Matt
Slaughter
⦁ Directed by: David Cronenberg
⦁ Written by: Christopher Hampton
⦁ Produced by: Scott Rudin
⦁ Edited by: Ronald Sanders
⦁ Music by: Steven Price
⦁ Cinematography by: Emmanuel Lubezki
⦁ Tagline: The biggest war isn't the one fought on the battlefield, but the one in your mind
CAST:
⦁ Bryan Cranston as Brass/ George Freeman Jr.
⦁ Paul Dano as Kiddo/ Melvin Parcell
⦁ Jonah Hill as Fats/ Sammy McClure
⦁ Diego Boneta as Mex/Bobby Garcia
⦁ Idris Elba as Tiger
⦁ Ron Perlman as Gruff/Morgan Robinson
⦁ Catherine Keener as Mamie Parcell
⦁ Kel Mitchell as Andy
⦁ Chris Cooper as Col. Michael Burton
⦁ Demian Bichir as Alberto
⦁ Michael K. Williams as Cutter
⦁ Vernee Watson-Johnson as Maureen
⦁ Ken Howard as Senator George Freeman Sr.
⦁ Hope Davis as Chelsea Freeman
⦁ Dustin Nguyen as Vietnamese Guard
⦁ Linda Cardelini as Greta
⦁ James Spader as Tom
PLOT:
This film is presented in a narrative way where each of the main characters tell their story, thus making this film a collection of six stories strung together with the main plot
1969, a jungle in Vietnam.
Six soldiers escape from a Ho Chi Minh internment camp one rainy night. They were all in solitary confinement and never met or made contact with any of the others, and don't even know the real names of each other. They are Brass (Bryan Cranston), a high-ranking officer, Kiddo (Paul Dano), a young and scared private, Fats (Jonah Hill), a chubby, nervous young soldier, Mex (Diego Boneta), a Mexican-American soldier, Tiger (Idris Elba), a fearless young African-American soldier and Gruff (Ron Perlman), a sinister and quiet soldier with a mysterious history.
The group navigates the forest in the rainy weather, desperately trying to find a US Army base to take refuge in for the night and in the morning receive orders on where to go next. They struggle to find any signs of a base, but eventually come across an abandoned Vietnamese shack that could be used as adequate shelter for the night.
Brass manages to make a small fire in the centre of the shelter, and the group huddles around it and each tell their story of how the found themselves in this exact moment
Part 1 - Kiddo
Kiddo, whose real name is Melvin Parcell, is a 26-year-old college graduate forced into the war years before, just as he graduated. His father died in service, just before he was born, and he was raised by his loving mother, Mamie (Catherine Keener), who worked as a seamstress in a factory all day just to support her son and put him through school. His mother had connections in the army, based on her late husband's career in it, and when the war broke out, and it was revealed that all young men would have to fight in it, Mamie worried about Melvin, but was assured by Col. Michael Burton (Chris Cooper), that he would look after Melvin and make sure he stayed away from the actual conflict as much as possible. Melvin is shipped off to Vietnam, where he is stationed as a logistics officer at the US base, essentially taking away most of the risk of his death. Col. Burton, however, stays in the USA to be an advisor to the army there. He arrives one night at Mamie's home, taking her out for dinner. Later on, when she refuses his sexual advances, a furious Burton sends a telegram to the US base, putting down an order for Melvin to be put directly in battle and in a squadron that would scan the Vietnamese jungle as opposed to just staying at the base. The first few weeks of doing so are not so bad - there are a few scares, but the squadron manages to stay relatively intact and safe for a while. However, one night they are attacked by guerrila Vietnamese operatives, who kill all but two - Melvin and Andy (Kel Mitchell), another young soldier. They are put together in confinement for close to two years, being fed very little and being abused by their captors. Andy goes crazy one day and tries to attack one of the officers. As punishment, both of them are dragged to the jungle outside, and Melvin is given a choice - he can go free if he kills Andy, or he can be killed along with Andy. Melvin refuses to do either, and tries to escape. He is caught, and thrown in a basement with Andy, who is beheaded in front of him. Melvin is left in that basement for almost a year, surviving on rat meat and rotten fruits thrown at him. He is eventually upgraded to a normal cell above ground. When the Vietnamese base became under escape by rival soldiers from South Vietnam, Melvin managed to escape with the others, which then morphs into the current storyline.
