Short Take: Casualties of War

Like many filmmakers of his generation, Brian De Palma regards the literate, visually splendid historical dramas of David Lean as an artistic pinnacle. Casualties of War, his one effort in this mode, is an extraordinary film. It matches Lean’s visual grandeur and thematic intelligence, and outdoes him in terms of dramatic intensity. The script, by David Rabe, is based on the Vietnam War’s Hill 192 incident, which occurred in 1966. A squad of U. S. soldiers kidnapped a South Vietnamese woman while on a reconnaissance mission. Four of the five men took turns raping her, and near the end of the mission, she was murdered. The soldier who refused to participate (played by Michael J. Fox) sought to report the crime, but his efforts were frustrated by his commanding officers. Finally, after a chaplain intervened, the four other soldiers were charged and court-martialed. Employing a virtuoso level of filmmaking craft, De Palma dramatizes an environment where this kind of atrocity is perhaps inevitable. The young men have been thrust into circumstances in which they can be killed at any moment, and often cannot tell the difference between the enemy and those they are defending. Their only source of hope is their youthful bravado, but the experience of war will always rub their noses in a sense of helplessness. Bravado may curdle into macho posturing, and occasionally into a predatory need to assert dominance over others without any consideration for right and wrong. War can be a test of moral strength, and the picture takes one right to the heart of the crucible the victimization of the woman represents. In the film's most devastating moments, a viewer is seared with the misery of knowing that despite a refusal to do wrong, it may also be impossible to do right. Michael J. Fox is ideal as the story’s hero. His knack for audience rapport could not be stronger, and his talent for verbal double takes, masterfully used in his comic roles, is equally effective in conveying the character’s horror. His small stature is a particular advantage in this role. A viewer is acutely conscious of the character’s vulnerability to go-along-to-get-along bullying, and it makes his ability to stand his moral ground all the more impressive. Sean Penn, who plays the squad leader, is erratic. He’s terrific in the film’s first act. One feels the character’s capacity for heroism, and Penn powerfully takes the viewer inside the moment he is broken. It’s a quiet scene of the character shaving, and his eerie, dead-looking eyes let one know he’s on the edge of madness. It’s one of the finest moments Penn has ever played. But Penn falters in the other two acts. There’s no tension in the angry, theatrical bluster he affects, and he’s repellent as both character and actor. The film has other flaws, including a misconceived framing sequence set after the war, and an award-bait speech Fox’s character delivers at the start of the third act. But despite these, it is one of the finest war dramas ever made, and a high point of Brian De Palma’s career. The cast also includes Thuy Thu Le, John Leguizamo, John C. Reilly, Don Harvey, Sam Robards, Ving Rhames, and Dale Dye. The elegant cinematography is by Stephen H. Burum. Ennio Morricone provided the haunting score. David Rabe based the script on the account of the Hill 192 incident by journalist Daniel Lang, first published as an article in The New Yorker.