CASUALTIES OF WAR

U.S.A. 1989, Columbia Pictures

Director: Brian DePalma

Cinematography: Stephen H. Burum

Screenplay: David Rabe, from a story by Daniel Lang

Music: Ennio Morricone

Cast:

Eriksson. . . . . . . . . . . . .Michael J. Fox

Meserve. . . . . . . . . . . . .Sean Penn

Oahn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thuy Thu Le

Clark. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Don Harvey

Hatcher. . . . . . . . . . . . . .John C. Reilly

Diaz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .John Leguizamo

Lt. Reilly. . . . . . . . . . . . . Ving Rhames

Chaplain Kirk. . . . . . . . Sam Robards

Captain Hill. . . . . . . . . .Dale Dye

Electronic journal:

Pick one of the following to comment on in your electronic journal, and for discussion in class on Friday (and probably Monday as well):

1. In an article called"Genre, gender, and the discourse of war: the a/historical and Vietnam films" (Screen 34:1, Spring 1993), Michael Selig theorizes that the "fundamental ideological function" of the Vietnam film (and most war films) is the "construction of a male-subject hero and a masculine spectator," the "prerequisite for which is the devaluation and the abuse of the feminine."(3) How does Casualties of War fit this theory?

2. Selig also argues that this kind of film always foregrounds a "boy whose war experiences form the backdrop for his coming to manhood." This "Oedipal" story, because it is focused on an individual, necessarily deflects the condemnation of the war in Vietnam from the national level to the personal level, and defuses a more general critique of American society.(4-5) Do you agree with this judgment? Can we say that The Things They Carried also demonstrates this focus? Why or why not?