For  3 Films, 1 Director, 1 Week I watched Salvador, Platoon and Any Given Sunday. In Platoon, combat takes a soldier’s psyche to very a dark, lonely place. Salvador asks do we have the cultural understanding to fight another’s battle and even if we do, should we? Any Given Sunday looks at the power struggles within a militant, money-whoring sporting organization and likens athletes to raging gladiators. The overarching idea tying all three films together is that humanity’s limits are severely tested in a waging war. Say what you will about Oliver Stone, he’s a very controversial director, but his vision as a filmmaker exists in personal experience, which is why these films were particularly provocative. In Hollywood, war and violence is glamorized for entertainment purposes.  Tell me what’s real about a vigilante with a red bandana running through the jungle with a machete ready to axe one crazy SOB after the other and loving it? It’s a fantasy. Stone’s point as a filmmaker is that we’re never going to learn anything from past mistakes if we gloss over the reality with a Hollywood ending.  We need to experience a story realistically, especially if it’s unsettling and uncomfortable, or we’ll never give the problems of the world a second thought. Well, guess what, Oliver Stone succeeded - I’ve been thinking about these films all week. Individual reviews to follow…
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For  3 Films, 1 Director, 1 Week I watched Salvador, Platoon and Any Given Sunday.

In Platoon, combat takes a soldier’s psyche to very a dark, lonely place. Salvador asks do we have the cultural understanding to fight another’s battle and even if we do, should we? Any Given Sunday looks at the power struggles within a militant, money-whoring sporting organization and likens athletes to raging gladiators. The overarching idea tying all three films together is that humanity’s limits are severely tested in a waging war.

Say what you will about Oliver Stone, he’s a very controversial director, but his vision as a filmmaker exists in personal experience, which is why these films were particularly provocative.

In Hollywood, war and violence is glamorized for entertainment purposes.  Tell me what’s real about a vigilante with a red bandana running through the jungle with a machete ready to axe one crazy SOB after the other and loving it? It’s a fantasy. Stone’s point as a filmmaker is that we’re never going to learn anything from past mistakes if we gloss over the reality with a Hollywood ending.  We need to experience a story realistically, especially if it’s unsettling and uncomfortable, or we’ll never give the problems of the world a second thought.

Well, guess what, Oliver Stone succeeded - I’ve been thinking about these films all week. Individual reviews to follow…

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  1. brieflynoted posted this