CASUALITES OF WAR

"This is wrong"

PFC Eriksson (Fox) is the cherry of Sgt. Tony Meserve's (Penn) platoon but after a firefight that sees the sergeant save his life. He then quickly becomes part of the team but when one of them is killed, everything changes. Their attitude towards to Vietnamese people now becomes one of suspicion and hatred and Meserve decides to take a local girl for some fun for the platoon. With only Eriksson standing up to the sergeant, the private now faces a moral battle to save her.

The horrors of war have never been the easiest subjects to approach but these are stories that have to be told and 'Casualties of War' tells one of the most tragic and disturbing ones.

In 1969 director Brian De Palma read an article in the New Yorker about a private in the army who reported his fellow platoon soldiers after they kidnapped, raped and murdered a Vietnamese girl during a tour of duty. The story stuck with him and for almost twenty years he tried to bring the account to the silver screen but because of the controversial nature of the material the world had to wait for it to be told.

The subject matter of the article and the film is not the easiest to tell or to watch but De Palma and his creative team approach it with uncompromising and gritty reality. This approach means that the film is at times rather uncomfortable to watch, as it pulls no punches in its portrayal both the evil and good sides of humanity.

The story of PFC Eriksson's platoon and their decision to take Tran Thi Oanh from her village after the VC drove them too far was a monumental step forward for the war movie genre. While there had been films before that dealt with war crimes but the abuse of prisoners during any conflict was always the domain of the enemy and not the US armed forces. What happened during the Vietnam conflict was different however. The fact that this wasn't like any fight that America had faced before and that they were actually losing, this turned honest soldiers into lawless thugs. Seeing their friends killed by an enemy who ignored the rules of engagement and fought using guerrilla tactics, some men just cracked and forgoed all their training and morals to become animals themselves. This story highlights one such incident that actually happened.

De Palma gathered together a first rate cast of up and coming character that would go on to be some of the best actors of their generation. Better known for his comedic roles on TV and movie, the decision to cast Michael J. Fox as Private Eriksson might have seemed a risky one but he excels in a very difficult role. He is the only one who stands up to Sgt. Meserve and knows that it is wrong. A year earlier he proved that he was a talented character actor in the film 'Colours' but for Sean Penn the role of Sgt. Tony Meserve he really put his name on Hollywood's radar. This role highlighted the power of his method style as totally becomes this powerful and disturbed character.

As well as the two protagonists, the film also has standout roles for John C. Reilly as PFC. Herbert Hatcher, John Leguizamo as PFC. Antonio Diaz and Don Harvey as Cpl. Thomas E. Clark, each of them making a name for themselves in the films that would also put them on the Hollywood radar. Add to this Ving Rhames as Lt. Reilly and Dale Dye as Capt. Hill and you have an extremely talented cast that does the power of the story justice. Vietnamese actress Thuy Thu Le provides the most powerful performance as victim of the abduction and it is her that makes the film as disturbing and as heart wrenching as it is.

'Casualties of War' is not a comfortable watch but it is a powerful movie that commands your attention. The storyline pulls no punches and never comprises in showing the true extent of the events that happened in Vietnam jungle. With performances from the ensemble cast that are first rate, this is a film that takes the telling of war atrocities to a new level and that any side should answer for their crimes.