War From Liberal Point of View
10/10
Author: Firas Daba
25 February 2014
The movie is based on the real-life story of Ron Kovic (played by Tom Cruise), a decorated Marine who was in his second tour of duty in Vietnam when he was critically injured. Upon his return to the United States, Kovic became a vocal anti-war protester whose military record gave him more credibility than the numerous hippies and college students whom critics lambasted for "dodging" service to their country. Born on the Fourth of July is divided neatly into four pieces.
The first, which transpires entirely in Massapequa, New York between the late 1950s and 1964, traces the childhood of Kovic, who grows up in a fiercely patriot household. His parents are fierce supporters of the country and devout Roman Catholics. Kovic, inspired by a presentation given by a Marine , signs up out of high school and is on his way to Vietnam by December 1965, leaving behind his family and his girlfriend. This segment is filmed by Stone with an abundance of nostalgic elements. The lighting and colors hint at a time- clouded innocence.
The style, which evokes Capra, is overly romantic. Stone is, of course, setting us up. He wants us to buy into this idealized, insulated way of life in order for what comes after to have maximum impact. The "in country" portion of the film is the shortest. It picks up the action in October 1968, when Kovic, now a sergeant and well-respected member of his platoon, is in his second tour of duty. While on patrol, an error in the received intelligence leads to a civilian massacre, and Kovic is shaken. During the retreat, he mistakes one of his men for an enemy and accidentally kills him.
The XO exonerates Kovic, ignoring his claims of "friendly fire," and informs the sergeant that things like this happen in the confusion of battle. Three months later, Kovic is seriously wounded in another engagement - an incident that ends his battlefield involvement in the war. Stone's approach to the fight segments are similar to those in Platoon - short, brutal, and unflinching. He is more interested in showing the bloody, inglorious elements of war as opposed to those promoted in military recruiting films.
Kovic's rehab at the Bronx V.A. hospital is perhaps the most disconcerting episode in the film, depicting as it does the deplorable conditions that existed in the government-run facilities established to treat injured soldiers. Paralyzed from the waist down, Kovic does his best to maintain a positive mental attitude and is obsessive About rehabbing, despite his surroundings. Drugs are rampant in the hospital, rats wander freely and the equipment is old. Eventually, he leaves the hospital and returns to Massapequa, where he is hailed as a hero. The final hour is devoted Kovic's change from war-supporter to rabid anti-war activist.
When Kovic initially returns home, he is still a defender of the action in Vietnam. It's only after attending an anti-war rally that he changes his position. The thing best accomplished by Born on the Fourth of July is its contrasting of the glorious illusion of war as seen from thousands of miles away to the barbarity of it up-close. Kovic's change in perspective becomes the filter through which we view Vietnam. His gradual disillusionment with the government and the military is given weight because of events in his life. He is credible because he has been involved in activities that many pro- war and anti-war activists have seen only from afar.
When Stone made this movie in 1988-89, he was looking back roughly 15 years; the intervening time has served only to sharpen the focus. Nothing about Born on the Fourth of July is dated; it remains an involving tale of innocence lost and of war and its unintended consequences.
