Full Metal Jacket (1987 UK, US) Stanley Kubrick directs this masterpiece about the Vietnam war. Based on The Short-Timers, this story follows “Joker” from basic training to deployment. As many of you know I love, love, love Kubrick’s work and I think this is one of his best. Here’s why. Kubrick was obsessed with realism and authenticity so for this he hired a real drill sergeant to give his actors a whole lot of crap. Actor R. Lee Ermey semi ad libbed the dialogue. It really seemed like it was fully improvised. There is a running joke about Kubrick that really hits home. The US Government hired Kubrick to fake the moon landing but he insisted on filming on location. Kubrick had a whole lot to say about not only the Vietnam war but just war in general. I won’t bore you with what I think he had to say. I will leave that to you to decide. BUT, Kubrick had an interesting habit of holding a shot and making you watch it no matter how uncomfortable you are. Goddamit I spent a lot of money on this and you will watch this. Whereas other directors would do a shaky camera with shallow depth of field so you only see what is directly in front of the camera. Kubrick put the camera on a tripod with a wide shot and deep depth of field so you could see clearly for a long ways. What was the best part is that Kubrick filled the scene so his mis en scene work is stunning with a capital S. Although that much set work was insanely expensive. If you will remember Kathryn Bigelow shot war scenes in Hurt Locker with the “filming in confusion” technique cuz she had virtually no money. Kubrick was at the top of his game when he made this and could convince investors the extra money was worth it. The final battle scene was shot outside of London at an abandoned gasworks park. Of course, London is not known for palm trees like in Vietnam so he hired a local company to put potted palms around the set. He had picked out several varieties and numbered them giving the company very specific instructions on where to place them. The company made a mistake and planted the wrong tree in the spot. Kubrick noticed and got mad and told him that number 67 should be in that spot. The final battle scene is like nothing you have ever seen that’s not CGI. Find this on Paramount Plus and for rent on most streaming.
Btw this film can at times be very offensive. Like Blazing Saddles there is a point to it.