MovieChat Forums > Casualties of War (1989) Discussion > Dream-like quality

Dream-like quality

posted 15 years ago by Frumaster
12 replies | jump to latest

Ok, so it turned out to be a dream by Fox's character in the end. That seems like a cheap gimmick, but I actually thought the whole film read like a dream, looked like a dream, etc. People are missing the point when they attack the film's realism with regard to characters, acting, and events. Sure a lot is sensationalized. Sure the rapists/murderers were film depicts its main black characters asall black men in real life, while the martyrs (Brownie) and superiors (Ving Rhames).

I struggled with many of the 'propogandist' aspects. Yet for some reason I still love this movie!!! The dialogue, cinematography, sound, you name it....just so cool.

Here's how I reconcile the leftist distortions....

The entire movie can easily be seen as reenactment through Michael J Fox's character's mind....in a dream. Of course the stuff isn't literal. Our dreams are disjointed, highly abstract, and they usually include people we know. Maybe MJ Fox's character wasn't even in the war...maybe he read just an article in the newspaper about this event before falling asleep.

As a result, the following things fit much more into context:

-Knifed woman coming walking down the train tracks
-The whole 'Cherry' section
-Camera angles
-Music
-Ving Rhame's speech (at which point I laughed uncontrollably)
-The casting of MJ Fox

In other words, don't get your panties in a wad because of elements that seem to be propoganda. Its just a guy with a heavy conscience recounting a horrifying event that he was never a part of. Its a great luxury to be able to enjoy great art while keeping the facts straight in my mind. Hopefully my point of view will help you achieve the same.

[–] jacowium 14 years ago

Intellectualism just reached a new low with the post above. Not a single one of your facts are straight, sir.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] jacowium 14 years ago

So then, the dream-theory explains the significance of Erikson's reaction upon seeing the familiar-looking Vietnamese student sitting opposite him in the coach, later seeing the scarf left behind on the seat when she leaves, then returning it to her (a bit like Oanh's mother did in the narrative) and finally the short but loaded-with-meaning conversation that followed...yeah, that proves all the war-events we saw were just a dream by some random guy on a bus who might have read about the story in a newspaper or something, right!

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] garybatmanbusey 14 years ago

its called a flashback not a dream!!!!!!!!!!!

"she's the tear that hangs inside my soul forever."

[–] AvidLV426 14 years ago

Really...come on guys, use your heads. It wasn't all a dream, obviously as its based on actual events. The ending is meant to reflect more on what he has been through, as his world was tipped upside down and how he was actually living in a nightmare. Now he has brought the guys to justice, and done the right thing he can try to let go. In effect it is like he is waking up from a bad dream, one that has hopefully finished now... The scarf shows that he still feels guilty for what happened, and how he feels he should have helped her more. Its also a reference to a delete scene.

[–] marbleann 14 years ago

My friend thinks that girl was actually one of the girls in the family. It is possible because a lot of Vietnamese immigrated to places like California and went to college after the war. When she asked did he remind her of anyone I am sure he was not going to say her sister. She seemed very happy why bring that nightmare up. I'm not sure if he is right. I saw tis movie years ago in the movies and it never occurred to me. But looking at a movie on Netflix in the comfort of your house I find I did not notice certain things from movies I saw before. I think he might be on to something.

[–] Darkfalz1979 13 years ago

Except she had a British accent.

[–] marbleann 13 years ago

I don't think it is her. But not because of the accent. She might have been previously educated in England or by the British.

[–] Captain_Augustus_McCrae 13 years ago

The girl's family was later murdered by the Viet Cong because the mother appealed to South Vietnamese soldiers to try and find her kidnapped daughter. So no, the girl on the bus is NOT one of the murdered girl's family.

"She was a long, tall, authentic blonde. I loved her as much as I loved my .45..."

[–] syncopatedrhythm 13 years ago

You sir are a moron. You couldn't be more off the mark if you tried, ahhhhh but I think you posted this just to get a reaction. What a sad lonely person you really are.

[–] eddysl12 13 years ago

If you have ever had a bad event or time in your life, then that event or era can seem dream-like in a sense because it is now pretty much disconnected from your current life. Unfortunately it was not a dream, so it can be very difficult to integrate that experience into your life. A lot of times the bad things that happen to us simply make no sense which in a lot of ways make them worse than even a really bad nightmare.

As we move through time and the world we knew changes, then all we are really left with is memories and so memories can seem dream-like but for good or bad they aren't really dreams. Dreams you can forget but memories you simply can't.