Although I believe that I should be writing about an artist rather than a film, just last night I watched Sam Mendel's "Jarhead". As a film it has inspired me greatly; this movie is not just any war movie. There were a few similarities to Terrence Malick's "The Thin Red Line"; this film depicts the cruelty of war, and what it can do to one person's life even after fighting a war. Although it includes actions, there are hardly any scenes of actual fighting in the war. I know that I am no movie critique, I am just a teenager that appreciates all movies. I do not understand the difference made in what angle certain shots are taken from, and i do not understand any technical aspects of movies. But one thing that I do have is the heart to appreciate the beauty in all films. And there certainly were many things in this fim that amazed me.


There were so many different emotions and thoughts stirring up in me as I watched this film. As much as it horrified me in thinking of what war can do, I thought that Mendel effectively depicts the nature of humans. The story, told from the main character Swoff, is about the life as a soldier and the impact it has on life in general. And I was scared of how it can affect them so much. As a sniper, he trained to believe that he was nothing without his gun, and the gun was nothing without him. He practiced to shoot, he went through training to become a soldier. Yet when it came to the actual fighting in war, not once did he pull the trigger to his sniper. Not once did he see the blood gush out from the enemy's flesh. And that is a good thing I believe, for killing is pointless. All soldiers that live through the battle should be thankful that they are still breathing, but some go thirsty for blood and lose themselves. And Swoff was one of them. Although not as much as the others, his war never ended. The sensation of holding the rifle never left him. It sent chills up my spine watching these still very young men walk through the desert waiting for the enemy come up. All of them anxious to kill with every step they take. It amazed me how humans turn out to become when there is violence associated. It seems as if something within them goes off, and sets them back to what they were; they become somewhat non-human, like a beast hungry for its prey.

What I really liked about this movie was how even as a war movie, not once did it show soldiers shooting each other. In one scene it showed the corpse of burnt civilians, but that was about the only scene that showed dead bodies. Unlike other war movies such as "Saving Private Ryan" or the Korean movie "Brotherhood", it did not include actual battle between the American soldiers and Husain's soldiers. It may have been a disappointment to many of the viewers, and thus showing the reason why it will stop playing at the theatres next week, yet I thought that was the beauty within this movie. Just because it is a film based on war, that does not mean that it has to show blood and violence. I believe that this film depicted something more violent than the actual fighting; it shows the violence within all of us.

As I have mentioned, this film reminded me greatly of "The Thin Red Line". Malick also concentrates on the violence in human nature. But other than that, his movie included many scenes just showing nature. Like the leaves soaked in morning dew or birds struggling to free itself from the hardeness of the shell of the egg. There were so many scenes that had nothing to do with fighting. Mendel also had such scenes. As the American soldiers were being attacked, Swoff stands amongst the other soldiers hiding and running for their lives. The camera zooms up on his face, showing the grains of sand hit his face, his eyelashes, his uniform, his bare skin. At that point I felt the beauty within the environment that these soldiers were in. I never thought that grains of sand hovering in the air could be so beautiful.

I really enjoyed every single second of this movie and how it was so different from many typical war movies where all they show is the action. I really felt that it shows the importance in making films, that all films have a purpose, and the good ones especially have messages that could be linked to life. And Mendel's "Jarhead" truly and effectively showed these points his film.