Casualties of War

Casualties of War
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Brian De Palma
Produced by	Art Linson
Written by	Story: Daniel Lang Screenplay: David Rabe
Starring	Michael J. Fox Sean Penn
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Stephen H. Burum
Editing by	Bill Pankow
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	August 18, 1989
Running time	113 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$22,500,000
Gross revenue	$18,671,317

Casualties of War is a 1989 war drama about the Vietnam War, starring Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn. It was directed by Brian De Palma, with a screenplay by David Rabe based on actual events that took place in 1966. An article written by Daniel Lang for The New Yorker in 1969 was the movie's primary source.^[1][2]

This film was Fox's third major dramatic role. He had previously starred in the dramas Light of Day and Bright Lights, Big City. John C. Reilly and John Leguizamo make their screen debuts in the film.

Plot

The story is presented as a flashback of Private First Class Max Eriksson (Michael J. Fox), a Vietnam veteran.

In November 1966, a squad of American soldiers is on patrol when they are suddenly attacked by the Viet Cong. The ground cracks under Eriksson while he walks above a Viet Cong tunnel, and he is stuck in the hole while mortar shells land near him. Unknown to him, a Viet Cong soldier in the tunnel below him prepares to silently kill him. Sergeant Tony Meserve (Sean Penn) hears Eriksson, pulls him out of the hole, and kills the Viet Cong soldier. Eventually, the Americans stave off the attack.

The squad takes a break outside a river village in the Central Highlands. While relaxing and joking around, one of the squad members, Corporal "Brownie" Brown (Erik King) is shot in the neck by Viet Cong across the river. The squad kills several enemies until they realize there's Viet Cong running through a flooded field behind them. One throws a grenade at Eriksson, but in a miraculous shot he blows up the grenade in mid air with his M-79 grenade launcher. Brownie is evacuated but dies at the hospital. Shortly afterward, Private Antonio Diaz (John Leguizamo) arrives as Brownie's replacement.

The unit is then re-deployed to a nearby village, which is believed to be an ally to the Viet Cong. Because of their reassignment, the unit has their leave time cut short. Frustrated because his squad has been denied leave for an extended period, Meserve orders the squad to kidnap a Vietnamese girl, Than Thi Oanh (Thuy Thu Le) to be their sex slave. Eriksson strenuously objects, but Maserve silences him and ostracizes him from ther rest of the squad. The girl is forcibly taken to the squad's next command outpost and is repeatedly beaten and raped by all the men except for Eriksson. Oanh grows ill and develops a persistent cough.

The squad is later ordered to take up a position near a railroad bridge overlooking a Viet Cong river supply depot. Meserve and Corporal Thomas E. Clarke (Don Harvey) realize Oanh's coughing might give them away. Meserve has Diaz order air support for an assault on the depot. Then he orders Eriksson to kill Oanh. Eriksson staunchly refuses despite Meserve's death threats. Clarke looks out in the sky and sees a unit of Huey helicopters passing a mountain and then turning towards their position. Fearing the helicopters will somehow see their rape victim, Meserve first orders PFC. Herbert Hatcher to kill Oanh, but he refuses, so then Meserve orders Diaz. Before Diaz can kill her, Eriksson fires his M-16 rifle into the air, exposing them to the nearby Viet Cong.

As the battle rages, Eriksson, who is carefully picking off Viet Cong hiding behind a supply sampan on the river bank, doesn't realize that Clarke has stabbed Oanh more than twice with his knife. Things become desperate when the Viet Cong move mortars up to the river and begin lobbing shells onto the bridge trapping the squad. Fortunately, Meserve is able to kill many of the enemy with his M-60 machine gun. But the situation gets worse when Oanh, whose wounds were not immediately fatal, walks onto the bridge to try to escape. Eriksson tries to catch her but is hit in the stomach by Meserve using the butt of his M-60. Completely winded and hurt, Eriksson watches helplessly as the squad shoots Oahn numerous times until she falls off the bridge, dead. The helicopter gunships then strafe the supply depot with rockets blowing it up but accidentally setting a passing U.S. Navy Patrol Boat on fire when the sampan explodes, killing all the crewmen.

After the battle, Eriksson wakes up in a hospital having been "wounded". Meserve and the squad cover up the murder but Eriksson refuses to let the secret die. He jeopardizes both his life and military career (thanks in large part to indifferent superiors, who prefer to bury the matter) to expose the crime. Eventually, following an attempt on Eriksson's life by Clarke, there is an investigation and the four men who participated in the rape and murder are court martialed and receive long sentences. Meserve receives 10 years hard labor and a dishonorable discharge. Clarke is sentenced to life in prison. Private Herbert Hatcher (John C. Reilly) receives 15 years hard labor. Diaz (John Leguizamo) receives eight years hard labor. Hatcher is later retried and acquitted on appeal after it is determined that his Fifth Amendment rights were violated and his confession is ruled inadmissible. Clarke's sentence was later reduced and he is eventually released.

At the end of the movie, Eriksson wakes up from a nightmare to find himself on a MUNI Metro streetcar in San Francisco, just a few feet from a Vietnamese-American student (also played by Thuy Thu Le) who resembles the kidnapped girl. She leaves the streetcar to go to school and forgets her scarf, and Ericksson runs after her to return it. They have a brief conversation where she notices something is troubling him, and guesses that she reminds him of someone. They then go their separate ways.

Cast and ratings

• Michael J. Fox as Pfc. Max Eriksson: The main protagonist of the film. Eriksson is a good soldier who loves his job, but under Sgt. Meserve, he feels like he isn't part of the army anymore.
• Sean Penn as Sgt. Tony Meserve: The main antagonist of the film. He hates being at war, and takes his anger out on enemy soldiers, innocent civilians, and his own men.
• Don Harvey as Cpl. Thomas E. Clarke: Meserve's ruthless right-hand man.
• John C. Reilly as Pfc. Herbert Hatcher: Another bully in Sgt. Meserve's platoon.
• John Leguizamo as Pfc. Antonio Diaz: A pacifist who reluctantly goes along with the rape, for which he is immediately remorseful.
• Thuy Thu Le as Thị Oanh Thân / Girl on train: A kidnapped girl.
• Erik King as Cpl. "Brownie" Brown:
• Jack Gwaltney as Pfc. Rowan:
• Ving Rhames as Lt. Reilly: The vice commander of the platoon.
• Dan Martin as Hawthorne:
• Dale Dye as Capt. Hill: The wise commanding officer.

Locations

• The bridge location was filmed in Kanchanaburi, Thailand. This was the same location where the famous Bridge on the River Kwai is located.

Awards

Wins

• Political Film Society: PFS Award; Peace; 1990.

Nominations

• Golden Globes: Golden Globe; Best Original Score - Motion Picture Ennio Morricone; 1990.
• Motion Picture Sound Editors: Golden Reel Award; Best Sound Editing - Sound Effects; Maurice Schell; 1990.

In popular culture

• A quote from Michael J. Fox's character was sampled in the song "Madagascar" in the Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy.

See also

• Redacted (film)

References

External links

• Casualties of Genre, Difference, and Vision: Casualties of War
• Casualties of War at the Internet Movie Database
• Casualties of War at Allmovie
• Casualties of War at Box Office Mojo
• There is yet more to Casualties of War