Critical Recommendation: Platoon

"Someone once wrote, 'Hell is the impossibility of reason.' That's what this place feels like. Hell. I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves."

- Chris Taylor

A year ago, I had never even heard of "Platoon." Whenever someone mentions The Vietnam War in the context of cinema, we always hear two titles come up: "Apocalypse Now" and "Full Metal Jacket." No one ever talks about "Platoon," and after watching the film, I can honestly say that this is frankly nothing short of a crying shame. To be perfectly clear, both of these more well-known and popular films are excellent. Amazing, even. However, there's something special about "Platoon" and the incredibly unique perspective it has on war and its effect on soldiers. In short, "Platoon" is a very, very good movie, and today, it finally stumbled upon the good fortune of landing on the "recommended" list for my blog.

"Platoon" follows a US Army volunteer named Chris Taylor as he's assigned to the 25th infantry division near the border of Cambodia and Vietnam. Technically, Chris's platoon is under the command of a man named Lieutenant Wolfe, but because Wolfe is a pretty inexperienced soldier, the newer recruits in the platoon tend to gravitate towards one of two men in the platoon: Elias, a compassionate man who has a weakness for drugs, or Barnes, a rougher but seemingly tougher soldier boasting an impressive set of facial scars. At first, everything goes relatively well for the platoon, at least as well as things can go in Vietnam, but as men begin to die, tempers begin to flare, and questionable decisions begin to get made, Chris finds himself caught in a proxy war between two men he views as his superiors, and has to make a decision about which man he's going to side with before everything goes sideways.

One of the best things about "Platoon" is its unwavering commitment to nuance and accuracy. Both sides of the ideological conflict in this film raise valid points, and this makes deciding between the two difficult. You want to side with Elias and his tendency for compassion, but it's hard to argue with Barnes's practical (if somewhat ruthless) approach, especially when the film portrays things like ammo dumps going off in a Vietnamese village that, just a few seconds ago, you had felt bad was getting burned to the ground by the American soldiers. Back in 1987, The Washington Post published an article about "Platoon" that praised the film for its accuracy and willingness to portray both the good and bad sides of men who fought in Vietnam. I'm hard-pressed to put a finer point on this particular aspect of the film than this article.

Another thing I love about "Platoon" is the enthralling psychological battle between Elias and Barnes. As the film progresses, the platoon becomes more and more divided by the infighting until the conflict crescendoes in a smart, shocking, heartbreaking fashion. Infighting isn't a common plot point in war movies, and grounding this conflict in objective, unmovable, competing philosophies instead of an arbitrary disagreement at some point in the film was a smart choice on the part of writer and director Oliver Stone. Watching this feud slowly reach its inevitable yet shocking boiling point is a saddening ordeal, and if at some point you think you have an idea of how this conflict will get resolved, I would argue you don't. This film will surprise you in a pleasant (or unpleasant, depending on which way you look at it) fashion instead of just choosing to shock you, which is what a lesser film would have done.

As for the bread-and-butter of this film, the combat scenes in "Platoon" are frenetic, unpredictable, shocking, sudden, violent, and terrifying. They seem to lack any manner of complex choreography, and surprisingly enough, this was satisfying to watch. War isn't a dance. It's hell, and "Platoon" knows this and runs with it. There were a couple of times when I just about jumped out of my seat in surprise as the Viet Cong ambushed the U.S. soldiers. The fighting is incredibly disorienting, and this is an effect I have yet to see accomplished to this level of success in any other film. You can hardly ever see the enemy, and this puts you on the ground in the shoes of the soldiers there, lending an air of authenticity to the film. One second, a guy will just be standing there, and then the next, he's gone. A life snuffed out just like that. It was a terrifying and crude approach, but the crudeness of the filming and basic pacing techniques is what made the warfare in this film feel truly tangible and frightening.

One last thing I love about "Platoon" is that it doesn't get bogged down in an overly complicated plot. The simplicity of the narrative really let the performances and characterization in this movie shine, and this is the little boost the film needed to elevate it from good to great. You're not missing vital plot points trying to piece together what came before, but the film never feels simplistic, and that's because it knows that its characters, in and of themselves, are the real story. This film's narrative is very character-driven, and well-written and well-acted characters take this movie the distance. This film just wouldn't have been the same without the quirks of the characters, little things like Chris's red bandana, Elias looking high all the time, and Barnes's thousand-yard stare. Oliver Stone knows that the little, seemingly insignificant things are what will ultimately make characters stand out in a crowd, and he applies this knowledge masterfully to the wonderful cast of characters in "Platoon."

"Platoon" finds so much meaning in so much meaningless, and it is positively mesmerizing to watch. And did I mention that this film also won "Best Picture" back when winning "Best Picture" actually meant something, and contestants didn't just congratulate and reward each other for affirming their pre-existing political notions and beliefs?

Platoon - 10/10

Ecclesiastes 1:1-4