The group realizes they haven't eaten in days, and they go out scouting in the nearby vicinity for some sort of animal they can eat. They notice Fats isn't with them, and they start to think he became lost in the the jungle. They search for him before concluding that he's probably either found a way out or died. They return to the shack to find Fats gorging on bread and meats that he smuggled in his backpack. The group is initially angry, but realizing they must actually be friendly to Fats to allow them to have some of his food. Tiger returns, having caught a deer, and they roast it on the fire while Tiger tells them his story
Part 2 - Tiger's Story
Tiger, whose real name is unknown, was raised from infancy in an orphanage. When we was six, he ran away, and grew up on the streets of Detroit, never learning how to read, write or do simple arithmetic. A gang lord, known as Cutter (Michael K. Williams), adopts the young man and gives him the name "Tiger", based on his passion and vicious attitude. Cutter teaches him survival tactics, and involves him in his business of dealing drugs, but does so in a protective way. At the age of 17, Tiger returns home from playing basketball at the youth centre to find the police surrounding the apartment building where he and Cutter live. He wrangles to the front of the gathering crowd where he sees police aiming their weaponry at the building's door. Cutter slowly walks out, hands in the air. He notices Tiger at the front of the crowd, and in a fit of emotion, tries to rush over to his adopted son. The police interpret this as trying to escape, and they violently gun him down as he dies in his son's arms. The police arrest Tiger, and when they discover that he never really committed any crimes, and the fact that he has no legal guardian, they give him the option of either going to a state-run boys hostel, or joining the United States Army. Tiger chooses the latter, and is trained as a Navy SEAL, where he serves religiously for 15 years, rising to the ranks of one of the best soldiers in the US army. He is sent to Vietnam to serve as a trainer for young soldiers. He is a harsh commander, putting his recruits through rigorous training and terrifying conditions. His recruits show signs of great potential, and as one of their first missions, they are assigned to go invade a small internment camp. However, their movement is anticipated, and they are captured and imprisoned in different camps to avoid contact. Tiger is placed in the larger camp, which is where he was at the beginning of the film.
The fire in the shack burns out, and the group is left in the dark as all the wood has been water damaged. However, they do find a torch and some batteries, which supplies them with a little light. Brass suggests that they maybe try and limit the use of the torch in case they need to escape, and the jungle is too dark without light. They find a book Mex smuggled with him, and against his strong resistance, they burn the pages to create some more light. Fats then starts to tell his story.
Part 3 - Fats' Story
Fats, whose real name is Sammy McClure, came from a priviledged family from Manhattan. However, as his parents were high-ranking individuals in society, they rarely had time for their son, and he was raised by his nanny, Maureen (Vernee Watson-Johnson). They formed a close relationship and she become his motherly figure. However, one Easter while at home in Mississippi, Maureen was the victim of violent racists, and she was lynched. This affected Sammy incredibly, and he started protesting against the injustices of segregation, much to the disdain of his conservative parents that urged him to stop. When the found him burning the American flag and a picture of President Eisenhower, they forced him into the army to set him straight. This didn't work because even in the jungles of Vietnam, he still worked continously on his manifesto and liased constantly with his friends in the USA, being updated on progress and notified on losses. When he heard about Martin Luther King's assassination, he organized with friends for him to leave Vietnam secretly and fly back to the USA by way of rogue helicopter. In the dead of night, he escapes the US army base, but is caught by his fellow soldiers, who beat him up, and leave his injured, almost lifeless, body in the middle of the forest, where he is found by Vietnamese troops and taken to their prison camp, which is where the story began.
