Casualties of War

Beautiful and brutal, artistic and ugly

Based on a true story, the arrogant sergeant (Sean Penn) of a 5-man squad on a reconnaissance mission in Vietnam in November, 1966, decides to kidnap a Vietnamese farm girl for some portable R&R because it would be "good for the morale of the squad." But PFC Eriksson (Michael J. Fox) refuses to participate and fears being killed In Action for dissenting.

Casualties of War (1989) separates itself from other Vietnam War movies by focusing on the incident at hand, including the build-up and aftermath. Its uniqueness is augmented by Brian De Palmas slightly off-kilter style. The picture balances the beauty of the location and the artistry of Brian De Palma's filmmaking with the horror and ugli...

"Casualties of War" is a deeply disturbing and emotionally overpowering film which remains strictly impartial throughout and it just recounts the acutely distressing and repugnant details in a dramatically harrowing yet still compelling way. The rape itself is dealt with in an incredibly matter-of-fact fashion as indeed is the victim's very life when she is indiscriminately murdered after she becomes an inconvenience. It is also shocking but to be expected that when Private Eriksson brings squad leader Sergeant Meserve's criminal act to the attention of his superiors he is met with a lack of concern and even a measure of anger. The real area of upset for them lies not with a lack of justice for the victim, but with the lives of the young men in the platoon Eriksson is about to destroy.