Saturday Night At The Movies

The Walter Reed Memorial Film Festival

By Dennis Hartley

As the Iraq “war” grinds on and we sadly gird our loins to deal with a whole new generation of physically and/or psychologically scarred vets, it’s time to take a look at some of the films that have tackled the difficult subject of “coming home”.

Hands down, one of the most powerful movies ever made about the physical ravages of war is Dalton Trumbo’s 197l anti-war classic “Johnny Got His Gun”, adapted from the director’s own novel. Timothy Bottoms is a horribly wounded WW I vet who lies in a hospital bed for the duration of the film, re-living his war trauma and reviewing his life. His injuries are so grave that, in addition to the loss of all his limbs, he has lost the ability to speak (what is left of his torso and head is wrapped in gauze, mummy style.) Hence, we only “see” Bottoms in black and white flashbacks, with the actor providing voice-over to parlay the racing thoughts going through his mind as he lies helplessly in his hospital bed. (In all seriousness, I would not recommend this film for claustrophobics.)

It is worth noting that director Trumbo was one of the “Hollywood Ten”, blacklisted during the McCarthy witch hunts of the 1950’s. His impressive screenwriting credits include “Papillon”, “Spartacus ”, “Exodus” and “Lonely Are the Brave”. I find it very interesting that this uncompromising, stridently anti-war statement by an American director is only available on PAL format DVD (although, if you ever catch a screening of Metallica’s “One” video, it features excerpts from the film).

Another under-screened entry in the genre is “Rolling Thunder“. Directed by Peckinpah-influenced John Flynn (“The Outfit”, “Best Seller”) and boasting a cynical, tough-as-nails screenplay from Paul Schrader, this pre-“Rambo” action drama offers enough subtext to belie its “Vietnam vet on a murderous rampage” setup.

William DeVane is quite convincing as tightly-wound Vietnam POW Major Charles Rane, who comes home to San Antonio. Despite the perfunctory welcome home gestures from community and family, it becomes obvious that Rane is alienated by his war trauma (just like Travis Bickle, he rarely removes his mirrored sunglasses to allow people “inside”). Adding insult to injury, Rane’s home is invaded by a gang of ultra-violent thieves. Rane is tortured and left for dead (sans a hand) and his wife and son are murdered. After recovery, Rane emerges with a (sharpened!) hook, a devoted “groupie” and a trunk full of weapons, and heads for Mexico to find the bad guys and take ‘em out, in a typically cathartic Schrader “Taxi Driver” style crescendo of violence.

Despite releasing studio AIP’s rep for spewing out low budget exploitation product, this 1977 film was actually one of the first to take a genuine stab at addressing the Vietnam vet zeitgiest; it was released the same year as the higher-profile “Deer Hunter” and a year before “Coming Home” (which likely explains how it got lost in the shuffle). This is another film begging for a DVD release; although it has been showing recently on some of the premium cable channels-so check those listings!

War is unhealthy for vets and other living things: The Best Years of Our Lives, The Razor’s Edge (1946), Coming Home, Born on the Fourth of July, Little Dieter Needs to Fly, Deer Hunter (HD DVD), Rambo:First Blood, Dead Presidents, Who’ll Stop The Rain, The Indian Runner, Jackknife (VHS only),The War at Home (1996)

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