Mex brings up an interesting point - the operatives who invaded the internment camp were South Korean operatives who were apparently contacted from within the camp. The group assumes it was Brass who called attention to the camp and contacted their allies, but he denies this, saying he was constantly watched as he begins to tell his story
Part 4 - Brass' Story
Brass, who is actually named George Freeman Jr., came from a well-off family from Vermont. His father (Ken Howard) served as a private in World War I and as a commanding officer in World War II. He serves as a great role model to his son, who naturally enters the army, inspired by his father's bravery. He serves for twenty-five unbroken years and rises to the rank of Colonel, and then decides to retire from serving in the army and enter politics like his father, who is now a senator trying to mount a campaign to be the Republican candidate to succeed Eisenhower. After retiring for less than a year, George starts to feel as if he should go into Vietnam and serve there for a while. His father tells him that bravery is something to be treasured, and not exploited. He should only go to Vietnam if he feels that is the best use of his time, because he has a wife (Hope Davis) and two children as well, and if they lose their father, they will be lost and hopeless. George decides to go down to Vietnam as he is assured (falsely) that the situation down there is docile, and his presence would actually brighten the troops' spirit. Down in Vietnam, George is placed in the officer's quarters in town, far from the war zone. However, his curiosity takes the better of him, and he decides to go stay in the actual military base down in the jungle. His luck runs out when the camp is invaded, and he is one of a few survivors who is shipped off into the prison camp, where he remains for seven years, serving in hard-labor as a gardener. In this time, he plots out his escape. However, each of his attempts fail dismally. The officers don't punish him severely as they find his attempts humourous and admire his courage, and hope to maybe turn him to their side. They don't realize that he is secretly becoming more and more violent and insane, and one day stabs a commanding officer with a kitchen knife, blinding him. This enrages his captors, and he is thrown in solitary confinement and awaits a brutal execution. However, before this execution can be performed, the camp is invaded and he escapes with the others
All this while, the only person in the group who hadn't taken part in the conversation was Gruff, who just sat and read in the corner of the shack, communicating through a series of grunts and a few words dismissing the group's advances in him opening up and telling his story. Mex begins to tell his story
Part 5 - Mex's Story
Bobby Garcia, also known as Mex, is a young Mexican-American man who was born to Alberto (Demian Bichir), a poor farmworker and a white woman who Alberto had a love affair with, and then left the baby Bobby with him. They live in a trailer in Texas, and both work on a farm. Bobby is the subject of the affections of Greta (Linda Cardelini), the wife of the farm owner, Tom. She continously invites Bobby up to the main house for tea, and she gives him books and teaches him to read and write. However, he mistakes this for just maternal nurturing instead of sexual advances, and when he constantly rejects her, she tells her husband (James Spader), that he tried to rape her, and he chases Bobby and Alberto off the farm, leaving them homeless. Alberto contracts an unknown disease and is placed in a hospice, where Bobby visits him constantly. Alberto becomes increasingly worse, and before he dies, and tells Bobby that he's made him proud. After his father's death, Bobby is told that the only organization that will employ an uneducated Mexican-American is the US Army. He enlists in it, and is sent down to Vietnam where he is stationed as a throwaway soldier, used in the frontlines as a simple pawn to protect the higher-ranking officials. In a brutal conflict in the jungle of Vietnam one day, Bobby is injured, but survives, and tries to leave the bloody battleground. However, he is thrown in the back of a van with the rest of the survivors and taken away to be imprisoned. He is spared some sympathy by the captors, who find the fact that he is non-white makes him more of a human being than the other soldiers. He is allowed free-roaming around the camp as he is assigned the task of cook.
It is now close to dawn, and everyone in the group has slowly started to fall asleep when gunshots can be heard. The six men find a guerilla group of Vietnamese soldiers had located them, and they retreat. They are almost out of their sight when someone is shot. Gruff falls to the group, and Brass rushes to him, trying to get him up and to continue running. Gruff tells them to just leave him there. Gruff hands Brass a piece of paper and tells them to leave. The group reluctantly agrees. The group continues to retreat as their weapons are running out of ammunition. Eventually they find a US camp where they take refuge.
The film shifts to the jungle, where Gruff lies on the group, still injured. The Vietnamese soldiers had left him to die. He begins to tell his story:
Part 6: Gruff's Story
Gruff, whose real name is Morgan Robinson, was born with autism and because of this, he was disowned by his family and seen as a reject. He grew up reading and writing in his local library, which was the only place he could seek refuge from the nasty words of others. At the age of 19, he read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and was so moved by it, he joined the army. He served for many years, but because he was mentally incapable by the standards of the US Army, he was never promoted. He continued to serve in the army through World War II and into the Vietnam War as he described the army as the only other place that gave him refuge from the nastiness of the world. He willingly entered the Vietnamese prison camp with the intention of overthrowing it, and while in there for almost a decade, formed a close relationship with one of the guards (Dustin Nguyen), who agreed to deliver a letter to Robinson's "wife", who was actually a friend who over the years in the prison he carefully and quietely stayed in contact with through a makeshift telegraph machine that he built while in the prison. His friend then notified the US Army of the location, who then used South Korean operatives to invade the camp and liberate the captive soldiers. As Robinson left the camp, he passed the guard who helped him, making eye contact for just a moment.
