(Historical Post - 2014)
There are probably only 14 or 15 non documentary films that have been made about the Gulf War - this is a surprisingly low number.
The only ones out of that 14 or 15 that made it to the mainstream were, Three Kings and Jarhead and even though Three Kings is an amazing film, its not really a combat film; the war is merely a sub plot, Jarhead however, is a start to finish story, seen through the eyes of a new recruit, where the war is the central plot.
Based on the memoirs of Anthony Swofford, Jarhead is his story, of his time as a marine, training in 1989 and during Operation Desert Shield in 1990.
I fell in love with this movie the moment I first saw it nearly ten years ago; the soundtrack, the performances, the cinematography, the script - all exceptional and streamlined. There is no nonsense in this movie; no filler, its all solid story.
The whole film has a sepia tone about it which is obviously symbolic of the desert, even when it's not the actual location. The beautiful, sweeping shots of the desert, show the emptiness those soldiers must have felt, during that period of waiting and intense boredom, they are interspersed with sequences of boys being boys together, accompanied by a truly amazing soundtrack.
The most beautiful imagery in the whole film is when the oil wells are lit up, we are dazzled with beautiful oranges and reds followed by the shiny black slick oil rain. Awful for the marines but gobsmacking to the eye.
We follow Swofford from basic training to his disappointing return home. It's made clear from the beginning that this was a big mistake, mostly through Jake Gyllenhaal's monotone narration. The narration itself highlights the repetitive nature and monotony of their tour.
Performances are solid and thought provoking - especially Peter Sarsgaard. Its nice to see the multi-faceted talent of Jake Gyllenhaal; he's funny, tough, sensitive and at times slightly psychotic in this movie and also shirtless and dirty a large majority of the time - which is always a bonus.
Having read the book I can say that the film pretty much stays true to the story - Sam Mendes managed to keep the meaning and hopelessness behind Anthony Swoffords words and enable them to be played out in all their hot and humid glory.
My Favourite moment is when Swofford and Troy scale the dune back into base camp and see their fellow soldiers celebrating (what they thought was) the end of the war; Swofford surveys the scene in front of him and says "I never even shot my rifle". There is something so childlike about the expression on his face and his words, you almost forget he's talking about firing a deadly weapon and expect someone to ruffle his hair and say "never mind, next time hey!"
The almost poetic narration at the very end of the movie and the final image of the silhouetted soldiers in the heat of the desert is breathtaking to me, then it fades to black and you hear the first bars of 'Jesus Walks' - I defy you not to feel something; usually goose bumps in my case.
Jarhead is sometimes funny, sometimes sad but always thought provoking and a beautiful movie to watch.
There are probably only 14 or 15 non documentary films that have been made about the Gulf War - this is a surprisingly low number.
The only ones out of that 14 or 15 that made it to the mainstream were, Three Kings and Jarhead and even though Three Kings is an amazing film, its not really a combat film; the war is merely a sub plot, Jarhead however, is a start to finish story, seen through the eyes of a new recruit, where the war is the central plot.
Based on the memoirs of Anthony Swofford, Jarhead is his story, of his time as a marine, training in 1989 and during Operation Desert Shield in 1990.
I fell in love with this movie the moment I first saw it nearly ten years ago; the soundtrack, the performances, the cinematography, the script - all exceptional and streamlined. There is no nonsense in this movie; no filler, its all solid story.
The whole film has a sepia tone about it which is obviously symbolic of the desert, even when it's not the actual location. The beautiful, sweeping shots of the desert, show the emptiness those soldiers must have felt, during that period of waiting and intense boredom, they are interspersed with sequences of boys being boys together, accompanied by a truly amazing soundtrack.
The most beautiful imagery in the whole film is when the oil wells are lit up, we are dazzled with beautiful oranges and reds followed by the shiny black slick oil rain. Awful for the marines but gobsmacking to the eye.
We follow Swofford from basic training to his disappointing return home. It's made clear from the beginning that this was a big mistake, mostly through Jake Gyllenhaal's monotone narration. The narration itself highlights the repetitive nature and monotony of their tour.
Performances are solid and thought provoking - especially Peter Sarsgaard. Its nice to see the multi-faceted talent of Jake Gyllenhaal; he's funny, tough, sensitive and at times slightly psychotic in this movie and also shirtless and dirty a large majority of the time - which is always a bonus.
Having read the book I can say that the film pretty much stays true to the story - Sam Mendes managed to keep the meaning and hopelessness behind Anthony Swoffords words and enable them to be played out in all their hot and humid glory.
My Favourite moment is when Swofford and Troy scale the dune back into base camp and see their fellow soldiers celebrating (what they thought was) the end of the war; Swofford surveys the scene in front of him and says "I never even shot my rifle". There is something so childlike about the expression on his face and his words, you almost forget he's talking about firing a deadly weapon and expect someone to ruffle his hair and say "never mind, next time hey!"
The almost poetic narration at the very end of the movie and the final image of the silhouetted soldiers in the heat of the desert is breathtaking to me, then it fades to black and you hear the first bars of 'Jesus Walks' - I defy you not to feel something; usually goose bumps in my case.
Jarhead is sometimes funny, sometimes sad but always thought provoking and a beautiful movie to watch.