escape, but is thwarted, and finally she is killed in a harrowing sequence on a bridge in which DePalma manages to make all four of the other soldiers culpable in her murder.
If that's not enough, when they get back to their base Fox tries to tell his superiors what has happened, and in a mesmerizing and ironic scene a black lieutenant uses his own personal experience with racism to talk Fox out of pursuing the matter. Then his captain tells him in no uncertain terms to just forget about it.
In the film's best speech, Rabe has Fox tell a buddy that everyone is thinking backward: Since it's possible any of them could be killed at any moment, they should be more concerned about personal actions instead of less concerned.
The entire story is told as a flashback, with Fox back home in civvies, dreaming about the incident after spotting a young woman on a bus who reminds him of the victimized girl in Vietnam. That framing device serves to point up something that is often ignored by Vietnam movies, that most soldiers served a 12-month period and then were suddenly back in their hometowns, expected to lead normal lives again. But you don't forget that easily, and despite a sort of "forgiveness" dialogue exchange at the end that seems a bit false, it works.
The major flaw here is that while Fox's character is fleshed out and we understand where he's coming from, the others are more cardboard cutouts. The performances are good, but the "other" three soldiers in the squad are stereotypes of the psycho, the weakling and the innocent.
Penn is very powerful, though he occasionally seems to lapse into copycat motions of Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall. But we know nothing about his character. His denial reflex, which allows him to dismiss his brutality against the girl because she's merely a "gook" and maybe a V.C., is effective — but what was he like before becoming a soldier?
As mentioned, Thuy Thu Le is very effective in the role of the tortured victim who doesn't speak English and finds herself dragged into a nightmare she cannot comprehend. That she becomes a real person rather than merely a "device" is quite an accomplishment in a film like this.
But Michael J. Fox's role is also quite difficult. He has to be the sympathetic good guy in a sea of evil without seeming wimpy or weak and without the accusations of his companions that he's being disloyal ever seeming valid. Fox accomplishes this and much more. His is a shaded, perceptive, low-key performance that serves the material in exactly the right way. And Fox proves he is an actor of the first order.
"Casualties of War" is a tough, flawed film, but overall is quite compelling. DePalma seems headed in the right direction. Let's hope he continues the journey.
It is rated R, as might be expected, for quite a bit of profanity and violence, sex and nudity in a brutal rape scene and some vulgarity.