As the film ends, the five remaining soldiers huddle in a dormitory where they read what Gruff left them - it is a poem, each reading a stanza:
Brass
A young man, given a letter
Telling him he is in THE army
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to be lead to the slaughter
Fats
A young man, sitting in a van
Taking him to THE army
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to fight for his country
He is being to lead to the slaughter
Mex
A young man, told to go fight
A gun given to him from THE army
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to be slaughtered
Tiger
A young man, scared as a cat
But don’t worry, you are in THE army
You are fighting for your country
You are fighting for your country
You are going to be slaughtered
Kiddo
A young man, shot in the chest
Forced to be killed by THE army
He was fighting for his country
He was fighting for his country
He was slaughtered
Gruff
A young man, remembered by his family
Mourned by THE army
“He fought”, they told them
”He fought for this country”
He is a hero
There is a montage of the soldiers packing their bags and being reunited back in America with their family and friends while Pachelbel's Canon plays. Kiddo finds his mom at a bus station and embraces her. Brass walks into his father's office, who salutes his son and then breaks down in tears. Tiger goes to his old apartment building from a child, where he sees the spirit of Cutter next to him. Fats is reunited with his parents, who hug him and apologize for forcing him to leave and risk his life. Mex stands by the grave of his father and places a solitary rose and his soldier's helmet on the grave.
The final shot is Gruff standing up and walking into the jungle, to an unknown fate.
PRESS SECTION:
Vietnam has always been a filmmaking pilgrimage for many filmmakers, and no one blames them. The story of the Vietnam War is fascinating, but what is even more fascinating is the story of the soldiers in the war itself. David Cronenberg continues his streak of great films by creating a film that is multi-layered and beautiful. Told from the perspective of six soldiers, Slaughter is essentially six different stories converging into one narrative that manages to be both static and exciting.
The film has a large cast, but the six leads are by far the greatest anchor of this amazing film. Bryan Cranston trades in his Walter White image to play a proud and patriotic commanding officer who loves his country above all else. He gives a powerhouse performance that is calm and soothing, and wonderfully warm. Paul Dano is brilliant as a nervous young soldier who comes from a poor but loving home. It is a heartbreaking performance, and the final scene where he embraces his mother is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema in history. Of course, Idris Elba gives a brave but slightly disturbed performance as the fearless Tiger who grew up on the streets of Detroit and was taken in by a criminal, who even through his evil deeds, gave his adopted son a lot of love as a father.
Jonah Hill has a memorable performance in this film, and even while being mostly dramatic, he does form the comic relief of the film. But he gives a beautiful performance and certainly proves he is the next great character actor. Diego Boneta is the least known of the group, but this is a perfect breakout role for him. His performance is soft, quiet and wonderfully withdrawn, but behind those eyes we can see pure passion. The most touching performance of this film comes from Ron Perlman, who gives a heartbreaking performance as the mentally handicapped soldier who has to face life in a time when people weren't too accepting. His performance is completely shocking and surprising, and it is probably the best performance of the entire film.
Slaughter is a scary, vicious and horrifying film that is also beautifully made and strangely quite touching. This will certainly stand as one of David Cronenberg's greatest films, and deservingly so.
AWARDS
⦁ Best Picture
⦁ Best Actor (Bryan Cranston)
⦁ Best Actor (Paul Dano)
⦁ Best Actor (Idris Elba)
⦁ Best Supporting Actor (Ron Perlman)
⦁ Best Supporting Actor (Diego Boneta)
⦁ Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill)
⦁ Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener)
⦁ Best Supporting Actress (Vernee Watson-Johnson)
⦁ Best Director (David Cronenberg)
⦁ Best Original Screenplay
Slaughter
⦁ Directed by: David Cronenberg
⦁ Written by: Christopher Hampton
⦁ Produced by: Scott Rudin
⦁ Edited by: Ronald Sanders
⦁ Music by: Steven Price
⦁ Cinematography by: Emmanuel Lubezki
⦁ Tagline: The biggest war isn't the one fought on the battlefield, but the one in your mind
CAST:
⦁ Bryan Cranston as Brass/ George Freeman Jr.
