I have been watching a lot of female oriented movies of late…not so much out of choice, but just coz it seemed the order of the day in the movie business, and a movie addict like me cannot ignore trends! As such, it was a relief to watch a movie like “Jarhead”, which is as far removed from the female world as Sunday night football is….a movie full of testosterone and male bravado….yet, it is one of the most riveting, absorbing movies I’ve watched in a while. Great story, great acting performances (definite Oscar nomination for Jake Gylenhall), wonderful direction.
CAST- Jake Gylenhall, Jamie Foxx, Peter Saarsgard.
DIRECTOR- Sam Mendes
PLOT
“Jarhead” is what a recruit in the United States Marine Corps is called……one look at their shaved heads is enough to tell you why they are called that! The movie is based on a book written by an ex marine, Anthony Swofford, and is based in the time period of 1989-1990, at the time of Operation Desert Storm.
The movie traces the life of Anthony Swofford or ’’Swoff’’ (Jake Gylenhall) from the time he enters the US Marine corps at the age of 20. He is a rather reluctant recruit, torn between going to college versus following in his dad’s (a Vietnam war vet) footsteps and joining the marines. Swoff is confronted with the extremely harsh life of a recruit from day one…brutal hazing from his marine( super high on testosterone) buddies, to the standard, harsh treatment from his superiors. Initially, he takes refuge from this by pretending to have stomach flu (ingesting laxatives by the dozen!) and falling back on his academic ways by reading Albert Camus in the bathroom! But gradually, he gets used to marine life and falls in with the brutal regime, seeing that the training is harsh for a reason, to prepare the recruits for the reality of war. His superior Sergeant Sykes, (actor Jamie Foxx), sees his potential as a marksman, and trains him to be a sniper. Swoff also befriends another marine recruit Troy (actor Peter Saarsgard), who is also trained as a sniper.
The action then moves to the Middle East, in 1990, when Iraq invaded Kuwait. US marines are sent initially as part of “Operation Desert Shield”, where they are simply posted in the Middle East to guard the oil fields. The newly trained marines anticipate being there for a couple of weeks and returning home soon after…..no such luck. A few weeks turn into months….all they get to do is lose a ton of water from their bodies in the extremely hot and dry Iraqi desert, engaging in a number of fruitless field exercises and military drills. The most frequent command they get to hear is “Hydrate yourself!”
Meanwhile, life back home goes on…wives/girlfriends of the marines move onto greener pastures, find other men, while the marines wait endlessly in Iraq to “see some action”. Swoff slowly starts changing from the almost intellectual, soft spoken young man that he was to a rabid, temper always on a short leash, kind of guy. He is not the only one…all the men out there are getting frustrated. Six months to a year into this, they get the call for “Operation Desert Storm”, and are finally asked to go after the Republican Guard, Saddam Hussein’s army. As they set out on foot towards Jordan, they see a number of charred Kuwaiti civilian bodies on the way. The marines also get shot at by their own air force! Then, they have to cope with the oil fields being set on fire and bathing in oil for days, more charred Kuwaiti bodies….and after all this, they don’t get to shoot or engage in a single battle because all the “military engagement” is taken care of by the US Air Force. Eventually, Swoff and the other members of his platoon return home, without having fired a single bullet at the enemy!
GRIMLY HUMOUROUS MOMENT
Marines walking amidst the oil fields when a US Airforce plane flies over them, loudly playing, ’’Break on through to the other side’’ by The Doors. One of the marines shouts out in frustration....’’That was Nam’s (Vietnam war) theme music. Cant we at least have our own soundtrack for this ’’war’’?!!!
MY TAKE
Jarhead is not a movie about Operation Desert Storm, or any specific war. It’s not even about questioning the moral righteousness of war. This movie is about the life of a marine or a soldier, the PROFESSION of a soldier. Fighting a war is what a marine is required to do as his job, and soon it becomes the centre of his existence. He is trained to engage in combat, fire a gun, destroy an enemy in every which way possible. Wars come and go, enemies change faces over the years, but the marine/soldier’s job remains the same. It’s hard, however, to deal with not utilising one’s training and skills….in any profession, and a soldier’s profession is no different- even if it involves killing other human beings. In one scene in the movie, one of the marines sobs in anguish because he isn’t allowed by his commander to take a shot at the enemy…all that training, months spent in gruelling foreign conditions, life back home changing beyond recognition.….for what?
As Swoff puts it in the end, “A soldier takes a rifle in his hand, goes to war, returns home. He may do a number of different things with his hands after he gets back…hold his wife, change his baby’s diapers…but he NEVER forgets what its like to hold a rifle in his hands.”