Every week, we in Her.ie towers will provide you with a blast from the past, a film that you cannot live without but nor should you, the classic film that you simply need to watch.
This week, and for the day that's in it, we take a look at Oliver Stone's masterpiece, Born on the Fourth of July.
Released in 1989, Born on the Fourth of July is perhaps one of the most important films about the Vietnam War and it's impact on the veterans who managed to return from it. Those who fought in the war were fighting for a cause they did not understand in a foreign country where most were the enemies, no matter which side they were on. Thousands of soldiers returned home permanently disturbed, injured and often unable to continue their previous lives. No one understood their plight more than Stone, a man who had himself served in Vietnam. To this day, Born and Platoon are worshipped as day of the best films documenting this struggle. Born itself took two Oscars the year after its release, Best Film and Best Film Editing.
Set in the 1970's, the film follows the life of a young man, Ron Kovic, who ends up fighting in the Vietnam War. However, his tour is cut short as he becomes paralyzed following an attack. When he returns from Vietnam, he discovers that his life has changed entirely. Now dependant on his family to take care of him, Ron turns to alcohol to help him forget the things that he saw while at war, eventually becoming so critical of the situation in Vietnam, he joins those who are protesting against it. Originally thinking he would go and fight for his country in a very patriotic display, Kovic questions his dedication in ways he never imagined before his tour.
Yes, Born on the Fourth of July is not the most uplifting of films but it certainly addresses a lot of issues that came off the back of the Vietnam War and how the veterans who returned home were being cared for. Tom Cruise is exceptional as Ron Kovic, really giving a depth to a character who could just have been written off as one dimensional, just angry.
In terms of the landscape, no one has done a better job of setting one of America's most controversial wars, both in terms of reception at home and on the ground in Vietnam. The sound, image and script are all exceptional and the issues that Stone addresses were certainly included to make the audience think.
This is war film-making at its best, at its absolute best.