⦁ Paul Dano as Kiddo/ Melvin Parcell
⦁ Jonah Hill as Fats/ Sammy McClure
⦁ Diego Boneta as Mex/Bobby Garcia
⦁ Idris Elba as Tiger
⦁ Ron Perlman as Gruff/Morgan Robinson
⦁ Catherine Keener as Mamie Parcell
⦁ Kel Mitchell as Andy
⦁ Chris Cooper as Col. Michael Burton
⦁ Demian Bichir as Alberto
⦁ Michael K. Williams as Cutter
⦁ Vernee Watson-Johnson as Maureen
⦁ Ken Howard as Senator George Freeman Sr.
⦁ Hope Davis as Chelsea Freeman
⦁ Dustin Nguyen as Vietnamese Guard
⦁ Linda Cardelini as Greta
⦁ James Spader as Tom
PLOT:
This film is presented in a narrative way where each of the main characters tell their story, thus making this film a collection of six stories strung together with the main plot
1969, a jungle in Vietnam.
Six soldiers escape from a Ho Chi Minh internment camp one rainy night. They were all in solitary confinement and never met or made contact with any of the others, and don't even know the real names of each other. They are Brass (Bryan Cranston), a high-ranking officer, Kiddo (Paul Dano), a young and scared private, Fats (Jonah Hill), a chubby, nervous young soldier, Mex (Diego Boneta), a Mexican-American soldier, Tiger (Idris Elba), a fearless young African-American soldier and Gruff (Ron Perlman), a sinister and quiet soldier with a mysterious history.
The group navigates the forest in the rainy weather, desperately trying to find a US Army base to take refuge in for the night and in the morning receive orders on where to go next. They struggle to find any signs of a base, but eventually come across an abandoned Vietnamese shack that could be used as adequate shelter for the night.
Brass manages to make a small fire in the centre of the shelter, and the group huddles around it and each tell their story of how the found themselves in this exact moment
Part 1 - Kiddo
Kiddo, whose real name is Melvin Parcell, is a 26-year-old college graduate forced into the war years before, just as he graduated. His father died in service, just before he was born, and he was raised by his loving mother, Mamie (Catherine Keener), who worked as a seamstress in a factory all day just to support her son and put him through school. His mother had connections in the army, based on her late husband's career in it, and when the war broke out, and it was revealed that all young men would have to fight in it, Mamie worried about Melvin, but was assured by Col. Michael Burton (Chris Cooper), that he would look after Melvin and make sure he stayed away from the actual conflict as much as possible. Melvin is shipped off to Vietnam, where he is stationed as a logistics officer at the US base, essentially taking away most of the risk of his death. Col. Burton, however, stays in the USA to be an advisor to the army there. He arrives one night at Mamie's home, taking her out for dinner. Later on, when she refuses his sexual advances, a furious Burton sends a telegram to the US base, putting down an order for Melvin to be put directly in battle and in a squadron that would scan the Vietnamese jungle as opposed to just staying at the base. The first few weeks of doing so are not so bad - there are a few scares, but the squadron manages to stay relatively intact and safe for a while. However, one night they are attacked by guerrila Vietnamese operatives, who kill all but two - Melvin and Andy (Kel Mitchell), another young soldier. They are put together in confinement for close to two years, being fed very little and being abused by their captors. Andy goes crazy one day and tries to attack one of the officers. As punishment, both of them are dragged to the jungle outside, and Melvin is given a choice - he can go free if he kills Andy, or he can be killed along with Andy. Melvin refuses to do either, and tries to escape. He is caught, and thrown in a basement with Andy, who is beheaded in front of him. Melvin is left in that basement for almost a year, surviving on rat meat and rotten fruits thrown at him. He is eventually upgraded to a normal cell above ground. When the Vietnamese base became under escape by rival soldiers from South Vietnam, Melvin managed to escape with the others, which then morphs into the current storyline.
