A young college dropout volunteers for Vietnam and ends up caught between 2 sergeants, one brutal and one principled, while his illusions about war fall apart. Oliver Stone's combat film is autobiographical. I feel like it is the defining film of America's moral reckoning with Vietnam.
Platoon is a 1986 war and drama film directed by Oliver Stone. This breakdown covers 4 techniques (1 cinematography, 2 narrative and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, Schindler's List uses several of the same techniques.
Shooting with a handheld camera so the frame shakes and moves with the action. This documentary-style look, called cinema vérité, puts you uncomfortably close to the character.
How this film uses it
Robert Richardson's photography gives the jungle sequences a sweaty, disoriented look, like a camera trying to keep up with real events. It is a deliberate step away from the clean compositions of classic war films.
Where to see it
The night ambush sequence. The camera lurches through the darkness while figures appear and disappear in the confusion.
Placing the main character between 2 mentors with opposing ideas of who they should become. One may want to use their gift and the other to free them from it, and they have to choose.
How this film uses it
Sergeant Elias and Sergeant Barnes are the film's moral split in the form of 2 men. Elias stands for humanity that survives under fire. Barnes stands for the dehumanizing logic of survival at any cost.
Where to see it
Barnes shooting Elias alone in the jungle, where nobody sees it. From the helicopter, Chris later watches the wounded Elias chased down and killed by enemy troops. This killing of a mentor is the central moral event of the film.
Telling the story from the side of the person doing the harm, and letting you inside their head. You start to understand them, which is more uncomfortable than simply condemning them.
How this film uses it
Stone puts you inside the platoon during the village massacre, the film's version of My Lai. You see the killing from the soldiers' point of view, which makes you feel like part of Barnes' command.
Where to see it
The village burning sequence. It is shot from inside the mob of soldiers as they destroy homes and harm civilians.
Removing music, background sound or dialogue from a moment where most films would fill it. The quiet forces you to sit with what is on screen.
How this film uses it
Stone takes the music out of the most violent sequences and leaves only the sounds of the jungle and combat. When Barber's Adagio for Strings finally arrives, the contrast is devastating.
Where to see it
Elias running through the jungle with enemy troops chasing him, seen from the departing helicopter. Barber's Adagio plays over the shots that bring him down.
Questions
Platoon: quick answers
What filmmaking techniques does Platoon use?
CineCode breaks down 4 techniques in Platoon (1986): Handheld Cinema Vérité, Dueling Mentor Ideologies, Perpetrator Perspective and Strategic Silence.
Who directed Platoon?
Oliver Stone directed Platoon, released in 1986. CineCode also covers Snowden (2016).
What films are similar to Platoon?
Films that share techniques with Platoon include Schindler's List (1993), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Das Boot (1981), The Battle of Algiers (1966).
