Kerri Battles the AFI’s Top 100 — #86: Platoon

I’ve been dreading this one since last week, when I first realized it was on deck. Platoon came out in 1986 and had earned a place in our home VHS library when I was a kid, so I’ve already seen it more times than a person really needs to. There’s no doubt that it’s a well made film that deserves a place on the AFI’s list. It’s impressive, but also imposing and incredibly hard to watch. At the very least, there are some scenes that I was just really not looking forward to revisiting. There are some movies everyone should see at least once and some movies everyone should see, but only once. Platoon, in my opinion, falls into the latter category.

The story begins with Charlie Sheen’s Chris arriving for duty in Vietnam, for which he dropped out of college and volunteered. Through voiceover, Chris explains in a letter to his grandmother that, rather than being his parents’ special little boy, he joined up in the hopes of finally becoming anonymous and learning something real. His teachers are the NCOs of the platoon. Sgt. Elias, played by Willem Dafoe, has learned to survive, but no longer believes in the mission itself. Sgt. Barnes, played by Tom Berenger, believes so much in the mission that he’s gone bat-shit-Heart-of-Darkness-crazy and seems to be leading the men down the same path. When Barnes executes a village woman in front of everyone in an effort to force her husband to spill NVA secrets he claims he doesn’t have, Elias is the only US soldier to stand against him and reports his actions to the Captain. The platoon begins to fracture along Elias/Barnes lines and ultimately, with the threat of a Court Martial looming over his head, Barnes does the only thing he knows. He takes out his enemy. Only Chris knows the truth. Then there’s another hour of bloodshed, explosions, brutality, and death. Finally, in the quiet and torturous aftermath of battle, Chris seizes his moment and, with a smirk, puts Barnes out of his misery.

Probably the most famous scene in Platoon is Elias’ death scene. I’m completely guessing on this one based solely on the fact that they made it the poster. At this point in the film, Barnes has told Chris that Elias is dead with multiple gunshot wounds and there’s nothing they can do. They return to the chopper for extraction and, from the air, see Elias, riddled with (Barnes’) bullets, running from an entire battalion of Viet Cong. The choppers provide cover fire and attempt to save him, but Elias is felled by multiple shots from the enemy. He dies, crumpling to his knees with his hands held to the sky as though he’s seeking some kind of salvation. It’s a powerful scene and Willem Dafoe’s performance is impeccable. However, for me, there’s another scene that defines the entire film.

Well before Elias’ untimely end, the platoon is sent to a village with suspected ties to the NVA. Chris discovers an old woman and a seemingly simple-minded cripple hiding in a hole dug under a bed. Chris begins to lose himself and screams at the cripple, who probably wouldn’t have the sense to answer even if he could speak English. Kevin Dillon’s character, Bunny, a violent redneck who wears a Viet Cong scalp on his helmet like a trophy, eggs Chris to “do him.” Chris begins shooting at the cripple’s single leg, screaming at him to dance while the old woman wails in Vietnamese behind him, presumably for mercy. After a few moments, panting and crying, Chris realizes what he’s allowing himself to become and starts to walk away. Bunny, however, sees a missed opportunity and bludgeons the simple-minded, one-legged villager with the butt of his rifle out of pure impotent rage. With viscera and gray matter splattered on his face, Bunny comments with glee, “Holy shit! You see that fucking head come apart, man? I never seen brains like that before, man.” This single scene has haunted me for years and, to this day, I am completely incapable of watching it without at least a screen of fingers in front of my eyes. It doesn’t matter that I’m fully aware that it’s a fake head and special effects. The idea that a person could do that to another person is too much for me to handle, even just on film.

 

Oliver Stone wrote the original script for Platoon shortly after his own return from Vietnam and reportedly based it on his own experiences. The only response I can seem to muster to that fact is, “…Sweet gentle baby jesus….” The film, “Dedicated to the men who fought and died in the Vietnam War,”  is so full of gore and savagery that you almost need reminding that it’s hailed as one of the most accurate portrayals of the Vietnam War in film. These aren’t details Oliver Stone invented just to make a more visceral, attention-grabbing film. These atrocities are dramatizations of moments Stone and other veterans experienced first hand. I can’t pretend to understand … well, any of it, really. It’s too big and too dark for my soft, suburban-raised brain to fully grasp. And by the sheer grace of the universe, I’m lucky enough to not bear the weight of first-hand understanding. But if those who aren’t so lucky say Platoon is almost too real, then the AFI is right to give it recognition. If you haven’t seen it, do. At least just the once. It’s probably all you’ll need. — KS