The group realizes they haven't eaten in days, and they go out scouting in the nearby vicinity for some sort of animal they can eat. They notice Fats isn't with them, and they start to think he became lost in the the jungle. They search for him before concluding that he's probably either found a way out or died. They return to the shack to find Fats gorging on bread and meats that he smuggled in his backpack. The group is initially angry, but realizing they must actually be friendly to Fats to allow them to have some of his food. Tiger returns, having caught a deer, and they roast it on the fire while Tiger tells them his story
Part 2 - Tiger's Story
Tiger, whose real name is unknown, was raised from infancy in an orphanage. When we was six, he ran away, and grew up on the streets of Detroit, never learning how to read, write or do simple arithmetic. A gang lord, known as Cutter (Michael K. Williams), adopts the young man and gives him the name "Tiger", based on his passion and vicious attitude. Cutter teaches him survival tactics, and involves him in his business of dealing drugs, but does so in a protective way. At the age of 17, Tiger returns home from playing basketball at the youth centre to find the police surrounding the apartment building where he and Cutter live. He wrangles to the front of the gathering crowd where he sees police aiming their weaponry at the building's door. Cutter slowly walks out, hands in the air. He notices Tiger at the front of the crowd, and in a fit of emotion, tries to rush over to his adopted son. The police interpret this as trying to escape, and they violently gun him down as he dies in his son's arms. The police arrest Tiger, and when they discover that he never really committed any crimes, and the fact that he has no legal guardian, they give him the option of either going to a state-run boys hostel, or joining the United States Army. Tiger chooses the latter, and is trained as a Navy SEAL, where he serves religiously for 15 years, rising to the ranks of one of the best soldiers in the US army. He is sent to Vietnam to serve as a trainer for young soldiers. He is a harsh commander, putting his recruits through rigorous training and terrifying conditions. His recruits show signs of great potential, and as one of their first missions, they are assigned to go invade a small internment camp. However, their movement is anticipated, and they are captured and imprisoned in different camps to avoid contact. Tiger is placed in the larger camp, which is where he was at the beginning of the film.
The fire in the shack burns out, and the group is left in the dark as all the wood has been water damaged. However, they do find a torch and some batteries, which supplies them with a little light. Brass suggests that they maybe try and limit the use of the torch in case they need to escape, and the jungle is too dark without light. They find a book Mex smuggled with him, and against his strong resistance, they burn the pages to create some more light. Fats then starts to tell his story.
Part 3 - Fats' Story
Fats, whose real name is Sammy McClure, came from a priviledged family from Manhattan. However, as his parents were high-ranking individuals in society, they rarely had time for their son, and he was raised by his nanny, Maureen (Vernee Watson-Johnson). They formed a close relationship and she become his motherly figure. However, one Easter while at home in Mississippi, Maureen was the victim of violent racists, and she was lynched. This affected Sammy incredibly, and he started protesting against the injustices of segregation, much to the disdain of his conservative parents that urged him to stop. When the found him burning the American flag and a picture of President Eisenhower, they forced him into the army to set him straight. This didn't work because even in the jungles of Vietnam, he still worked continously on his manifesto and liased constantly with his friends in the USA, being updated on progress and notified on losses. When he heard about Martin Luther King's assassination, he organized with friends for him to leave Vietnam secretly and fly back to the USA by way of rogue helicopter. In the dead of night, he escapes the US army base, but is caught by his fellow soldiers, who beat him up, and leave his injured, almost lifeless, body in the middle of the forest, where he is found by Vietnamese troops and taken to their prison camp, which is where the story began.
