Plato once said “Only the dead have seen the end of the war”. We can theorize whatever we wish about Plato, but in regards to the classic film Causalities of War, it may not be too far a stretch to agree with him. Brian De Palma has been making films since the 1960’s and he’s still going strong. We remember his classics like Scarface, The Untouchables, or even Mission Impossible because they entertained us. The same cannot be said for everyone who’s seen this war film collaboration with Michael J. Fox and a young Sean Penn, as De Palma tells us the true story of a group of soldiers who did the unthinkable whilst on a tour in Vietnam. The argument here, is that the purpose may not have actually been to entertain, but to inform.
Causalities of War, which is actually based on a 1969 article of the same name, caused much controversy. War is controversial, but this movie pointed the finger.
The film that is now 30 years old returns us to a time that the United States is not very proud of. The Vietnam War was perhaps the most unnecessary of wars America could have ever entered into, it being the first real conflict that sparked protests all across the western nation. It’s bad enough that war begins and ends with people dying, and loss of life is never something to celebrate regardless of the circumstances. Soldiers kill and even other things because they’re ordered to. Though Clint Eastwood said it best in Gran Torino that what haunts men at war most is not what they are ordered to do, but what they’re NOT ordered to do. Absent war, men are capable of terrible things when given free will. But, war in a foreign land away from the laws of your country can potentially have detrimental ramifications. That’s what this film is about. Upon its release, Casualties of War, which is actually based on a 1969 article of the same name, caused much controversy. War is controversial, but this movie pointed the finger. It pointed the finger at those responsible; ergo, ‘bad men’. But it also showed what can happen when good men doing nothing.
There is never an excuse…
Sean Penn plays the ranking officer leading his four subordinates across a long length patrol. Having just lost a fellow soldier due to attack, his aim is to pick up a local woman to ‘boost morale’ for his men. It’s not hard to see where this is going. Penn’s character is young and perhaps even scarred by the horrors of war, but if this movie does anything, it teaches us that there is no excuse. Accompanied by fellow officers played by Michael J. Fox, the great John Leguizamo, Don Harvey, and marking John C. Reily’s first movie appearance, they then proceed to kidnap a local Vietnamese woman from her village with only the cruellest intentions for her in mind. Of the five soldiers, three of them approve, two of them do not, but only one of them voices his concerns. Michael J. Fox gives the dramatic performance of his career, in portraying a man who finds himself in this situation which can only be described as a ‘rock in a hard place’. Though John Leguizamo’s character is shaken and afraid, he ultimately takes part, leaving just one man on the outs of what was described as one of the most shameful acts in the history of the U.S. army.
Casualties are usually in reference to death. War leaves many of them on both sides. This story tells the story of the casualties that come later. When good men witness what they could’ve otherwise stopped, or at the very least attempted to stop, they must live with the shame of not acting for the remainder of their life. Plato’s sentiment rings true in this sense, as experiences like this are the burden of conditions such as trauma or PTSD, something most war veterans seem to have afterwards, if even just a hint of it. This is a story that’s hard to watch, but is definitely worthy of telling. If you have yet to see it, take a brave step forward and be prepared to feel.
