* I guess, had momentum and lost it. The two things I remember about * _FMJ_ are the interior narrative of the Matthew Modine character-- * that was cool, an offbeat commentary on war--and the end, which, like * the end of _2001_ (a much better film, in my view), went on * forever--and further than that, to the extent that I felt Kubrick * wanted me to know he was doing this deliberately, in case I felt * it was just a wonderful bit of mise en scene. (He does do that a * lot--deconstructs his set-pieces which otherwise would be 'mere' * cinematic magic). * I think perhaps the ending appears to suffer because the development of the squad at Parris Island is so brilliantly treated. There was certainly a fair amount of what seemed to be stock bloodshed footage in the second sequence, but if you believe Modine came to realize the whole situation was so pointless that ending life was an acceptable resolution, it ties in nicely with Private Pyle's similar reaction of the first sequence, and the copious violence becomes a needed tool. Certainly the twist that a lone teenage girl was responsible for it is something you don't expect, and if you stretch it, that makes the squad's repeated encounters with hookers less gratuitous--being in the war was all sex and death at the hands of children. Of course, maybe Kubrick's just a perverted gorehound. -- Mark Bunster |Exchange conversation if you dare-- Survey Research Lab--VCU |Share an empty thought or a laugh. Richmond, VA 23220 | [log in to unmask] | (804) 367-8813/353-1731 | -edFROM