Mex brings up an interesting point - the operatives who invaded the internment camp were South Korean operatives who were apparently contacted from within the camp. The group assumes it was Brass who called attention to the camp and contacted their allies, but he denies this, saying he was constantly watched as he begins to tell his story
Part 4 - Brass' Story
Brass, who is actually named George Freeman Jr., came from a well-off family from Vermont. His father (Ken Howard) served as a private in World War I and as a commanding officer in World War II. He serves as a great role model to his son, who naturally enters the army, inspired by his father's bravery. He serves for twenty-five unbroken years and rises to the rank of Colonel, and then decides to retire from serving in the army and enter politics like his father, who is now a senator trying to mount a campaign to be the Republican candidate to succeed Eisenhower. After retiring for less than a year, George starts to feel as if he should go into Vietnam and serve there for a while. His father tells him that bravery is something to be treasured, and not exploited. He should only go to Vietnam if he feels that is the best use of his time, because he has a wife (Hope Davis) and two children as well, and if they lose their father, they will be lost and hopeless. George decides to go down to Vietnam as he is assured (falsely) that the situation down there is docile, and his presence would actually brighten the troops' spirit. Down in Vietnam, George is placed in the officer's quarters in town, far from the war zone. However, his curiosity takes the better of him, and he decides to go stay in the actual military base down in the jungle. His luck runs out when the camp is invaded, and he is one of a few survivors who is shipped off into the prison camp, where he remains for seven years, serving in hard-labor as a gardener. In this time, he plots out his escape. However, each of his attempts fail dismally. The officers don't punish him severely as they find his attempts humourous and admire his courage, and hope to maybe turn him to their side. They don't realize that he is secretly becoming more and more violent and insane, and one day stabs a commanding officer with a kitchen knife, blinding him. This enrages his captors, and he is thrown in solitary confinement and awaits a brutal execution. However, before this execution can be performed, the camp is invaded and he escapes with the others
All this while, the only person in the group who hadn't taken part in the conversation was Gruff, who just sat and read in the corner of the shack, communicating through a series of grunts and a few words dismissing the group's advances in him opening up and telling his story. Mex begins to tell his story
Part 5 - Mex's Story
Bobby Garcia, also known as Mex, is a young Mexican-American man who was born to Alberto (Demian Bichir), a poor farmworker and a white woman who Alberto had a love affair with, and then left the baby Bobby with him. They live in a trailer in Texas, and both work on a farm. Bobby is the subject of the affections of Greta (Linda Cardelini), the wife of the farm owner, Tom. She continously invites Bobby up to the main house for tea, and she gives him books and teaches him to read and write. However, he mistakes this for just maternal nurturing instead of sexual advances, and when he constantly rejects her, she tells her husband (James Spader), that he tried to rape her, and he chases Bobby and Alberto off the farm, leaving them homeless. Alberto contracts an unknown disease and is placed in a hospice, where Bobby visits him constantly. Alberto becomes increasingly worse, and before he dies, and tells Bobby that he's made him proud. After his father's death, Bobby is told that the only organization that will employ an uneducated Mexican-American is the US Army. He enlists in it, and is sent down to Vietnam where he is stationed as a throwaway soldier, used in the frontlines as a simple pawn to protect the higher-ranking officials. In a brutal conflict in the jungle of Vietnam one day, Bobby is injured, but survives, and tries to leave the bloody battleground. However, he is thrown in the back of a van with the rest of the survivors and taken away to be imprisoned. He is spared some sympathy by the captors, who find the fact that he is non-white makes him more of a human being than the other soldiers. He is allowed free-roaming around the camp as he is assigned the task of cook.
It is now close to dawn, and everyone in the group has slowly started to fall asleep when gunshots can be heard. The six men find a guerilla group of Vietnamese soldiers had located them, and they retreat. They are almost out of their sight when someone is shot. Gruff falls to the group, and Brass rushes to him, trying to get him up and to continue running. Gruff tells them to just leave him there. Gruff hands Brass a piece of paper and tells them to leave. The group reluctantly agrees. The group continues to retreat as their weapons are running out of ammunition. Eventually they find a US camp where they take refuge.
The film shifts to the jungle, where Gruff lies on the group, still injured. The Vietnamese soldiers had left him to die. He begins to tell his story:
Part 6: Gruff's Story
Gruff, whose real name is Morgan Robinson, was born with autism and because of this, he was disowned by his family and seen as a reject. He grew up reading and writing in his local library, which was the only place he could seek refuge from the nasty words of others. At the age of 19, he read Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and was so moved by it, he joined the army. He served for many years, but because he was mentally incapable by the standards of the US Army, he was never promoted. He continued to serve in the army through World War II and into the Vietnam War as he described the army as the only other place that gave him refuge from the nastiness of the world. He willingly entered the Vietnamese prison camp with the intention of overthrowing it, and while in there for almost a decade, formed a close relationship with one of the guards (Dustin Nguyen), who agreed to deliver a letter to Robinson's "wife", who was actually a friend who over the years in the prison he carefully and quietely stayed in contact with through a makeshift telegraph machine that he built while in the prison. His friend then notified the US Army of the location, who then used South Korean operatives to invade the camp and liberate the captive soldiers. As Robinson left the camp, he passed the guard who helped him, making eye contact for just a moment.
