“THE HIDDEN HAND”
An in-depth analysis of
Stanley Kubrick’s
FULL METAL JACKET
© by Rob Ager June 2008
13) Hell on Earth
As if gang rape and spree killers weren’t enough, Kubrick also punishes the Lusthogs by sending them into a metaphoric hellscape. As the sniper battle progresses into night time the number and intensity of fires in the city ruins appears to increase, despite there being no additional battles being fought or bombs dropped. The smoke grenades thrown by Animal and Joker quickly transform the ruins into a murky and mystical setting. And a more obvious example of the use of fire is found when Joker first lays eyes on the sniper – flames can be seen blazing away outside of the windows. This was the same position from which the sniper had been firing at Eightball and Doc Jay, but from the outside of the building it was plain to see that there were no fires anywhere near the windows. How could they suddenly appear from nowhere?
The spiritual overtone is added to in that the sniper is hiding in a temple. Notice the swastika sun symbols in the railings and wall plaques as Joker sneaks up on the sniper. (For those of you who are unaware of the swastika history, this symbol when tilted into a squared position was an ancient middle eastern symbol of the sun, which the Nazis adopted and distorted in their own symbology) The swastika railing in the foreground visually overlaps the hybrid US-Vietnamese flag, which is draped over the distant railing. This could be adding to the spiritual hell theme by suggesting the presence of a Nazi flag, which contained occultist and mystical meanings for the Nazi party. Combine all this with the dirt and concrete rubble and the flickering flames – it becomes obvious that Kubrick has visually transported the Lusthogs out of the Earth-based film narrative and into a spiritual realm of their own demise.
The script contained a much more obvious symbol of this descent into hell. In the lead up to the sniper scene the Lusthogs encountered a charred skull embedded on a stick, with “mousketeer ears” – undoubtedly a demonic symbol. They then passed a sign nailed to a tree that read: “all hope abandon ye who enter here”.
As described in chapter 10 of this review, a burning monolith was seen on the horizon during Cowboy’s death from a sniper bullet. The burning monolith is likely symbolizing the doorway from the surface narrative into the Lusthogs personal hell.
The reasons for this hell themed ending are multi-facted. The marines are getting their just deserves for the humanitarian atrocities they have committed during their tour of duty – the chopper gunner: “Aint war hell!” - but there are also many hints that the recruit training programme was a spiritual hell in itself. During training the term: “world of shit” is a substitute for the word “hell”. Hartman: “You will become dead marines, and then you will be in a world of shit”. The skull-faced Pyle, who has already made his suicide pact: “I am … in a world … of shit”.
This all connects up with the Ghost on the Battlefield themes outlined in chapter 10. The lime covered dead Vietnamese, symmetrically aligned in their graves bares strong resemblance to the recruits laying in their bunks or standing at attention in their shorts. But a crucial element connecting this to the sniper battle ending is the music heard over the grave scene. This music was accompanied by Jokers narration: “The dead know only one thing … it is better to be alive”, again implying hell. This exact same piece of music occurs at one other point in the film - the asnpier battle. After the Lusthogs throw their smoke grenades the camera follows them into an alley. We then see a visual jump cut to the troops inside the building and the eerie music kicks in with the jump cut. Look closely at the set inside the building. Is it not a hellish version of the training barracks, complete with support columns? The cleanliness has given way to decay and dirt. Hartman’s banter about God, Jesus and all things religious are now presented as the burning fires of the underworld. And in a repetition of Joker’s entry into the toilets during his “fire watch”, he again reaches the end of the giant room and takes a left turn through a doorway, only this time he will face the sniper instead of Pyle. The temple symbolism of the sniper room also mirrors Pyle’s rifle prayer.
Though the ruined building interior has a much higher ceiling than the barracks, Kubrick has cleverly mimicked this in that the night time shot of Joker in the barracks shows a waxed ceiling, which reflects the columns – giving the impression of a similar high ceiling. The faint metallic tapping heard during Jokers encounter with Pyle is also heard as he stands staring down at the dying sniper. The lens flare from Joker's flashlight in the barracks is again present as he sneaks into the sniper's lair. And of course the pounding of bullets through the snipers torso are mirrored in the pounding of Pyle’s body with bars of soap – and in both scenes Joker delivers the final blow.
Here is another visual connection between the training barracks and the Hue city ruins. Slightly before Crazy Earl dies from a booby trapped toy, he walks through a half demolished building and looks upward. The shot them cuts to a wider view and we see a window design high in the wall behind him that is almost identical to the window designs in the barracks - a large square with a thick squared frame set into the middle of the window.
Out of this combination of repeated details between scenes, emerges the theme of the transformational narrative loop. Kubrick used this method in Eyes Wide Shut, in which the two party scenes were mirrors of each other – one tinsel wrapped and one decadent. He also used it in The Shining, where Danny’s strange encounter with his father sat on the bed was mirrored on many levels by Jack’s encounter with the witch in room 237, thus revealing the room 237 sequence to be a nightmare dream sequence in which Danny was reliving the experience of being strangled by his abusive father. Here in FMJ, Kubrick uses this method to reveal military conditioning as a symbolic death that leaves the recruit in a spiritual hell.
Once Joker has given himself over to the thousand yard stare his indoctrination and brainwashing is complete. In the final scene he is shown walking in unison with the Lusthogs through the firey blackness of his own personal hell. He narrates: "We have nailed our names in the pages of history. Enough for today". What does he mean by this. Hunting down a sniper would not nail their names in pages of history. Is he telling us that the platoon are actually physically dead and in their own hell. Only death would these men's names be nailed in the pages of history.
In true self-denial he claims: “I am in a world of shit, but I am alive and I am not afraid”. By no accident his final narration is accompanied by the entire platoon singing their mickey mouse song – mickey mouse, of course, being military slang for “stupid and senseless”, which is what the platoon have become.
Anti-war messaging doesn't come any more in your face than this.
Here is another hellish symbol. As Joker creeps into the sniper lair we see a large flag draped over a railing in the background. It is half blue and half red with a white five-pointed star in the center.
This is the flag of the Viet Cong, but it is draped over the railing so that the star appears upside down with a fire burning underneath. This adds an almost occultist undertone to the scene. The significance of this flag is expressed when Joker is being fired at by the sniper. The flag is seen from the reverse side of the railing, but voila – Kubrick has flipped the flag around so that the upside down star is still visible. The snipers bullets pound into the support column in the foreground, spraying debris over our view of the flag.
There are several possibilities as to what Kubrick was communicating here. It may simply be his assertion that the Vietnam War in general was a hell hole of bullets and fire for both sides of the fight.
Note: Thanks to youtube member Beale64 for identifying that the draped flag was that of the Viet Cong.