Criticizing War Through Hollywood
Bachelor Thesis American Studies CRITICIZING WAR THROUGH HOLLYWOOD ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT IN OLIVER STONE’S VIETNAM WAR FILM TRILOGY by Jen Ingrid Supervisor: Dr. László Muntéan Radboud University Nijmegen June 2017 Ingrid s4468686/1 ENGELSE TAAL EN CULTUUR Teacher who will receive this document: L. Muntéan Title of document: Bachelor Thesis Name of course: BA Thesis American Studies Date of submission: 15 June, 2017 The work submitted here is the sole responsibility of the undersigned, who has neither committed plagiarism nor colluded in its production. Signed Name of student: Jen Ingrid Student number: s4468686 Ingrid s4468686/2 ABSTRACT This research examines Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War film trilogy, which consists of Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and Heaven & Earth (1993), and analyzes theme-based scenes that visually represent U.S. anti-war sentiment against the Vietnam War. The chosen themes are dominant and major themes regarding the war, namely PTSD, violence, and death. Inspired by the work of David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson, I will use two cinematic techniques – mise-en-scène and cinematography – for the analyses of the scenes. This project aims to distinguish the ways a theme is embedded in each film and ultimately, it will answer the question of how Stone’s Vietnam War films differ from each other in portraying U.S. anti-war sentiment against the Vietnam War. Keywords: Oliver Stone, Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Heaven & Earth (1993), Vietnam War, anti-war sentiment, PTSD, violence, death, mise-en-scène, cinematography Ingrid s4468686/3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...............................................................................................................................................
[Show full text]