As the film ends, the five remaining soldiers huddle in a dormitory where they read what Gruff left them - it is a poem, each reading a stanza:
Brass
A young man, given a letter
Telling him he is in THE army
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to be lead to the slaughter
Fats
A young man, sitting in a van
Taking him to THE army
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to fight for his country
He is being to lead to the slaughter
Mex
A young man, told to go fight
A gun given to him from THE army
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to fight for his country
He is going to be slaughtered
Tiger
A young man, scared as a cat
But don’t worry, you are in THE army
You are fighting for your country
You are fighting for your country
You are going to be slaughtered
Kiddo
A young man, shot in the chest
Forced to be killed by THE army
He was fighting for his country
He was fighting for his country
He was slaughtered
Gruff
A young man, remembered by his family
Mourned by THE army
“He fought”, they told them
”He fought for this country”
He is a hero
There is a montage of the soldiers packing their bags and being reunited back in America with their family and friends while Pachelbel's Canon plays. Kiddo finds his mom at a bus station and embraces her. Brass walks into his father's office, who salutes his son and then breaks down in tears. Tiger goes to his old apartment building from a child, where he sees the spirit of Cutter next to him. Fats is reunited with his parents, who hug him and apologize for forcing him to leave and risk his life. Mex stands by the grave of his father and places a solitary rose and his soldier's helmet on the grave.
The final shot is Gruff standing up and walking into the jungle, to an unknown fate.
PRESS SECTION:
Vietnam has always been a filmmaking pilgrimage for many filmmakers, and no one blames them. The story of the Vietnam War is fascinating, but what is even more fascinating is the story of the soldiers in the war itself. David Cronenberg continues his streak of great films by creating a film that is multi-layered and beautiful. Told from the perspective of six soldiers, Slaughter is essentially six different stories converging into one narrative that manages to be both static and exciting.
The film has a large cast, but the six leads are by far the greatest anchor of this amazing film. Bryan Cranston trades in his Walter White image to play a proud and patriotic commanding officer who loves his country above all else. He gives a powerhouse performance that is calm and soothing, and wonderfully warm. Paul Dano is brilliant as a nervous young soldier who comes from a poor but loving home. It is a heartbreaking performance, and the final scene where he embraces his mother is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema in history. Of course, Idris Elba gives a brave but slightly disturbed performance as the fearless Tiger who grew up on the streets of Detroit and was taken in by a criminal, who even through his evil deeds, gave his adopted son a lot of love as a father.
Jonah Hill has a memorable performance in this film, and even while being mostly dramatic, he does form the comic relief of the film. But he gives a beautiful performance and certainly proves he is the next great character actor. Diego Boneta is the least known of the group, but this is a perfect breakout role for him. His performance is soft, quiet and wonderfully withdrawn, but behind those eyes we can see pure passion. The most touching performance of this film comes from Ron Perlman, who gives a heartbreaking performance as the mentally handicapped soldier who has to face life in a time when people weren't too accepting. His performance is completely shocking and surprising, and it is probably the best performance of the entire film.
Slaughter is a scary, vicious and horrifying film that is also beautifully made and strangely quite touching. This will certainly stand as one of David Cronenberg's greatest films, and deservingly so.
AWARDS
⦁ Best Picture
⦁ Best Actor (Bryan Cranston)
⦁ Best Actor (Paul Dano)
⦁ Best Actor (Idris Elba)
⦁ Best Supporting Actor (Ron Perlman)
⦁ Best Supporting Actor (Diego Boneta)
⦁ Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill)
⦁ Best Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener)
⦁ Best Supporting Actress (Vernee Watson-Johnson)
⦁ Best Director (David Cronenberg)
⦁ Best Original Screenplay