I’m a dinky confused that there’s so many user reviews complaining that Jarhead is ‘a war movie without any war.’ Well.. based on my absorb experiences as a Marine in our most fresh scurry to the sandbox, I’d say war without war sounds accurate to life. Jarhead isn’t showing you what you’d like for Marines and servicemen to be; it’s showing you what we ARE like. Yes, we’re grievous, grievous, irreverent, and largely morally ambivelant. Mostly though, we’re bored. 99.9% of war is waiting. Waiting for to go on patrol, waiting for patrol to be over, waiting to go on or off of guard duty, waiting to sleep, to wake up, to eat, to piss, to finally go home. That’s how it was for my dad in Vietnam, for my cousins in the Gulf War, and for myself in Iraq last year. To some degree, that’s how it’s been for everyone, in every war. To quote this film, “Every war is different, every war is the same.”
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If you’ve been in the military, and especially if you’ve been deployed, this should all be sounding heavenly familiar. If not, graceful. I’d unprejudiced ask that you judge what it is that would form you detest this movie. Is it that you don’t like the characters as they are portrayed? Or is it that you don’t like the conflict between your preconceived belief of what a Marine ’should’ be and what you’re being shown?
Anticipation was high for Jarhead, the cinematic adaptation of Anthony Swifford’s book of the same name about his experiences as a U.S. foot soldier in the first Persian Gulf War. The reaction to the movie was underwhelming to say the least as critics savaged it and audiences stayed away. Something was definitely in the air as the film also failed to bewitch up any nominations or awards at any of the principal ceremonies (Golden Globes, Oscars, et al) . Was the film really that unpleasant or had it impartial been marketed dismal? Or, was it simply the victim of our modern political climate?
Jarhead is a film filled with striking images captured wonderfully by director of photography Roger Deakins. For example, Swofford and his platoon advance across oil wells burning out of control, oil raining down on them. At night, they continue to burn providing the only light, and coupled with downpour of oil, looks like some kind of nightmarish vision of hell.
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Critics complained that nothing happened in the movie but wasn’t that the point? The first Gulf War was typified by highly trained soldiers ready to extinguish who, for the most allotment, did nothing because it was predominantly a conflict fought in the air by extensive bombing that ended the war as swiftly as it did. Jarhead encapsulates this opinion well in a scene where Swoff and Troy are ordered to sniper two high ranking Iraqi officers and at the penultimate moment when they are given the go-ahead to demolish they are ordered to stand down so that an air strike can approach in and literally grasp their tell. This scene blooming worthy sums up the experience for a lot of soldiers over there.
Sure, there are the unavoidable comparisons to the boot camp sequences in Rotund Metal Jacket to the ones in Jarhead but so what? No film lives in a vacuum and those scenes are only a petite piece of the movie and it soon settles into its believe rhythm. The film that Jarhead most lives under the shadow of is Three Kings with its mixture of biting satire and horrific imagery of the madness of war, except that Jarhead ends where Three Kings begins. This is a film about humanity (or, rather the loss of it) and not an anecdote battle of grand vs. snide that perhaps people were expecting. Jarhead is purposely anti-climatic. We won the war but what did we do to glean it and why? And more importantly, what were we doing there? By that extension, we should also be asking the same questions about its sequel - one that we are quiet fighting and paying for.
“Swoff’s Fantasies” feature four deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Sam Mendes and editor Walter Murch. This is footage of Swofford’s inner, fantasy life that was shown briefly in the genuine movie but more was actually shot (and even more figured in the book) .
“News Interviews in Rotund” features more footage of Swoff and his platoon being interviewed by the media with optional commentary by Mendes and Murch. The director mentions that he let the actors adlib their answers to the pre-arranged questions.
Also included are 11 deleted scenes with optional commentary by Mendes and Murch. Of brand is a scene with Sam Rockwell who plays Swoff’s uncle and is in the Marines. Mendes and Murch do an well-behaved job of explaining why this footage was cleave and are candid in what stuff unprejudiced didn’t work.
There is an audio commentary by Mendes who didn’t want to overthink the camerawork or go for the meticulously staged compositions as he did with his previous movies and instead opted for a looser glimpse with extensive hand-held camerawork. This is a very strong track as he defends his choices and tells all kinds of apt anecdotes.
There is another commentary track by screenwriter William Broyles, Jr. and author Anthony Swofford. Broyles served in the Vietnam War and so these two war veterans talk with absolute authority about the authenticity of this movie. It’s expansive to listen to Broyles and Swofford - two men who’ve been through what we are watching.
On the Collector’s Edition version are included three documentaries.
First up, is the “Jarhead Diaries.” Mendes provides an introduction where he states his distaste of electronic press kits (finally!) and so he had a documentary crew film more peripheral stuff and gave the actors their absorb cameras to shoot whatever they wanted. The actors are refreshingly candid about their feelings making this movie as they are going through the loyal experience.
“Semper Fi” takes a see at four Marines who came home from the First Gulf War and from the recent one. Anthony Swofford interviews these guys and has them talk about what their experiences were like over there and what their life is like now. Because he is also a primitive, he is able to derive them to initiate up a bit. These are fair sobering accounts as we listen to how hard it is for them to objective turn off their combat training once they near help home.
Finally, there is “Background,” a documentary about the extras who played anonymous Marines in the background of scenes. is a consuming snapshot of their experiences.
