ORAC
31st Oct 2005, 06:40
Jarhead (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,170-1851190,00.html) Dark portrayal of desert war tipped for Oscar glory
British director Sam Mendes explores the Gulf War through the eyes of a young marine.
HE IS the British theatre director who was showered with Oscars for probing beneath the surface calm of suburbia in American Beauty. Now Sam Mendes is being tipped for the Oscars once again, but this time for exploring a very different side of American life: the brutality and boredom of modern warfare for US Marines who served in the Gulf War.
Anthony Swofford, 35, whose powerful memoir became a bestselling book, said that the screen adaptation of Jarhead was “hugely impressive — a dark, funny, insightful and artful representation of war”. He told The Times yesterday that the desert on screen looked, felt and sounded exactly right and that the relationship between the men was extremely realistic. “Nothing has been sacrificed because it’s entertainment,” he said.
The film had its New York premiere last night before its release in Britain on January 13. It is already being tipped for Oscar glory. American critics raved yesterday, hailing it as “one of the greatest of all wartime films.”.......
British director Sam Mendes explores the Gulf War through the eyes of a young marine.
HE IS the British theatre director who was showered with Oscars for probing beneath the surface calm of suburbia in American Beauty. Now Sam Mendes is being tipped for the Oscars once again, but this time for exploring a very different side of American life: the brutality and boredom of modern warfare for US Marines who served in the Gulf War.
Anthony Swofford, 35, whose powerful memoir became a bestselling book, said that the screen adaptation of Jarhead was “hugely impressive — a dark, funny, insightful and artful representation of war”. He told The Times yesterday that the desert on screen looked, felt and sounded exactly right and that the relationship between the men was extremely realistic. “Nothing has been sacrificed because it’s entertainment,” he said.
The film had its New York premiere last night before its release in Britain on January 13. It is already being tipped for Oscar glory. American critics raved yesterday, hailing it as “one of the greatest of all wartime films.”.......