The setting for “Full Metal Jacket” is the Perris Island, S.C. Marine Corps recruit depot during the peak of the Vietnam War (as well as Vietnam later in the movie). WARNING: NOT FOR KIDS! This movie was the fourth of
The setting for “Full Metal Jacket” is the Perris Island, S.C. Marine Corps recruit depot during the peak of the Vietnam War (as well as Vietnam later in the movie).
WARNING: NOT FOR KIDS! This movie was the fourth of five to deal with the Vietnam war head-on (the war ended some 15 years earlier). However, no movie had or has to date dealt with boot camp with such truth, horror and imagery as this masterpiece. This movie is made by the all-time master of film-directing, Stanley Kubrick. This is one of the few directors every film critic, historian, filmmaker and audience member enjoy or acknowledge he is a master.
The setting for “Full Metal Jacket” is the Perris Island, S.C. Marine Corps recruit depot during the peak of the Vietnam War (as well as Vietnam later in the movie). The film immediately drops us into day one of boot camp where the hell begins from Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) as he blasts the new recruits with insults and pulling no punches shows them what they’ve signed up for. Never mind there is a war going on, these recruits belong to him and he makes sure they know it!
The film stars Matthew Modine (“Any Given Sunday”) and Vincent D’Onofrio (television’s “Law and Order Criminal Intent”). Modine plays Private Joker and is quickly changed to squad after a bone-chilling scene where he dares to take on the drill instructor (Ermey). Now the real scary part of the boot-camp scenes involves D’Onofrio’s character, Private Pyle. Pyle is an overweight screw-up who can not do anything right in the eyes of his fellow Marines, but worst of all Sgt. Hartman. This film from the mouth of my friend who served for six years captures boot camp like no other movie. Real U.S. Marines live by it.
The movie is based on a novel titled “Short-Timers” and really is divided into two parts (but is one movie), the first being the boot-camp hell and the other being the Vietnam War. What makes this film so amazing is how Kubrick, through unbeatable lighting, framing and imagery (his trademarks) makes us feel like boot camp is more hellacious then war. The film is an important historical document besides being top-notch film-making.
Stanley Kubrick would only receive an honorary Oscar for his visual effects in the movie “2001” (1968); but on a side note he was nominated five times as a writer, four times as a director and three times as a producer.
• Paul Booth of Lihu‘e is a Kaua‘i Community College graduate, film producer and consultant. He can be reached at pkb_1@hotmail.com.
